Baby pics and Setup explained

[Glen]

Just thought I'd share these as i've not been around for a while (Too busy :eek:), took them for friends at the weekend..

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/MG_0225.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/708/MG_0224.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/708/MG_0272.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/708/MG_0268.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/708/MG_02571.jpg

[mmcp42]

superb
I bet they were well pleased! :thumbs:

[Glen]

Thanks, I'm still waiting to get some lights/backgrounds etc., this was 2 pieces of painted MDF and my 430ex flash.

[Puz]

Hehe, craft looking fella ain't he !. 3 & 5 are the best for me. And not bad for a camera flash and not proper studio stuff. Nifty :)

[WildWalker]

Considering the flash you used the light is amazingly even.

Really good captures you have there, I really like them :)

[lee]

I really like these and couldn't help but smile at the little fellas different facial expressions. :thumbs:

[..MD..]

Thanks, I'm still waiting to get some lights/backgrounds etc., this was 2 pieces of painted MDF and my 430ex flash.

:clap: well done mate nice set that .. ive got some lights on the way . i hope when i get them some of my shots are as good as those

tfs
md:thumbs:

[Glen]

Cheers folks, thanks for looking!! :)

[minimeeze]

They are lovely! I bet his parents are well pleased with the shots.

[gibbo]

:thumbs: Brilliant shots. Great lighting :thumbs:

[MrGrumpy]

Thanks, I'm still waiting to get some lights/backgrounds etc., this was 2 pieces of painted MDF and my 430ex flash.
They are superb. Would you mind sharing how you set those shots up? (I would have thought you'd need a studio setup to get those pics)

Thanks

Paul

[Glen]

No probs, setup as follows:-

In my conservatory with the light (natural window) coming in from the left mainly, but also all around (shot around 10am)

2 pieces of 12mm 1200x1200mm square MDF, painted with plain old white emulsion.

Lay one on the floor, then place the other behind, thus creating an 'L' shape if you like.

Then all I did before 'Harry' arrived was to place a test object in the middle of the board on the floor and fire away until I was happy with the settings.

The settings I went for in the end was (Canon 30d) 'AV' mode, with aperture around f8, ISO was 200, then on my flash (430ex) i put it on manual mode and set it to 1/4 I think?

To be honest I can't remember if my actual shots had my Gary Fong Lightsphere on, or I actually got a better light from just bouncing the flash gun up off the ceiling? (Sorry)

Then once you've taken your shots (I did around 30) the processing was as follows:-

I shot these just as high res jpeg setting, not RAW. In Photoshop open up the pic-

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/708/Test1.jpg

Open up your curves pallet, select your 'White' eye dropper (far right of the 3) then find an area on the background (1) and select it, this then sets your white point, the result of this you can see here-

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/708/Test-1.jpg

You may have to click on a couple of areas until you get the right feel/result, but once you've done a few the rest are easy. Then all you have left is the 'join' between the 2 boards, again try with your 'white' point dropper, but you will have to watch that it doesn't blast your highlights, finally just waft over with the eraser brush to clean up any left over join (2), then sharpen to suit-

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/708/Test-2.jpg

It may seem slightly long winded, but once you get the feel from the first couple of images, the rest are very simple. Its an easy option if you've not got any studio lighting, if you did have a studio setup, be it 2 or more lights then you would get this result straight off:-

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/Test-3.jpg

This was taken with a white background, with a white painted board on the floor, 2 lights to 'blast' away the background and 2 lights for the model. This was taken on a course I did around a year ago, please see this link I made about the course, it may help :thumbs:

http://gkdigital.co.uk/doc/StudioPortraitCourseReview.pdf

Cheers :)

[MrGrumpy]

Thanks for the very thorough explanation.

You've given me loads of good advice there which I'll try out.

Cheers


Paul

[steveinspain]

Glen - a brilliant explaination of 'how it's done'
We need more of this to help so many of us - the pictures are pretty blooming good too !
I hope some of us will take the time, if we can remember, to write up how we did it - I struggle with Elements, but a concise explaination like yours help loads
Thanks,
Steve

[InaGlo]

Great stuff!
Thanks for sharing Glen :thumbs:

[Mohain]

Great shots andvery impressive considering your setup :thumbs:

[gibbo]

Hi Glen thanks for sharing your set up. Ive saved it for future ref. :thumbs:

[mmcp42]

I thought the pics were good but the write up is excellent!
very comprehensive I must say

I am compiling a library of hints, tips, tutorials
Ok if I include this thread therein?
You'll get full credit of course

[Glen]

Yes thats fine, feel free to change anything too, if you think its needs it :thumbs: ie my bad grammer and spelling :lol:

[mmcp42]

thank you most kindly
I'l post a link once it's reached consumer quality
the site that is - not a comment on your thread!

[oldgit]

Thanks for the info Glen.
It's well worth your effort :thumbs:

[djs]

Thanks for sharing that!
I've learnt something there

[Glen]

Glad to help, thanks :)

[spencer]

Great shots!:thumbs:
And thanks for sharing, including the technique.:clap:

[p1tse]

i like the idea of two white mdf, but only problem is when one object/ person is bigger

[Glen]

These boards were purchased soley for doing this baby shoot, as I don't have any lighting or backgrounds yet, but yes in answer to your question, if you were to use this more often you would definately need a size to suit.

[Marcel]

Fantastic post glen, thanks :thumbs:

Thanks for the pics explaining the setup and Photoshop process too, very helpful :)