First time Event Portrait taking.. uurggh!

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

04/26/2014 11:57:08 PM · #1

https://plus.google.com/photos/101254283767804839237/albums/6006814510475466689

I was honored tonight by taking my adopted kids (not literally, they just call me 'Mom')
Prom pictures tonight.. they wanted "me" to do it out of all people ... I was honored by all means, however, I am not a portrait, event, wedding kind of person because I am "still" learning my settings..
I have used manual mode and aperture mode mostly during the ones on the link.. I used 1/640, ISO 200 and F6.1

I tried different poses and after this afternoon, I have total respect for those that do people.. I had no clue what I was doing when I was posing them LOLOL

But now I am learning how to process these photos... my question I guess, for those that do portraits and important events like this.. is there some sort of rule to follow?
I kept the kid's eyes out of the sun.. seeing all the other parents make their kids face the sun, I saw a lot of squinty eyes and scrunched up noses LOLOL

But when you are in a very sunny area like I was, even the trees did not produce enough shade. I am kinda wondering what I did right or wrong? Suggestions would be wonderful! But then again, I have no idea what I was doing in the first place LOLOL
I just shot and made my camera GO LOL!

tanguera

Nikon D750

04/27/2014 12:33:51 AM · #2

Really nice!! Shooting in natural light is very challenging, and you did a great job with it. Indirect light is the best. When that is not possible, back light is great, but you need flash to keep it from being a silhouette. Having the subject face the sun is, as you realized, not a good idea, unless it is weak, overcast, or late in the day. Try to avoid the sun from the side as it produces harsh, weird shadows on the face. Ditto for shooting under a tree as dappled light is lovey on the ground, not so much on the face.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

04/27/2014 08:35:11 AM · #3

Thank you so much! That means a lot I did use the built in flash that came with the camera, should I have brought or used one of those flashes that you attach more?

tanguera

Nikon D750

04/27/2014 12:38:36 PM · #4

Yes, the onboard flash is quite inferior, and not really powerful enough to overcome the sun, if you're shooting into it and you're farther than a few feet from your subjects. Also, the light it emits goes everywhere. An attachable flash with modifiers to carve the light can create beautiful effects.

ETA, all that being said, my knowledge of flash is very limited. I'm a studio lights kinda gal :)

Message edited by author 2014-04-27 12:42:57.

Jules1x

Fujifilm X-T1

Fujifilm XF 23mm f/1.4 R

04/27/2014 12:50:47 PM · #5

Those are wonderful photos. How fun that you gave them some artsy shots. You gave them some beautiful images I hope they will treasure.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

04/27/2014 12:54:14 PM · #6

Originally posted by jgirl57:

Thank you so much! That means a lot I did use the built in flash that came with the camera, should I have brought or used one of those flashes that you attach more?

It's not so much where the light is attached, it's which direction the light is hitting the subject. Straight on flash (like your pop-up flash) is almost always a bad thing as my kitty demonstrates in the following link. Sorry kitty...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aliqui/3289447191/

What you want is reflected or diffused light from some other angle. You want light coming from somewhere other than the same line as the camera lens, that's for sure. Without some sort of screen (like a white umbrella), this will create "hard light" or "harsh light". If you're indoors, you can "bounce" a flash off the walls or ceiling. This will create "soft light" that is flattering on your subject. You can buy some sort of contraption like this to bounce your pop-up flash. There's lots of products that will do this for you, though, I've not used any of them. The above link was just the first one I came across to give you an idea. The above link also has a couple good comparison images of direct vs diffused.

If you're outdoors and just have your pop-up flash, remember there's a giant "flash" in the sky; the sun! Keep your pop-up flash closed, and utilize natural light. People use reflectors to "bounce" the sunlight onto their subject. A reflector doesn't have to be anything fancy. A white trash bag can be used in a pinch.

^^ not my photo ^^

Basically, the moral of this story is that ideally, you want reflected or diffused light on your subjects rather than a direct flash. I recommend Googling a phrase like, "Understanding light". A lot of those tutorials will go over, in more detail (and probably more accurately), what I've stated above.

Remember, you don't need a flash at all. There's tons of photographers that are masters of manipulating the natural light around them. If you do go the flash route, the "goto" place for flash information is Strobist. There's a ton of quality information there.

grahamgator

Nikon Z7II

04/27/2014 12:58:34 PM · #7

The book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson is a great resource for beginners trying to get a handle on photography. Check it out.

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

04/27/2014 01:47:55 PM · #8

I'm gonna post again, because I'd like to tell you that you did a pretty damn good job for a newbie. I think this one is the best of the bunch for a few reasons:

Lighting
Because you were in the shade rather than out in the over-powering, afternoon sun, it has a better quality of light. Check out the skin tones in this photo compared to some of the others that are out in the sun. The skin tones in this one are much more "warm". They have a richer feel and have a little more detail. Also, your subjects aren't squinting like you mentioned so many other couples were. There are still some powerful shadows, but overall, not too shabby.

On a side note, I do see the pop-up flash in their eyes, I think. Catch-lights are another reason to not use a straight-on flash. There's probably some psychological brain function that explains this, but when we look at people we connect with the eyes. The pupil is a big part of that, and when it's got a bright white spot in the middle of it, it freaks us out, well, it freaks me out, heh. If the light source had been off the camera, that bright spot would move out of the pupil, or at least off to one side of it.

Chin Angle
The chin angle is relaxed and natural. In several of the photos, you have the couple looking down at you. In general, you don't want to be shooting under chin level. Put the lowered chin and the low angle of the lens together, and you get double-chins on even the thinnest of subjects. I don't know of anyone that likes their double-chin, though, I'm sure if I Googled (which I dare not) I'd find a whole forum of double-chin fetishers.

Composition
I like the closeness of this photo. Sure, you gotta have photos of their attire, but this up-close photo really connects with the couple.

I also really like this photo, because it's fun! Sure, there's a bunch of busy stuff going on in the background, she's looking down, there's some motion blur on his hand, etc, but who cares, you can see their personalities!

It's the combination of capturing personality and getting a decent grasp on the technicals that makes a great photographer in my opinion. You've got a great jump on both.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

04/27/2014 02:12:50 PM · #9

Really quick post, because I have to run somewhere -- but you also can do some fixing in the post processing, remember. Some of the backlit ones are pretty dark -- use photoshop and bring the subject back up.

(very bad, very quick edit, but just to get the idea. You can do it much more realistically with more time)

Also, make sure you're shooting RAW, so you have more information to be able to fix problems in post processing.

Reflectors are a really good idea. I also bought a diffuser -- I haven't tried it yet, but supposedly hold it between the sun and the people to diffuse the light and soften the shadows. (it's actually one of the reflector diffuser combos: 5 in one reflector/diffuser combo

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

04/27/2014 02:19:31 PM · #10

The other thing I didn't realize until recently was:

If you didn't shoot RAW, but you're using photoshop, you can open a jpg in camera RAW editor and adjust things there. So you can up the exposure for the faces, and take down the highlights a bit.

Then just open one adjusted for the background and mask things out.

(again, a quick edit, but better than the other, I think, because of playing with the exposure in RAW)

04/27/2014 04:29:00 PM · #11

Thank you all for the help on this and understanding lighting and the reflectors, I am so new at this, I have no clue to what I was doing :-))

Good news, was that all my photos were shot in RAW for this, so the processing now is what I am trying to learn to do better yet.. I am learning all of this from all of your help and it is amazing knowledge to have and I thank you so much for your time and helping me get better..

One question that I had from a comment from earlier was shooting low..
For shooting high or shooting low for things other than portraits? Like landscapes or non-people subjects? Maybe I got that confused lmao! I understand completely about the double chin thing, that makes sense!

aliqui Thank you for the extra help as well and the links, I will take some time and study those more and do some tutorials on lighting.. thank you

grahamgator as well.. I always like to hear from those who have been there done that kind of a thing.

04/27/2014 05:01:19 PM · #12

HAHAAHH I just saw what you meant about the bright light thing in the pupil.. I am not sure of what is worse now. Having red eyes or this white LOL
Almost gives them like an evil eye of good huh LOL

Would you correct this issue with using the red eye tool then for the whites? Or is there a different option to correct for this issue?

04/27/2014 08:40:21 PM · #13

Originally posted by jgirl57:

One question that I had from a comment from earlier was shooting low..
For shooting high or shooting low for things other than portraits? Like landscapes or non-people subjects? Maybe I got that confused lmao! I understand completely about the double chin thing, that makes sense!

aliqui Thank you for the extra help as well and the links, I will take some time and study those more and do some tutorials on lighting.. thank you grahamgator as well.. I always like to hear from those who have been there done that kind of a thing.

My shooting low comment was just for portrait work, and mainly for the double-chin reason.

You can even shoot from down low in portrait work in certain cases, but keep an eye on the neck. As long as what is happening there is flattering, you're dandy. In most cases though, it won't be flattering, so it's a good general rule until you can more easily spot it while shooting. After a shoot it's really easy to spot all your wrongs, but when you're trying to pose a model, adjust settings, watch for traffic, etc, sometimes it's good to have some basic rules that will prevent common mistakes. This is just one of those basic rules. When you're more comfortable with the whole situation, you can start breaking the rules.

Originally posted by jgirl57:

If your chosen program has a dust spot remover or cloning tool, I'd use that. Then, if it were me, I'd draw catch lights back in their eyes, but off to the side or something that makes sense. Catch lights actually bring life to eyes, so they are good, they're just not good dead center.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

04/27/2014 11:31:50 PM · #14

Awesome!!!

I will have to check and learn about the "catch lights" you are talking about, that is going over my head and it seems very advanced to me.. I am a total newbie when it comes to editing RAW files..I have been just learning basic editing at the moment and just figured out how to remove the red eye, do clarity, sharpness and learned about noise reduction.

I have been working with light room for 6 months but they were just jpg files I been working with, cloning I have done more of that in photoshop than lightroom, but I need to learn more of it.. the UTUBE videos have been really good so far, so I will have to search for that particular thing

That is something new to me and something more to learn :-))

tanguera

Nikon D750

04/27/2014 11:45:25 PM · #15

If you have looked at a photo of a person, you have seen "catch lights". But you didn't know what they were called. Even when you talk to someone face to face, there are catch lights. It's simply a reflection of the brightest thing they are looking at. In studio settings, you can identify the modifier (soft box, ring light, beauty dish, umbrella).

kiwinick

Sony DSLR-A550

Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical ED Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha

04/28/2014 12:56:35 AM · #16

Originally posted by tanguera:

would agree also buy a dedicated flash cord to take flash of camera, that stops red eye and more versitility

04/28/2014 06:59:51 AM · #17

What kind of flashes that are kinda reasonable to buy???

I am planning to upgrade, I really want a D7100 but its completely out of my price range, but for now I am saving up for a D5200...
I would need something to fit my D60 and the D5200.

I have no clue to what I am searching for, names, how to look for quality or things to look for, this is a whole new can of worms and I usually research everything and when I was researching for my upgrade camera, it took over a year to just make my mind up to which one to go for. I read all reviews that are out there as well and if consumer reports did a study of them, I check them as well to make sure that everything is on the up and up to what they buy. Sometimes, I like to go cheap, but with my hobbies, electronics, and especially my appliances, I have always believed you get what you pay for and sometimes its better to spend on the higher end of things just so that they will last, I am willing to pay a bit more if it means that item will be more rugged. I have refused to buy certain things just because they could not stand up to how I would use it.. I always told ppl that if it can pass me without breaking I could tell if it would be a great item or not for breaking things LOLOL
ahhhhh....the poor abuse I put things through because I am hard on things and when I use them, I use them.

For the flash, I from what you all are saying I think it would be a great addition thing to have for my hobby and I am sure it will not be the last time taking pictures of ppl..
I would also need to know if this flash I would buy be able to be used indoors as well?

Here is another situation, I am asked by my church and other churches to take event pictures, yesterday when I went to my daughter's violin recital, the teacher that was putting on the recital saw that I had brought my camera and had asked me to take pictures of everyone..Oh Vey! I knew things wouldn't turn out well because I do not do that kind of photography, not knowing what I am doing for settings or for poses and then I knew you had to have one of those kind of flashes and I did not.. but I did make sure my on board flash was on. I was really out of my element that afternoon because I was not preparing to take pictures of other people's kids. I tend to want to be ready and know what I am doing,
but hey, great practice anyway! I did not even take my tripod because I was just planning on taking pics of my daughter.

SOOOOOO.... with that being said... these were the results for that (the link below).. I have done minimal editing to them and I am still going through Utube videos to properly edit them.. again, I have NO CLUE to what I am doing with these kind of situations.. LOLOL I was just happy I could practice and push buttons.

Settings I tended to stay on was Manual mode.. were these the right settings? ummm I was not soo sure.. however, being the creative person that I am, for a tripod I used one of the pews as a tripod to help make things just a bit clear and so it wouldn't blur.. the parents were kinda laughing, but I was happy how the pictures turned out, somewhat.. again, I think the issue could have been the flash thing too.
I took it in RAW, and had to up the brightness, fill light and played with the clarity, sharpness, noise and contrast and added a crop vignette to it.

Focal Length 30mm
Exposure 1/60
F Number f/4.8
ISO 500
Sorry this post is so long wholy! I am kinda in a talky- talky mode this morning LOLOL

https://plus.google.com/photos/101254283767804839237/albums/6007145524224540833?authkey=CL-Mysy_qPHJ8QE

Message edited by author 2014-04-28 07:13:24.

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

04/28/2014 12:04:17 PM · #18

I'm kind of out of date in regards to the actual technologies anymore. I can tell you what flashes I have though; an SB-900, an SB-100, and I have the R1C1 macro kit. I really didn't need the SB-900 or the macro kit, but I was employed at the time and had nothing to spend my cash-o-la on. I got the SB-100 for about $100 from some dude on Craigslist to be a slave to my SB-900. I use the SB-900 and SB-100 almost every time I shoot (yes, even with my flowers), but rarely the R1C1 setup (takes a special battery that always seems to be dead, grr).

To start off with, you don't need a ton of features for the flash. You want to be able to set the strength of the flash and preferably you need to be able to control it with your camera without it being in the hotshoe on your camera. You can do this via tethering (a cord from your camera to the flash), or you can do it through some sort of signal. Signals can come from remote triggers (yes, more money), or some flash/camera combinations can utilize the pop-up flash to trigger the flash. Once you become crazy obsessed with flashes, you might even get a flash that controls other flashes! Example: SB-900 master, SB-100 slave.

The SB-100 would be dandy for you, but they haven't made them in quite some time. The next up that I can remember is an SB-600, that runs over $400 new, but slightly under $200 used (gotta be careful buying used with flashes). There might be something between those that others might recommend, I don't know what those are. You can always buy non-Nikon too, but I don't have experience there either. Generic camera crap has come up quite a bit in quality, so that might be a totally viable option.

You can use flashes inside and outside. How you'll use them in those environments will be different though.

If you're really gonna go down this rabbit hole, read the Strobist: Lighting 101. Apparently there's now also a PDF version of it that you can download all at once rather than loading page by page from the blog (quality of images in the PDF suck, but the info is still solid).

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

04/28/2014 03:00:00 PM · #19

you don't need a flash outdoors, get a big white reflector instead. you'd be surprised how powerful a reflector can be.

for posing: if it bends, bend it.

i have more time so i'll add some more info...

there are no right settings, unless your you are trying to maintain a constant lighting between scenes, dont use M, use Av or A and set the aperture to get the DOF you need and don't let your shutter drop too low.

one other thing i would do is not shoot wider than 50mm, it adds distortion. use a longer lens and back up. The widest lens i own currently is 85mm and i shoot portraits almost exclusively.

also dont shoot in full sun, if shade is available go there or diffuse it with a screen diffuser.

shooting outside is way different than shooting indoors with artificial lighting, its much easier too, you usually need less equipment

Message edited by author 2014-04-28 15:42:25.