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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Need Help! Portrait Shoot
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 08/17/2005 01:40:13 PM · #1
Let me set the scene first:

Who: A female friend
Where: Undecided
What: Portrait Shoot
Equipment: Canon S2 IS, tripod (no len's, filters, lights, soft box or pretty much any thing else)
Delimma: Limited equipment but want good photo's

I am pretty limited right now on equipment, which will come in time, but not right now. I want to take some good shots with what I have so I need some of your experience to help guide me. I know I can clean up some of the mess in photoshop, but that cannot make a crap shot a good one.

With the above situation what are some good ideas for;
-Lighting
-Location
-Pose
-In camera settings
-Style of shot that works best with these limitations
-Tips/Tricks

I am not a complete retard when it comes to taking photo's, but treat me as such. Think of me as your apprentice and padawan. LoL, seriously any thing to help is much appreciated and can be redeemed for comments at your wish.

If you want comments post a thumbnail in the very bottom of your post and identify it as a "wants comments" image. Its the least I can do.

Thanks,
 08/17/2005 02:04:11 PM · #2
Originally posted by res0m50r:
Let me set the scene first:

Who: A female friend
Where: Undecided
What: Portrait Shoot
Equipment: Canon S2 IS, tripod (no len's, filters, lights, soft box or pretty much any thing else)
Delimma: Limited equipment but want good photo's

I am pretty limited right now on equipment, which will come in time, but not right now. I want to take some good shots with what I have so I need some of your experience to help guide me. I know I can clean up some of the mess in photoshop, but that cannot make a crap shot a good one.

With the above situation what are some good ideas for;
-Lighting
-Location
-Pose
-In camera settings
-Style of shot that works best with these limitations
-Tips/Tricks

I am not a complete retard when it comes to taking photo's, but treat me as such. Think of me as your apprentice and padawan. LoL, seriously any thing to help is much appreciated and can be redeemed for comments at your wish.

If you want comments post a thumbnail in the very bottom of your post and identify it as a "wants comments" image. Its the least I can do.

Thanks,


Sounds fun! First of all, your best light, if you have no equipment, is the SUN! This is often the best light, even if DO have equipment.

I recommend finding a shady spot but on a very bright, sunny day. A cloudy day will allow you to shoot just about anywhere outside, barring rain. The shade will allow you to have nice highlights and shadows, without blowing anything out or creating harsh highlights and shadows.

I sometimes use a large, light card (like foam core board or poster board) to bring light to darker places on her face that you don't want to be too dark. I'm assuming most of your portraits will be either head shots or upper body? This makes it easy to direct light with a card.

I like to go to nature for my portraits, but the city can be a great place, too. If your camera has a flash, get shots with both the flash and without. The ones without will have more depth, and often more emotion, but the ones with flash will often be clearer and may have less noise. Play around with your distance from the subject if you use a flash, too, or manipulate the flash to be stronger or weaker, if your camera allows.

I find it nice to experiment with fun poses: have her do a dance, a tribal yell, think about great things, etc. My favorite part of doing portraits is interacting with the subjects to get natural, expressive and fun poses that are unique, but within line with the subjects' personalities. Also experiment with angles. Sure, get some straight on, eye level, but don't be afraid to be above her or below her. Watch what her neck and chin does (and other parts of her body) with different poses to get the most flattering shot (avoiding double chin, etc.).

I often like to have the background out of focus so as not to distract from the subject. But having the subject interact with the environment is fun, too (wading or splashing in a shallow pond, for example, or leaning against or hugging a tree or lamp post).

Just have fun, be creative, and make it fun for the subject!

Good Luck!

(To see some of my recent photos--of nuptial nature--you can go here.)
 08/17/2005 02:10:16 PM · #3
Outdoors, and use the hour before sunset.

I got these with the S2 that way:
//www.pbase.com/darylf/ketring_girls
 08/17/2005 02:19:17 PM · #4
Well, that about does it :) excellent advice from a master.

I'll add just a few things to try out:

If your camera has multiple shot mode, sometimes it helps me to take 3 shots in succession - IS isn't always perfect.

In addition to shade, early morning and late evening when the sun is very low in the sky will be good times.

If you can, find a spot where the background is VERY far away, you'll get more background blur that way.

If you're having her move around "acting natural", watch your shutter speed, for the most part, you're going to want to freeze the acting. I'll guess and say not slower than 1/200 sec ... but I could be off.
 08/17/2005 02:31:55 PM · #5
I'm no master but I do have some suggestions.
You could do indoor using the natural light of a window. I've seen some nice ones done that way and even had success myself with photos of my daughter.

As for outside, I agree with the time of day, I learned the hard way not to shoot during the brightest part of the day! Also, if you are not able to use a reflector, just be conscious of any undesirable shadows that fall on your model. I also learned that the hard way :)

As for settings, location. I have discovered since getting my camera and experimenting that there are so many things you can find to use as a background that make for an interesting photo. I very often use my front porch that has brick pillars, in my opinion it makes a good background. Lots of types of walls would work though. I've also used our weathered fence that borders our neighbors yard and liked that look too. I also have used trees as a sort of prop. I had the kids lean on them, hang from them, climb in them, etc. Depending on the tree and what you can do with it. A grassy, or flowery area could be good too or some place with some good foliage. The possibilities are endless if you start viewing things with photography in mind :) I know photographers who go to the local park or garden and do great stuff.

Hope my suggestions help you to get some ideas. Good Luck and be sure to show us what you come up with!

Edited to say, I added a photo to my portfolio of my nephew Ryan using the fence as a background. I also have one of him with the brick behind him. I know many could do better but thought you might want to check out the brick and fence backgrounds just to give you some ideas of ways to use the things around you for your photos:)

Message edited by author 2005-08-17 14:39:13.
 08/17/2005 04:25:00 PM · #6
1. As already mentioned, shooting at sunrise or sunset will give you softer more directional light.
2. If it's overcast, you will be able to shoot when the sun is a little higher in the sky because the light will be softer. You still want the light low in sky because you want side lighting on your subject.
3. Once the sun gets too high and/or harsh, move under a tree or roof so you are working with indirect light coming from the side rather than above.
4. Throwing a white sheet on the ground in front of your subject can add some fill light and prevent off color casts in the shadows (shadows filled with green green light reflected off grass is not good).
5. As mentioned before, a simple white card or piece of foam board makes an excellent reflector for adding some fill light.
6.Don't overthink while shooting. Keep moving and watching how the light interacts with your subject.

These were taken with existing light. The result is not as perfect as you might get in a studio with a lot of lights, but it's still a lot of fun.

Message edited by author 2005-08-17 16:33:00.
 08/17/2005 04:27:31 PM · #7
my advice: listen to nusbaum.

08/17/2005 04:38:51 PM · #8
yea listen to nusbaum and dont use your on camera flash those are icky icky for portraits. find a cheap gold reflector if you can as well.
 08/17/2005 05:01:20 PM · #9
i just did a model porfolio shoot the other day and i too am lacking for "professional" set ups. i didnt get my vehicle that day so i was forced to use "props" and BG around my apartment. I dont think they came out too bad(couldve been alot worse) have a look at my "model" folder in my profile to see some of the poses i used with BG. some are completly unedited(with copy in the file name) and some i have edited.

in DPC fanatics chat i was given a reflector hint that i will share with you. go to walmart and purchase the winshield reflectors with silver on one side and gold on the other. i think thier just $12-$15 here but might be different where u are. also look at kevin riggs profile for more pose/bg ideas( like i did)hes an excellent photographer.his website was also alot of help for me because of the female dominance in the modeling world. i had a real hard time getting pose ideas for a male.
 08/17/2005 05:16:34 PM · #10
Originally posted by Nusbaum:
1. As already mentioned, shooting at sunrise or sunset will give you softer more directional light.
2. If it's overcast, you will be able to shoot when the sun is a little higher in the sky because the light will be softer. You still want the light low in sky because you want side lighting on your subject.
3. Once the sun gets too high and/or harsh, move under a tree or roof so you are working with indirect light coming from the side rather than above.
4. Throwing a white sheet on the ground in front of your subject can add some fill light and prevent off color casts in the shadows (shadows filled with green green light reflected off grass is not good).
5. As mentioned before, a simple white card or piece of foam board makes an excellent reflector for adding some fill light.
6.Don't overthink while shooting. Keep moving and watching how the light interacts with your subject.

These were taken with existing light. The result is not as perfect as you might get in a studio with a lot of lights, but it's still a lot of fun.


Thanks to everyone for your post. As soon as I get home I am going to respond more specifically to everyone... this post caught me as a funny. I actually sent the model a link to this shoot and //www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio.php?USER_ID=2612&collection_id=4557 that shoot. I really like your lighting, poses, expressions... etc. Really trying to get a feel for what she wants to do so she enjoys as well as the results.

Thanks and I will post more later
 08/17/2005 05:22:38 PM · #11
Originally posted by petrakka:
yea listen to nusbaum and dont use your on camera flash those are icky icky for portraits. find a cheap gold reflector if you can as well.


Would a yellow (or gold) bedsheet work?

How about aluminium foil stapled onto cardboard for a silver reflector?

If you want to spend a couple of bucks, there's usually a lot of "5 in 1" reflectors listed on ebay.
 08/17/2005 07:58:34 PM · #12
im a night shooter. i have yet to learn how to control the sun. so right now i dont even bother taking pictures during the day. the last time i took a picture during the day was about a month ago.

anyways, use whatever you can, a flashlight, lamp something and shoot at night to play around with shadows. this shot was done with my reading lamp wich could turn on at two different power settings. //www.deviantart.com/view/21742699/

so contrary to what the people above me said, i say the best light is not the sun but a reading lamp at night
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