My co-workers have long been after me to do family portraits for them, and I finally caved under pressure from them in cooperation with my (sweet and patient) wife who I think wants me to come up with a way to pay for all this gear. I agreed to do some for an under-priviledged family who could not afford to get them otherwise, and it has begun to mushroom. Now several people want me to do them, and I really want to do a good job for them. Everybody deserves good photos of their family.
I have never done these before.
Please if anybody has done them, I need advice - what shots to get, what pitfalls to avoid in lighting, how to ensure that I don't miss any important poses, how to deal with children who may not want to be photographed, how to charge people for the labor, what kinds of photographic paper to print on, lense filters, white balance settings ... I am ignorant, and want these people to tell their friends what a good job I did. I know I'm posing. I just don't want them to know ;-)
no specific advice to give other than scour amazon who have lots of reference books on portrait photography covering both the creative and technical aspects of the job....
O - K ... That's good advice about the paper. I'd have just tried to use glossy, and wondered why the images didn't look good. I guess my wife's going to have lots of photos of her this weekend :-)
Are you doing them in Digital or Negative. Are you using a back drop and studio lights or flash. Give me an idea of what type of equipment you are using and I may be able to suggest a few things. If you are using studio lights the best thing to have in either case is a lifgt meter.
I'll be shooting digital (like here on Caedes) outdoors. I'm thinking it'll be best to shoot in the morning or afternoon, and since we're in Louisiana, to choose a park or plantation where I can get a good atmospheric backdrop. Since I'll be shooting digital (my Olympus e300) it's not so important whether the image is b&w or color (I think), since the image can always be switched to b&w after the fact. What do you think? Do I need extra lighting? If so, how do I power it for outdoor shoots?
Outside one thing you need to be really careful about it avoiding shadows on peoples faces, but you might already know that:P. That can be a good time to use the flash. It can help to fill in those shadows. As far as how to power it i would say experiment till it looks right, but im sure other people will have some better advice on the way. I look forward to reading this thread since i could use some help here.
"A piece of toast with butter always lands butter side down, and a cat always lands on its feet. What happens if a piece of toast is tied butter side down to the back of falling cat? Does it hover above the ground in perpetual indecision?"
Don't face them into the sun , have it off to the side front, this cuts down on squiting . And if you can afford it get a 2 x 3 reflector to light the opposite side side with a soft light. Also make shure you have a good hood on the lens to cut down on glare and reflection. Milo is right use a flash for fill but put a deffuser over it, a piece of thin papper folded and taped to the flash will work just as well. Also remember the coposition, Taller to back smaller to front. and same right to left.. Look at them in a oval or a triangle shape.
You should do fine just don't get nervouse. The more confident you are the more they will be relaxed and thing will go well.
My co-workers have long been after me to do family portraits for them, and I finally caved under pressure from them in cooperation with my (sweet and patient) wife who I think wants me to come up with a way to pay for all this gear. I agreed to do some for an under-priviledged family who could not afford to get them otherwise, and it has begun to mushroom. Now several people want me to do them, and I really want to do a good job for them. Everybody deserves good photos of their family.
I have never done these before.
Please if anybody has done them, I need advice - what shots to get, what pitfalls to avoid in lighting, how to ensure that I don't miss any important poses, how to deal with children who may not want to be photographed, how to charge people for the labor, what kinds of photographic paper to print on, lense filters, white balance settings ... I am ignorant, and want these people to tell their friends what a good job I did. I know I'm posing. I just don't want them to know ;-)