Group of four children

[josh_gilreath]

Tomorrow i am photographing 4 kids ages 16, 11, 8, and 1.5 months. We will be using a white

background as they will be wearing white shirts and tan pants. my main question is posing. Has anyone

shot a group similar to this, i'm looking for different ideas and preferably casual. I'm used to posing formal

family groups so this i a new ballgame for me! I'm also wondering what to do with the baby!

Any input is greatly appreciated

Josh

[elaine marie]

First, I would not photograph them against white if they are wearing white I would use a black background. You could put the 16 in the middle holding the baby and the 11 and 8 on either side with backs facing the 16 with knees up. Even though it is posed have them barefoot for more casual look and engage them to get them relaxed and have fun.

 

Elaine

[graham_powell2]

Whenever a baby's concerned in a photograph I always pose the kids

in a formal arrangement i.e. tallest at the back, or possibly each

kid slightly overlapping etc. and then shake a rattle. and shout woa

ohhhhh! furiously - obviously this makes the baby look at the camera

and if done half decently it doesn't fail to gain the baby's

expression, makes all the kids a little mirthfull and therefore it

breaks up the formality a little while still retaining a reasonably

good formal pose. With kids I think it's always good to be prepared

to act like a complete idiot, it relaxes them, gains the look of the

toddler/babies and even the oldest kids find idiocy at least

slightly amusing. If you don't want them to smile then loudly warn

them about the bogey man! Better still take them outside and shoot

informally in natural light, but it doesn't seem as though you are

in a position to do that.

 

As regards white on white I agree with Elaine, they'll all have

torsos like the invisible man whether you are shooting in black and

white or colour. If you are stuck with white on white then you'll

have to change the textures of one or the other to make the kids

stand out from the background i.e. ruffle up either the background,

or ruffle up the kids clothing.

[peter_dehart]

I must respectfully disagree with Elaine and Graham. You CAN use a white background

when subjects are wearing white shirts and they can look very good. The key is to make

sure you light the subject and the background separately. To do this your lights need to

be flagged so background lights don't light the subject and main lights don't light the

background. If you do this, by adjusting the subject and background lighting intensity

independently you can create enough tonal difference between the white background and

the white shirts so that they are distinct from each other. Whether or not you use a white

background for this group portrait depends more on the subjects and your intent as a

photographer.

 

I would think examples can be found on the internet. I found a few by searching for "high

key portrait" An example that I had handy is shown below.

 

Peter<div></div>