Attempting portrait shoot of friends kids

Mr. Photographer

Mr. Photographer

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Lucien Hughes
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I've offered to shoot some portraits of some friends kids but I'm new to this sort of work. I'm not getting paid so the pressure's not too high, but I'd like to capture something nice for them to go away with.

The problem is that I'll be shooting the portraits indoors, and I only have one off-camera flash.

Does anyone have any recommendations of how I should prepare the lighting and backdrop? I'm thinking of investing in a flash stand and translucent umbrella, and putting up a large white sheet or using a white wall.

And tips for this kind of shoot would be nice :)
 
billybob99 said:
if you want the background to be pure light you'll need to light that as well as the subject so you may struggle with only one light
Click to expand...

Thanks, would it be worth borrowing an extra flashgun from a friend?

And also would it be possible to use a reflector to lighten the shadows caused by only one primary light source?
 
If it's your 1st go. My main piece of advice would be don't give yourself too much to think about !

Use natural light, get a 2m x 3m sheet of 'net curtain' material. Put that up on a south facing window and you have a lovely continuous light softbox. If it's cloudy you don't need the fabric.

Trying to get 'studio quality' images without a whole load of studio kit is hard work. It can be done, but it isn't easy.

Concentrate on the kids, the natural light and interacting with them.

Lastly Good Luck !
 
Hodders said:
If it's your 1st go. My main piece of advice would be don't give yourself too much to think about !

Use natural light, get a 2m x 3m sheet of 'net curtain' material. Put that up on a south facing window and you have a lovely continuous light softbox. If it's cloudy you don't need the fabric.

Trying to get 'studio quality' images without a whole load of studio kit is hard work. It can be done, but it isn't easy.

Concentrate on the kids, the natural light and interacting with them.

Lastly Good Luck !
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice!

The problem is where that I'll be shooting in a Village hall, there are south facing windows; albeit small ones, but there won't be any nice backgrounds and as much as I love to work with natural light I was hoping to get more of a classic portrait.
 
OK
1. Forget the white background unless you can use extra lights - but then you are giving yourself more to think about and you don't need that.

2. Get the subject as far away from the background as possible. If you use the flash with a shoot through umberella and shoot say 3/4 to head and shoulders type shots then the background will be pretty much black.

Set the camera and flash to MANUAL. Put the flash to say 1/4 power, ISO to 100 and shutter speed to 1/125

That should block out all the ambient light. Now adjust the aperture until you get the exposure right on the camera. Try f8 to start. If too bright go to a smaller aperture like f11 or smaller or perhaps somewhere in between.

The flash power is controlled by the aperture. Just adjust the aperture until the flash looks good on your camera (checking the histogram will help too to make sure)

What you should get is a black background with your subject exposed correctly. It's important that the light you use does not light the background - that's why the subjects need to be as far away from it as you can get them (doesn't need to be too far but far enough away that the light doesn't register). If you see light on the background (in your camera), just move the light a little closer to your subject and adjust the aperture to suit.

This was window light in a hotel room and the bride was very close to the window. The closer the light is to the subject the quicker the light it will fall off which renders the background black. There was a bed, people in the room and the wall was only about 10-12 feet away...... Not a perfect shot but used to show that you can eliminate a background easily.

10.jpg


I could complicate things by saying read up on the inverse square law - But that just screws with the mind :)

A white background or using a sheet of some kind will likely just look messy and distracting.

Also I appreciate it's kids you are shooting and they can be tough. Doorways work well - Nice soft directional light that falls off quickly and provides a near black background if the hall behind is long. You may not even need the flash!
 
Last edited:
EOS_JD said:
OK
1. Forget the white background unless you can use extra lights - but then you are giving yourself more to think about and you don't need that.

2. Get the subject as far away from the background as possible. If you use the flash with a shoot through umberella and shoot say 3/4 to head and shoulders type shots then the background will be pretty much black.

Set the camera and flash to MANUAL. Put the flash to say 1/4 power, ISO to 100 and shutter speed to 1/125

That should block out all the ambient light. Now adjust the aperture until you get the exposure right on the camera. Try f8 to start. If too bright go to a smaller aperture like f11 or smaller or perhaps somewhere in between.

The flash power is controlled by the aperture. Just adjust the aperture until the flash looks good on your camera (checking the histogram will help too to make sure)

What you should get is a black background with your subject exposed correctly. It's important that the light you use does not light the background - that's why the subjects need to be as far away from it as you can get them (doesn't need to be too far but far enough away that the light doesn't register). If you see light on the background (in your camera), just move the light a little closer to your subject and adjust the aperture to suit.

I could complicate things by saying read up on the inverse square law - But that just screws with the mind :)

A white background or using a sheet of some kind will likely just look messy and distracting.

Also I appreciate it's kids you are shooting and they can be tough. Doorways work well - Nice soft directional light that falls off quickly and provides a near black background if the hall behind is long. You may not even need the flash!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I may end up going down that route.

The thing is I really wanted to have a white background, if I could borrow an extra flashgun or two would it be worth attempting?
 
Mr. Photographer said:
The thing is I really wanted to have a white background, if I could borrow an extra flashgun or two would it be worth attempting?
Click to expand...

Possibly, but even then it'll be hard work for you. I'd say use a dark background. With just 1 light...


Kai by BubbleDouble, on Flickr
 
i done this under very simple conditions,
lounge with 1 windows and 1 flash for a little fill and a white sheet,


IMG_3273 by Photo Tranquility, on Flickr
 
Pmc2011 said:
i done this under very simple conditions,
lounge with 1 windows and 1 flash for a little fill and a white sheet,


IMG_3273 by Photo Tranquility, on Flickr
Click to expand...

That's great! Just the kind of thing I'm looking for, would you mind explaining the layout of your setup?

Low-key is nice but it's a bit arty, I'm looking for a standard portrait. Trying not to look pretentious.
 
Phin that's not bad but the issue here is the OP doesn't have the natural light! If it's all flash then you'll need a second light (at least). Also the white sheet will possibly need stretched to remove creases. lighting a background is not hard but is not really easy either.

Save yourself the hassle. 1 flash and a reflector can produce some nice results.

Oh and use a nice large brolly if you can.
 
EOS_JD said:
OK
1. Forget the white background unless you can use extra lights - but then you are giving yourself more to think about and you don't need that.

2. Get the subject as far away from the background as possible. If you use the flash with a shoot through umberella and shoot say 3/4 to head and shoulders type shots then the background will be pretty much black.

Set the camera and flash to MANUAL. Put the flash to say 1/4 power, ISO to 100 and shutter speed to 1/125

That should block out all the ambient light. Now adjust the aperture until you get the exposure right on the camera. Try f8 to start. If too bright go to a smaller aperture like f11 or smaller or perhaps somewhere in between.

The flash power is controlled by the aperture. Just adjust the aperture until the flash looks good on your camera (checking the histogram will help too to make sure)

What you should get is a black background with your subject exposed correctly. It's important that the light you use does not light the background - that's why the subjects need to be as far away from it as you can get them (doesn't need to be too far but far enough away that the light doesn't register). If you see light on the background (in your camera), just move the light a little closer to your subject and adjust the aperture to suit.

This was window light in a hotel room and the bride was very close to the window. The closer the light is to the subject the quicker the light it will fall off which renders the background black. There was a bed, people in the room and the wall was only about 10-12 feet away...... Not a perfect shot but used to show that you can eliminate a background easily.

10.jpg


I could complicate things by saying read up on the inverse square law - But that just screws with the mind :)

A white background or using a sheet of some kind will likely just look messy and distracting.

Also I appreciate it's kids you are shooting and they can be tough. Doorways work well - Nice soft directional light that falls off quickly and provides a near black background if the hall behind is long. You may not even need the flash!
Click to expand...

Sorry to jump in on this thread, but i just wanted to say that even if the OP doesnt need this info, it's very useful to me. Thank you.
 
Bilko said:
Sorry to jump in on this thread, but i just wanted to say that even if the OP doesnt need this info, it's very useful to me. Thank you.
Click to expand...

:thumbs:
 
Can you not find any natural light at all in the hall?A open door,another room or even outside?

These where taken with natural light behind the reflector and one light at the front.


Deacon Headshot B&W-6 by DeanSupreme, on Flickr


Connie hat-6 by DeanSupreme, on Flickr


Connie & Deacon Head Shot-6 by DeanSupreme, on Flickr

Here is the set up.


Set up-6 by DeanSupreme, on Flickr

Simple but effective.

How old are the children?You might find your main problem if they're toddlers is getting them to stay still for more than one second.:lol:
 
DEANSUPREME said:
Can you not find any natural light at all in the hall?A open door,another room or even outside?

These where taken with natural light behind the reflector and one light at the front.


Deacon Headshot B&W-6 by DeanSupreme, on Flickr


Connie hat-6 by DeanSupreme, on Flickr


Connie & Deacon Head Shot-6 by DeanSupreme, on Flickr

Here is the set up.


Set up-6 by DeanSupreme, on Flickr

Simple but effective.

How old are the children?You might find your main problem if they're toddlers is getting them to stay still for more than one second.:lol:
Click to expand...

Thanks, nice shots! I might be able to do something like that, yet to visit the location so it's possible.

Most of them are 6-10 so it shouldn't be too much of a problem :)
 
How many are there? You could probably do them at home with that set up above that worked very well.
 
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