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dancook

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Dan
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First time trying an outdoor group portrait on a Sunny day like this,

Standing under a tree, with wind blowing I found, annoyingly, the sunlight crept into my images and then moved around the faces. It didn't seem like I was going to be able to avoid this

I removed the umbrellas due to wind and had bare flash, annoyingly I got shadows. I have yet to spend some time in photoshopping to see what I can piece together - but here is a quick lightrooom process.

Temp by dancook1982, on Flickr

Given the conditions, I'd appreciate advice on how to improve a group photo like this in future.

I also took a few portraits, I will photoshop process later to try and reduce hotspots

Temp by dancook1982, on Flickr

Temp by dancook1982, on Flickr

Temp by dancook1982, on Flickr

Temp by dancook1982, on Flickr

These all had to be done within an hour, including clearing space, set-up, test shots.

Whilst I like to perform to the best of my ability at any given time, it was unpaid work for a charity.
 
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Carlh said:
the point is dan, you know what is wrong (y)
Click to expand...

I know what went obviously wrong :) - looking back, if I had more time, perhaps I could have placed the flashes closer and higher - popped the ultra-wide piece down in front of them (although probably not needed), maybe I could have avoided the shadows better.

If I was able to weigh the stands down, I could have used the umbrellas and perhaps the shadows would not have been so harsh.

So if I were to guess, those would be my answers.
 
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dancook said:
I know what went obviously wrong :) - looking back, if I had more time, perhaps I could have placed the flashes closer and higher - popped the ultra-wide piece down in front of them (although probably not needed), maybe I could have avoided the shadows better.

If I was able to weigh the stands down, I could have used the umbrellas and perhaps the shadows would not have been so harsh.

So if I were to guess, those would be my answers.
Click to expand...
doesn't matter, you knew what you didn't have time to do, but got around it anyway. Plus I bet they were all faffing about outside, one would have been tapping her feet impatiently, the others just titting around. I get into a right sweat when there's a group of them.

I popped on your flickr (yummy food pics btw), I noticed you only shot the group at F2. I thought it looked a little soft, for a large group like that, you may need to shoot at F8/F11 to get everyone nice and sharp :)
 
Carlh said:
doesn't matter, you knew what you didn't have time to do, but got around it anyway. Plus I bet they were all faffing about outside, one would have been tapping her feet impatiently, the others just titting around. I get into a right sweat when there's a group of them.

I popped on your flickr (yummy food pics btw), I noticed you only shot the group at F2. I thought it looked a little soft, for a large group like that, you may need to shoot at F8/F11 to get everyone nice and sharp :)
Click to expand...

I shot with a telephoto because I wanted to have as small a DOF as I could get away with, for the isolation from background - what you see is a <500k jpg - so there may be room for sharpness improvement when I spend some more time processing it.

Each time we did a retake, I added to a list of commands for each shot "look at the camera, open your eyes, smile, etc....." just so they didn't forget :D
 
dancook said:
I shot with a telephoto because I wanted to have as small a DOF as I could get away with, for the isolation from background - what you see is a <500k jpg - so there may be room for sharpness improvement when I spend some more time processing it.

Each time we did a retake, I added to a list of commands for each shot "look at the camera, open your eyes, smile, etc....." just so they didn't forget :D
Click to expand...

telephoto is fine, even with a higher DOF, if you've got a long enough focal length - it'll still bokeh :) the telephoto gets a lovely flattened look and hides big noses and other protruding bits, just the aperture is a bit too open :) you could have put it up to F8 or F11, dropped the shutterspeed to 250 and maybe put the ISO up to 320iso/maybe 400, dont worry about the noise. You can always noise reduce it with the software you have

Its just if they go get a big print off you it'll stick out that they're not in focus :)

Do a test. grab the missus, focus on her face, shove the F stop way up to F10 and zoom in as much as you can on the person (full zoom so you might have to stand back a bit), make sure the other half hasn't got something immediately behind her, maybe 15/20 foot away from the backscene objects - you'll still get separation :) I dont know how the math works, but it works. Something to do with the focal length and the focus locked on the subject maybe, but it works. As long as they're nice and far away from the back-scene, it'll work. Honestly :)
 
'Jazz hands' needs adding to your list too. :D

Are these for you to practice with or are they going to be used? You have some understanding friends/collegues but I suppose they come to expect it with you always wielding a camera around.
 
minnnt said:
'Jazz hands' needs adding to your list too. :D

Are these for you to practice with or are they going to be used? You have some understanding friends/collegues but I suppose they come to expect it with you always wielding a camera around.
Click to expand...

These photos will be used (cringe) on their website, the portraits will probably be used like this.... :D

4b.jpg 3b.jpg 2b.jpg 1a.jpg

These are not my colleagues, it's my wife who works with them (last photo in original post)

I will do my best to correct the group photo in Photoshop, hopefully they have a lower expectation than I :)
 
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Thought she looked familiar... seen her a few times now. :D

I'm no expert and have never really done anything like this before but I think it looks fine although I'm only on my phone atm. Was looking at it earlier on Flickr before I saw this post thinking that the light looked nice. :LOL:
 
So OK Dan, the group shot is a bog standard wedding group, for which I've never once used flash so I have to ask - why did you use flash for it?

You were there and I wasn't, but was it really impossible to find any area of shade (as opposed to dappled shade*) in which you could stand them with all the light you could wish for coming in from all that bright sky overhead?

*Dappled shade is defined as shade which is of no use to a photographer, so is always best avoided by one.
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
So OK Dan, the group shot is a bog standard wedding group, for which I've never once used flash so I have to ask - why did you use flash for it?

You were there and I wasn't, but was it really impossible to find any area of shade (as opposed to dappled shade*) in which you could stand them with all the light you could wish for coming in from all that bright sky overhead?

*Dappled shade is defined as shade which is of no use to a photographer, so is always best avoided by one.
Click to expand...

It was by a canal lined with trees, the other-side was a small dirt path, this is what runs by their office. This is the same canal, just further up - inaccessible on the tree side, different time of day though - at midday there is no shade on the dirt path

Guildford River Wey by dancook1982, on Flickr

I figured I'd need to balance the subjects against the bright background, as an example I've taken a non flashed image - and increased exposure until the subject was better exposed.

View attachment 16538

I'm open to suggestion on how I should have done it
 
Looking for something else useful to add without repeating what's been said - what do you think of the posing of your better half, compared to the other portraits? Look at the jawline, much more flattering in the image of your wife than the others. Particularly the bloke and the woman in green, who are almost leaning away from the camera - which gives the double chin effect.

Can be difficult to get without looking stiff when you've got limited time and people who don't like being in front of the camera. I think you're wife may be over cooking it just a touch, but still more flattering to her than the others. All part of the fun though I guess.
 
I need to learn some rules to a flattering portrait. I have am idea about pushing your forehead forward and down to create a better jawline, but not confident or familiar enough to mess around with it during a shoot
 
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