The calm before the storm.. :-).

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/25/2005 06:51:47 AM · #1

Just got back home from setting up my portable gear at the local rugby club hall, where tomorrow this light-test scene will be shattered by the noises and activity of kiddies and parents wanting their perfect Xmas gift photos.

Due to another photographer cancelling out on the booking I've become the mug/chump/victim doing portraits as part of a Plunket open day / fair.

The only thing I've got to do is remember to take my Iron down tomorrow, as the nice new backdrop has a few creases. :-).

Cheers, Me.

Gunni

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

11/25/2005 06:57:21 AM · #2

have fun :D

NathanWert

Canon EOS-90D

Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

11/25/2005 10:24:03 AM · #3

Good luck. Kids suck. Just kidding. Good luck.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

11/27/2005 01:09:12 AM · #4

Well,

What a day. :-).

And despite all the things that can go wrong I had a really good time with the kiddies and parents...

Some stuff from the day: (Sorry if you're reading this more than a couple of days after the event and they're gone, I didn't get releases from the parents for these, so I'll remove most of them soon..)

For anyone thinking of doing this type of work. I'd absolutely recommend it. I had a blast, and as long as you like kids it's not any where near as stressful as you'd think it could be. If you're not good with kids, well, enough said.

This was my first "Bulk" set-up photo shoot, all my large stuff in the past has been event work. We averaged 15 minutes a family during the day with 12 families coming though.

Learnings for the day:
- Take lots of noisy toys. We had lots, but you can always do with more.
- We had a cool couch there, but never used it. It was too big to lug onto and off the backdrop.
- If you have em, mains powered strobes are far better. I couldn't lay my hands on any for the day and I lost a couple of shots due to slow recycling of the flashes, and batteries going flat at the wrong moment. (580ex key and a Nikon SB24 for hairlight, Vivitar 285 on the 'sidelit' shots.)
- Having two cameras was really handy, no lens changes, but I wound up with overlapping number ranges for images due to card swapping. A bit messy in the file handling area but it all came out OK.
- Have an assistant who is well briefed in handling the images. we were taking some orders from preview on a monitor. This worked well (Thanks Sarah if you're reading this...)
- Have some people prepared to be silly to entertain the kids. At times you're concentrating on the camera and setup and can't keep on wiggling your head (With rattling toys attached to hat) while you take photos. (Thanks Sarah and Jade... :-) )
- Use a CRT for the previews. Even though we had a laptop I brought a CRT for the parents to look at. An LCD just dosn't cut it due to viewing angle issues.
- Have a big breakfast! It might be a long day.
- Have a box of soft tissues nearby to wipe snotty noses. :-).
- Box of tissues is also good for newborn puke removal from your backdrop! :-).
- Take pain killers. Getting down low and getting up 100 times in a day trying to keep composition, wiggle your head for the rattle-hat and make the puppet on your right hand wave it's paw is really hard on the back!
- Get there really, really early! I was there 30 minutes before the first booking, and although I had already setup lights/backdrop the night before I was still pressed for time just setting up the laptop, tripods, cameras, and checking light readings. I wound up starting the day a bit late, and slightly stressed, but caught up by about the fourth booking.

Cheers, Me.

suemack

Canon EOS-20D

11/27/2005 01:22:14 AM · #5

WOW!! All I can say is what lucky parents to have you on the job! They're gorgeous!!

Ombra_foto

Olympus E-300 EVOLT

Olympus 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Zuiko Digital

11/27/2005 01:59:37 AM · #6

Beautiful pictures....
And you're a better man than I am...
Kids ALL day??? EEEEEEK!!!!!!

Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

11/27/2005 04:23:19 PM · #7

Originally posted by Ombra_foto:

And you're a better man than I am...
Kids ALL day??? EEEEEEK!!!!!!

It could have been much worse, they could have had pets with them! :-)

NathanWert

Canon EOS-90D

11/27/2005 04:36:28 PM · #8

Very cool. One thing I just thought of that might help with the low angle kids are at, is see if you can borrow a local stage from a school or someplace. Set the photo area up on stage and the camera down on the floor in front of the stage.

not that that helps you, and it does add a flavor of danger if a kid tries to do a header off the stage...but....life is dangerous anyway.