Engagement photo session today - DPChallenge Forums

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Nikon

08/19/2006 09:57:11 PM · #1

Well, I did a photo session today for some engagement shots. It seems the majority of them were underexposed which I really don't understand. The meter was always in the center unless I was purposely overexposing (which I did in a couple.)

I will reserve my judgement until I hear what you all have to say about them.

Engagement Photos

Which do you not like at all? Which are your favorites? Thanks!

Judy

kgeary

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

08/19/2006 10:28:01 PM · #2

Looks like you had a tough couple to me. Tough subjects.

They look like a good effort, but if I were the couple I would feel that they missed the mark. Some PP might save them, but I would reshoot and try and get these boring looking subjects some life.

It's not all your fault, the pictures aren't techincally innaccurate though some are a tad stiff in the posing choice - mostly it's the vibe I'm getting from the couple...I don't feel good looking at them.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

08/19/2006 10:43:01 PM · #3

Thanks for the comments! I appreciate it :)

khdoss

Nikon D300

08/19/2006 10:52:29 PM · #4

I love 24..
15, 14b/w 9 and 8
I think the problem is this is not a "model" couple. They are just normal people. She might look better is a lighter shirt maybe pink or a rose color something a little less fitted but not baggy.
The setting was nice. I love the area around the picnic tables.

The couple seems a little stiff but maybe they need to photographed without looking at the camera, more candid shots. Just let them walk around and talk. You sneak in and take the shots

08/19/2006 10:53:07 PM · #5

I think I like 17 and 9 (color) the best. Exposure doesn't look that far off... just curious, were you shooting raw? Have these already been edited?

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

08/19/2006 10:55:03 PM · #6

Originally posted by khdoss:

The couple seems a little stiff but maybe they need to photographed without looking at the camera, more candid shots. Just let them walk around and talk. You sneak in and take the shots

I do that a lot. I just tell the couple to enjoy themselves. I want pictures that show them as they are, and especially I want people to see them enjoying each other's couple. I tell them we'll do a few posed shots here and there, but mostly I just put them in the right place and then let them interact.

wavelength

Nikon D300

08/19/2006 10:56:42 PM · #7

Originally posted by KevinG:

- mostly it's the vibe I'm getting from the couple...I don't feel good looking at them.

That's about the only thing I agree with, to an extent. They seemed more reserved than necessary, and one or two of the poses they just didn't look like the were with you.

I had a good tip from somewheres that when posing and setting up people, they will copy your expression and mood. Make happy even if you don't feel like it, and the models with generally follow. Look serious and grumpy, or whatever... you get it, I won't bore you any more. You can tell them if you want, but still try to express in your face what you want to see if you can.

Not necessarily my first choice in lighting style, but it looks as if you shot them closr to noon than would be ideal, and used fill flash to compensate. If this is the case, bravo on pulling these off. Not the most dynamic or "artful" lighting, but it sure is clean and bright.

One note, in one of the pics there is a reflection of the flash in his glasses. I'm sure you already noticed, but I'd clone that out free of charge.

08/19/2006 11:00:26 PM · #8

Originally posted by dwterry:

I think I like 17 and 9 (color) the best. Exposure doesn't look that far off... just curious, were you shooting raw? Have these already been edited?

Nope..not shooting in raw, and didn't use a fill flash on many of them due to a challenge with wanting to work with a wider aperture and the flash not allowing faster than a 1/200 speed. Live and learn.

Yes, these have all been through the first editing. They were taken between 10 am and about 11:00 I'd say we finished up.

08/19/2006 11:04:31 PM · #9

I thought about entering number 8 in the soft focus challenge, but then changed my mind. I like the shot, but too many technical problems I think for it to do well.

08/19/2006 11:09:09 PM · #10

Originally posted by jpochard:

Nope..not shooting in raw

I highly recommend it - especially if the lighting becomes challenging. Remember that link I gave you the other day? Not a single one of those pictures has been through the editor. However, they were shot raw and so every image did receive slight tweaks here and there in the raw conversion process. I figure I don't have time to edit proofs. So I shoot raw instead. And you saw the quality I'm getting straight out of raw. I'm quite happy to post unedited images when they come out looking like that. :-)

Originally posted by jpochard:

didn't use a fill flash on many of them due to a challenge with wanting to work with a wider aperture and the flash not allowing faster than a 1/200 speed. Live and learn.

Yeah, I saw your other thread. I have the 420, the 550 and 580. All of them have the high speed mode. The 550 is the hardest one to set. And it always disengages every time you take the batteries out. Catches me off guard every now and then when I switch in a fresh set of batteries and suddenly the camera is shooting at 1/200th of a second and everything is blown. Usually I spot it within a couple of frames, but it sure gripes me when it happens.

So did you figure out how to set high speed mode? There are two buttons that you have to press simultaneously. (and if you understand the rest of the manual for the 550 then you deserve a doctorate!)

08/19/2006 11:10:17 PM · #11

Oh...and one more note. These are all freebies.

This is my daughter and her fiance. I think that's why I'm so frustrated with them. If you look at my portfolio, you will see many, many shots of her - and I think she is actually a pretty decent model. No, not the usual model type, but I love her eyes and some of her expressions. I don't think these particular shots do her justice (him either.)

There are some that I like alright. Part of it may have also been that it was extremely humid and uncomfortable outside. I'd like to do some with them later in the fall when the weather cools and is clearer. I love autumn lighting.

Thanks so much for all the comments so far. I really do appreciate them! :)

08/19/2006 11:14:45 PM · #12

Originally posted by dwterry:

So did you figure out how to set high speed mode? There are two buttons that you have to press simultaneously. (and if you understand the rest of the manual for the 550 then you deserve a doctorate!)

Not a clue :) I gave up on that manual a long time ago. I really haven't looked yet on the flash to figure out the high speed mode. Honestly, I just got the 50mm 1.8 this weekend and haven't had to worry much about having a wider aperture before now.

I also think I may have used too wide of an aperture for two people. I was wanting to really try and isolate them from the background, but I noticed in several of them that one person is maybe in just a bit sharper focus than the other. Good thing these were freebies.

Nusbaum

Fujifilm X-T1

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

08/19/2006 11:16:38 PM · #13

15BW and 9 would be my picks as engagement photos. I think those two strike me as the best balance of good lighting and relationship between the subjects.

08/19/2006 11:25:33 PM · #14

Originally posted by jpochard:

but I love her eyes and some of her expressions.

Okay... going for the eyes and the expression, here's a tip for getting this shot which I think would work well for your daughter: Have them standing like this, but with her looking up at and talking talk him. Let them chat for awhile and even take a few shots while they are doing it. Then call her name and, as she turns to look at you, shoot. You're bound to get something good. :-)

Originally posted by jpochard:

Part of it may have also been that it was extremely humid and uncomfortable outside.

I had one like that once. It was an anniversary shoot. The couple had been married for 20 years. I wanted to give them that "newlywed" look (sometimes that "spark" is a bit hard to recreate after 20 years). I was doing "okay" in the beginning. But ... it was so cold and windy outside that the lady was just absolutely miserable and it SHOWED in the shots. They didn't buy a single one. I felt bad. I knew I could have done better with more time (people tend to loosen up after you've been with them for awhile). But we quit early due to the cold.

So, I guess the moral of the story is ... make sure they are comfortable. I always shoot just before dusk. Mostly for the light. But partially because it is much cooler. If it's really humid out your way, even at dusk it might still be too warm. So try shooting at dawn instead!

08/19/2006 11:29:34 PM · #15

Originally posted by jpochard:

Originally posted by dwterry:
So did you figure out how to set high speed mode?

Not a clue :)

I had to get it out and look at it to be sure. But what you do is press both the + and - buttons simultaneously. There is an "H" underneath the two buttons to remind you that they are for high speed sync. When you press them, you'll see an H appear up in the LCD.

Originally posted by jpochard:

I also think I may have used too wide of an aperture for two people. I was wanting to really try and isolate them from the background, but I noticed in several of them that one person is maybe in just a bit sharper focus than the other. Good thing these were freebies.

I like to shoot very wide open as well. Often in the 3.2 and 3.5 range on a 70-200 lens. You have to *nail* the focus when you're playing with that shallow of DOF. But I think if you do it, it really helps make the couple stand out.

08/19/2006 11:38:01 PM · #16

Originally posted by dwterry:

I see the buttons and I see the "H" under it, but I don't see any "H" up in the LCD when I push them. I've pushed every which way - together, one then the other...everything.

08/19/2006 11:38:53 PM · #17

Originally posted by jpochard:

I see the buttons and I see the "H" under it, but I don't see any "H" up in the LCD when I push them. I've pushed every which way - together, one then the other...everything.

Turn it on, silly. ;-)

08/19/2006 11:40:58 PM · #18

The only way I can get the buttons to NOT work, is if I put the flash into slave mode. I *do* find, however, that it's very hard to get both of those buttons pressed simultaneously. The problem being that they are recessed and hard to get singly, and even harder to get both at the same time because your finger on one button will interfere with your finger on the other.

Keep trying.

08/19/2006 11:42:45 PM · #19

Originally posted by dwterry:

Originally posted by jpochard:
I see the buttons and I see the "H" under it, but I don't see any "H" up in the LCD when I push them. I've pushed every which way - together, one then the other...everything.

Turn it on, silly. ;-)

That's about the only part I DO understand (somewhat..hehe)

I even used the tips of retracted pens making sure I did them both together at the same time. I'll keep fooling around with it and see what I can get to work.

08/19/2006 11:42:49 PM · #20

By the way, the 2nd time you press it the two buttons, you see some arrows on the top right of the LCD. Those arrows indicate 2nd shutter sync mode. Some cameras can set this mode in-camera, others require that you set the mode on the flash. Now you know how to do it. :-)

08/19/2006 11:47:01 PM · #21

Originally posted by dwterry:

Okay..I must really being doing something wrong. When I push the buttons nothing at all changes. There are no arrows on the top right of the LCD.

Along the top it says ETTL mZoom 24mm

Below that it says -1

And below that it has cf then, a "z" type arrow, a small flash head, "CH." (under which is has a 4) and "SLAVE" under which it has an A.

08/19/2006 11:49:52 PM · #22

Originally posted by jpochard:

And below that it has cf then, a "z" type arrow, a small flash head, "CH." (under which is has a 4) and "SLAVE" under which it has an A.

Yikes... so you ARE in slave mode. (I said, that was the only mode where the high speed sync doesn't work)

There's a switch down at the very bottom. Push it all the way to the left (off) position. You don't want to be in Master mode unless you really have a slave to fire. And you definitely don't want to be in slave mode.

08/19/2006 11:53:12 PM · #23

thank you thank you thank you for putting up with my ignorance. I can now go to sleep just slightly less ignorant than I was 10 minutes ago :)

Yep...Now I can get the H and maybe it will work better for me all around!

Thanks again!

Nusbaum

Fujifilm X-T1

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

08/19/2006 11:53:28 PM · #24

Originally posted by jpochard:

It seems the majority of them were underexposed which I really don't understand. The meter was always in the center unless I was purposely overexposing (which I did in a couple.)

You didn't ask for exposure advice, but given your statement here I thought I might offer an opinion. When shooting people I stay in manual mode and set my exposure and white balance using one of those calibration targets with white, gray, and black surfaces. While it sounds like some extra work, it made a huge difference in my portrait work. Just mentioned because you shoot with a 10D as well and maybe it's the camera that needs this extra step.