Beginner Portrait photography kit

macs

macs

Messages
794
Name
Rich
Edit My Images
Yes
My sister has asked me to do a photoshoot of her son and my 2 kids as an anniversary present for our parents. I've never done this sort of thing before so bit unsure what kit to take. I've taken some glorified snaps of my kids but never done a "shoot" or portraiture either.

The kit I have is D7000 body with Nikkor 18-55 kit lens, Nikkor 35mm f1.8 and a Tamron 18-200. I have a Jessops flash but not really used it much. I have no off camera equipment and hoping to use natural light.

We're going to head to a local park/lake/country-house-with-estate-land type of place in the spring so natural light should be fine. Hoping for some daffodil shots or similar.

Also got to try and get a few shots with everyone in (4 parents and 3 kids) with no extra person to hold the camera so will take the tripod and remote release for these shots. Anyone done that sort of shot with any success before?

Anyway, what would your set up be for the shoot given my options?
 
How old are your kids?

Try finding some images you'd like to reproduce - roughly, anyway - so you can make a plan. Perhaps have a variety of images to cope with differing light conditions. That plan will tell you what equipment you need. tbh I reckon your kit will be fine, though if you're doing close portraits a 5-in-1 reflector is invaluable and the diffuser from the middle of it can be very useful to soften harsh sun.

I wouldn't bother with the flash unless you want to learn first.

For head & shoulders, longer focal lengths are generally better and they tend to give nicer oof backgrounds. If you can borrow a long fast prime then do but I'm sure you'll be fine without - provoking and capturing the reactions you want is more important than any amount of bokeh.
 
To add to what Simon said, aim for later in the day when the sun is lower and produces more interesting light.

Personally I'd hate to shoot a family snap including me, there's nothing would curtail my creativity like having me in a shot.
 
Just jumping on the back of this question, do you think a nifty 50 is a good lens to have in a portrait kit? An would you guys say always go manual? Reason I ask is I'm looking to create a portrait kit too and was thinking tripods, 2-3 flash's, triggers, 50mm f1.8 lens plus ??
 
crazychimpjimbo said:
Just jumping on the back of this question, do you think a nifty 50 is a good lens to have in a portrait kit?
Click to expand...

It depends what you've else got! It's a useful length (on FF) but if you've got a zoom which covers it then only you can decide whether reduced DoF is worth having. 85mm is a more common - and flattering - length for headshots/ I like 150mm (equivalent) for all sorts of things.

An would you guys say always go manual? Reason I ask is I'm looking to create a portrait kit too and was thinking tripods, 2-3 flash's, triggers, 50mm f1.8 lens plus ??
Click to expand...

I use manual exposure but then I struggle to make TTL work reliably with OCF on Olympus.

Tripods? Do you mean light stands?
Oh - and start with one light, a small-medium softbox and a 5-in-1 reflector. Don't start by buying loads, it'll just make life difficult.
 
crazychimpjimbo said:
Just jumping on the back of this question, do you think a nifty 50 is a good lens to have in a portrait kit? An would you guys say always go manual? Reason I ask is I'm looking to create a portrait kit too and was thinking tripods, 2-3 flash's, triggers, 50mm f1.8 lens plus ??
Click to expand...
Again, adding to the above;

Personally I'm not a fan of the 50mm as a portrait lens, though it's cheap and it has it's uses. Secondly, if flash is your primary light source, use Manual, if you're in a static situation use Manual flash settings - in changing conditions TTL will help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top