Family portraits

[Bambi'sThumper]

I've been doing landscapes and animal photography for a while, I have dabbled a little in portraits, just of my other half but I would like to get more into people photography, luckily enough my friend's Mum knows about my love of photography and has asked if I would do some family shots for them. As I'm not used with this type of photography I'm looking for some advice for getting started.
I know a tripod would be a must. I always shoot on shutter priority, is this ok for family shots? There will be 6 of them and I want them all to be clear and crisp in shot. Another point would be where to focus? Generally its easy if its just 1 person or an animal just focus on the eye but as theres more than 1 person, I'm not sure what to do.
I also dont have anything other specialist equipment, like backgrounds, extra lighting or flashes, I am however planning on making the "milk bottle diffuser" for my on body flash.

Thanks in advance for any tips and suggestions. I want to get this right

 

[meonshore]

I think you need to work out if you are shooting this in natural light "on location" either inside or outdoors or using a studio setup with artificial lighting.

Your choice on that will determine pretty much everything else - with the exception of the use of the tripod.... which I would say you don't need for either.

 

[Bambi'sThumper]

I have no studio type equipment, it will mostly be at their house in the sitting room or somewhere similar

 

[meonshore]

Just to check you have no lights, no backdrops, no experience of shooting portraits, you live on the Orkney Islands and you are planning to shoot this in a sitting room with an on-camera flash ?

Can I suggest you consider shooting this out in the natural beauty of the landscape to deliver you a backdrop - use natural light, and turn your flash off, and give yourself a fighting chance of getting a good portrait session out of it?

Aperture priority f/5 if you have a single line, f/8 to f/10 if you have them in two rows. Focus on the eyes as with wildlife (I tend to use the middle person in the group) and check you have sufficient depth of field. Ideally for group try to use 35mm or longer to avoid distortion (unless you are shooting full length in which case you can probably go wider.

Use open shade, avoid dappled light, and have them looking into open the light. If you can do this on a bright overcast day then you'll have little trouble in getting well lit images with some light in the eyes.

 

[Phil V]

Everything Mike said.

A dull interior with on camera flash (even if it's bounced with some skill) will give you nowhere near the quality of images you can get outdoors.

It's easy to think that a 580 ex II on a 1ds must give better images than a P&S, but with on camera flash - you're effectively turning your camera into a P&S. Use your knowledge, and the beautiful backdrop nature has provided to give them something worthwhile.

 

[Bambi'sThumper]

Was at the beach yesterday and had a go at location portraits. The sun was awful and we have gales so I'm surprised I got anything half decent but these are a couple that I think is best.

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[Bambi'sThumper]

Oh and can I just add, his eyes aren't squinting because of the sun, its his natural set to his eyes - always makes shooting him a problem I find.

 

[Bambi'sThumper]

Everything Mike said.

A dull interior with on camera flash (even if it's bounced with some skill) will give you nowhere near the quality of images you can get outdoors.

It's easy to think that a 580 ex II on a 1ds must give better images than a P&S, but with on camera flash - you're effectively turning your camera into a P&S. Use your knowledge, and the beautiful backdrop nature has provided to give them something worthwhile.

Would these be worth purchasing?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Continuous-Lighting-50x70cm-Photography-Softboxes/dp/B0089HTJE4/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1380533537&sr=8-11&keywords=studio+equipment+photography

 

[Phil V]

Would these be worth purchasing?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Continuous-Lighting-50x70cm-Photography-Softboxes/dp/B0089HTJE4/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1380533537&sr=8-11&keywords=studio+equipment+photography

Short answer:
No!
Longer answer:
Absolutely Not!!

Full answer:

That kit won't put out enough light to take portraits at a reasonable ISO, there's a very good reason photographers use flash, it's bright and consistent. If you want to start adding light artificially you can start simple with
A pair of radio triggers
A cheap manual flashgun
A Stand and shoot through umbrella (although a foldable softbox offers advantages).
That lot's about £70, or £90 if you go with a softbox.

But you can start with windowlight and reflectors, I get puzzled when people start thinking about shooting portraits that they immediately think backdrops, lighting stands etc. Millions of beautiful day lit shots are taken every day. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, you need to learn to see the light.

And whilst flash genius' like Garry Edwards will tell you that studio lighting is much more controllable than Natural light, great photographers like Jeff Ascough will show you that you can find interesting natural light in all kinds of situations, you have to learn to bend your 'studio' to fit it.

 

[DrGed]

Phil's answer is spot on!

Whatever you do, don't buy those cheap continuous lighting kits : they simply don't give out enough light. I bought some before I joined this forum and it was pretty much a waste of money.

I have since bought the kit that Phil describes and the results are a millions times better.

Also, as Phil says, there is an awful lot to be said for natural light. Reflectors are dirt cheap (Hobbycraft do an A1 piece of white foamboard for £3.99, I think) or you can improvise with materials you already have : you can take perfectly good portraits with window light.

 

[meonshore]

Was at the beach yesterday and had a go at location portraits. The sun was awful and we have gales so I'm surprised I got anything half decent but these are a couple that I think is best.

Jenny,

I'm afraid these are in no way close to professional/saleable quality images. You are shooting in full sun, and side lighting. It doesn't matter how naturally open your subjects eyes are you will either have one of them blown out or both in shadow, and an element of squinting.

The beach is always a tricky place to get portraits - I'm on the coast also and it needs to be an exceptionally suitable day to get good images - overcast and no/very light wind. You picked the wrong location on the wrong day.

Please go back to my previous post and re-read it.

- Open SHADE ... if it isn't bright and overcast then look for the shade caused by the sun behind a large object (building or trees)
- Have your subject look towards the light area (where the sun is shining towards or if overcast where there is an expanse of cloudy sky)

Moving from landscapes and wildlife to portraits is not a simple task. You simply must understand light and selecting where to place your subjects either outdoors or as Phil reminded you indoors with window light (ideally north facing). Once you have the light sorted you'll need to think about posing, and then relaxing and engaging with your subjects. But for now you really need to go back to the basics of finding good light.

 

[Phil V]

Was at the beach yesterday and had a go at location portraits. The sun was awful and we have gales so I'm surprised I got anything half decent but these are a couple that I think is best.

I'm afraid it's all of what Mike said, start with light, it's too easy to start with 'going somewhere pretty'.

I try to arrange my couple photoshoots in the last 2 hours of daylight, the light is kinder, and warmer. There's less likelihood of harsh sunlight, and it's a start point for the rest of the shoot. Just about everything about those 2 shots is wrong; lighting, focus, pose, cropping.

The usual mistake is to just point a camera at someone in the middle of the day, which is as naive as just pointing the camera at some mountains and calling it 'landscape photography'.

 

[Bambi'sThumper]

Mike - Can I just say that I said that they weren't good from the start, I did read your first post and I'm not going to be going to people/portraits, its just a favour for a friend and I was just trying to get some advice.
I am quite aware that I "picked the wrong location" but we went to the beach for a walk, it wasnt to go up there to get shots, and I just thought "hey stand there and I'll see how this turns out" - I dont know what I'm doing thats why I asked on here and you seem to be getting rather snobbish about how I dont know anything or have anything to be able to do portrait shots. Your advise is making me feel like I'm being stupid to try this and not wanting to do it. I'm sorry to have to say this but it is upsetting me and felt I need to say something.
Orkney may be great but the weather is impossible to work with this, if it happens, will be at the end of October - start of November, we're already into the gales and quite possible by then the storms will be.
Again I'm sorry but this has upset me

 

[wooster]

I agree re the lights advertised. Don't waste your money.

I have to disagree that on - camera flash correctly bounced can't give good results though. However it does require quite a lot of skill and experience so probably not for you at the moment. I also suspect you might mean the pop-up flash on your camera which is a different story anyway.

Given all that, the outdoors route as has been suggested is probably the way to go. Greatness is the ability to keep on making mistakes until you get things right. You will need to experiment try a location and lighting, go back and try something else to correct what you don't like. You will soon develop a critical eye and be able to forecast what you need to do to correct things you don't like. The beginning is the hardest part

But here's a very useful tip. Don't forget that reflectors and diffusers can greatly assist the quality of light you get outside. They can be rigged up cheaply and relatively easily and you get to see the results as you position them. If you have a google you'll find loads of good info on their use and also some cheap ways of creating DIY ones.

Don't give up. People will give you lots of advice and the trick is to persevere and take on board what they say. Portrait photography isn't easy. It takes a while to learn just like many other things and the only way to improve is by making mistakes and getting told where you went wrong. It's been the same for every portrait photographer. I bet if you carry on posting and listening you'll be amazed how quickly your photographs improve

 

[Betty]

Jenny don't take the advice too personally, the first photos I posted on here a few years back were ripped apart, but with good reason I took all the C+C onboard, and hopefully I am better for it now

 

[meonshore]

Mike - Can I just say that I said that they weren't good from the start, I did read your first post and I'm not going to be going to people/portraits, its just a favour for a friend and I was just trying to get some advice.

I am quite aware that I "picked the wrong location" but we went to the beach for a walk, it wasnt to go up there to get shots, and I just thought "hey stand there and I'll see how this turns out" - I dont know what I'm doing thats why I asked on here and you seem to be getting rather snobbish about how I dont know anything or have anything to be able to do portrait shots. Your advise is making me feel like I'm being stupid to try this and not wanting to do it. I'm sorry to have to say this but it is upsetting me and felt I need to say something.
Orkney may be great but the weather is impossible to work with this, if it happens, will be at the end of October - start of November, we're already into the gales and quite possible by then the storms will be.
Again I'm sorry but this has upset me

Jenny,

I had no wish to upset you, and I'm sorry if I did but conversely you asked for advice and what you have put in the last post (quoted above) conflicts with information in your original post and those in-between. It really helps people who are trying to provide assistance if you are (a) detailed in what you are looking for and expecting in terms of advice and (b) consistent.

At no point have a been snobbish about the amount of equipment you have or your desire to take on some portraits - my suggestion was for you to use natural light - I was just surprised that your immediate assumption was to use a tripod and pop-up camera flash indoors given your experience as a landscape and wildlife photographer and what I assume are a variety of picturesque outdoor locations - albeit that you need to be more selective at this time of year in both location and the day you choose as anyone would.

I neither suggested you spend any additional money or that I might have used more kit. In fact 90% of the portrait work I do uses natural light and it would always be my first choice - what else I own is irrelevant - you'll note I don't list out every lens and compact flashcard I own either in my profile or signature because as far as I am concerned what kit you have is pretty unimportant when you are talking about some of the basic concepts as they apply no matter what make or cost of camera you own.

You did say in your original post that you wanted to get more into people photography, and you posted images up saying that they were the best from a session. None of us had any idea from that post that you hadn't gone out with the explicit intent of practicing, scouting a location, or having them critiqued - why otherwise would you put them up ?

I'm not sure what else to say other than if you feel that the advice provided so far is harsh and upsetting then I don't think there is much else for me to contribute other than to wish you good luck with your portrait session - I hope it goes well.