Family Portraits

[Uncle Frank]

I used a one flash rig for some family portraits at a neighbor's party today. I positioned the subjects in open shade, used an sb800 Speedlight on a raised lightstand at camera left for the main, and shot it through a white umbrella.

This is a 3 generation portrait.

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And this is 4 generations.

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Ed and Betty have been married for 45 years, and are still going strong!

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The Star of the party was Harper, who was celebrating her first birthday. Here's a candid of her with her lovely mom, Hillary, who I've known since she was about Harper's age. I used an on-camera flash with ABettterBounceCard for the last two shots.

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[jebster]

Great shots Frank.

I like them all !

Jeff

 

[Removed User 3]

Lovely shots Frank.

Lens ? or do I need to ask ?

 

[ponykilr]

Very natural, even lighting. :smile:

 

[Jetta32696]

Awesome shooting Frank!!

 

[Uncle Frank]

Lovely shots Frank.

Lens ? or do I need to ask ?

Thanks, Sparkey! The first 3 shots were taken with The Beast, and the final two with the Cream Machiine.

 

[j_b_l]

Frank, excellent...they are all nice, but that first one is very special...

 

[topher04r1]

frank ... how did you measure your light ? ..... your exposure looks dead on !

 

[Uncle Frank]

frank ... how did you measure your light ? ..... your exposure looks dead on !

I wish that had been the case, Topher. I matrix metered the background, and set up in manual mode to underexpose it by a couple of stops. Then I relied on the flash as the main illumination for the subjects. But since I ran out of flash power, everything was underexposed, and I had to rescue the images in Photoshop. Pretty time consuming.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Frank, excellent...they are all nice, but that first one is very special...

Thanks, John. I appreciate the feedback. I tried to show the "connection" between the generation in both of the "generation" pictures. The 3G composition was the more successful. I think this 3G shot of the guys has a bit of the same feel.

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[Removed User 3]

Thanks, Sparkey! The first 3 shots were taken with The Beast, and the final two with the Cream Machiine.

Knew it was stupid question after presssing button.

Lovely shots and exposure.

 

[Nuteshack]

excellent Frank .....looks like everyone had fun with the shoot, too:biggrin:

 

[Uncle Frank]

excellent Frank .....looks like everyone had fun with the shoot, too:biggrin:

Well, I know I did, Nute. And since I had the camera on tripod, I was able to take advantage of my wired remote to trigger the shutter. It allowed me to look at the subjects over the camera instead of through the peephole, and improved my ratio of keepers :biggrin:.

 

[Steve S]

Super job on these Frank! The face on the child in that 1st shot is unforgettable! I've noticed that your skintones have gotten much more accurate lately vs the earlier days. Are the trees in the background on shot #2 more in focus due to a greater distance from camera to subject? The f stop's the same.
I totally agree with you on using a shutter release for group shots. It's the only way to study the whole group's expressions and judge when to trip the shutter. Let me ask you this though. Once you set the focus, do you trust it throughout the set, or do you go back and periodically touch it up like I do?

 

[nuccifamily]

Love 'em all Frank! Very nice work.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Super job on these Frank! The face on the child in that 1st shot is unforgettable! I've noticed that your skintones have gotten much more accurate lately vs the earlier days. Are the trees in the background on shot #2 more in focus due to a greater distance from camera to subject? The f stop's the same.

Thanks for the feedback, Steve. I bought a new computer system a few months ago, and I've found it a light easier to work with a well calibrated monitor :smile:. As far as the DOF is concerned, the only difference between #1 and #2 is the focal length... 45mm vs. 34mm. I was working with the 28-70 lens, and zoomed out for the larger group in #2.

I totally agree with you on using a shutter release for group shots. It's the only way to study the whole group's expressions and judge when to trip the shutter. Let me ask you this though. Once you set the focus, do you trust it throughout the set, or do you go back and periodically touch it up like I do?

Actually I used autofocus, but I re-set the zone for primary focus for each group, to make sure it was placed on a face rather than the trees in the background.

 

[P'Cola-Roy]

Nice going Frank.

 

[Removed User 3]

Uncle Frank,

The Cream machine has finally arrived. :biggrin:

Any chance of some pointers before I start pointing it at family and friends.

It is very sharp as have taken a few casual shots.

Some direction would be appreciated.

Best practice regarding : Backgrounds, Lighting Indoor and Outdoor, Distance and angle etc and things to avoid.

Anything would be great help.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Uncle Frank,

The Cream machine has finally arrived. :biggrin:

Fantastic! I hope it lives up to your expectations. Some of the wonderful aspects of its renderings are subtle, so it takes some time to fully appreciate the 85/1.4.

Any chance of some pointers before I start pointing it at family and friends.

Best to shoot away, and use experience as your teacher. But I'll offer a few suggestions.

Starting off, resist the temptation to shoot everything wide open. Get the feel of the lens at f/4 before you work your way down. It'll still cream backgrounds at f/4, provided there's a little distance between background and subject.

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The Cream Machine's element is low light. If you're using it in bright light, set up to underexpose by .3 or .7 ev.

Don't forget that you're dealing with a telephoto lens. I'd suggest keeping shutter speeds at 1/200th or faster to start off, and make sure to have a solid grip.

Now get out there and blaze away with a piece of glass that deserves its legendary status.

 

[Removed User 3]

Many Thanks.

Cant wait to find the first victim.