jwegge11 wrote:
I would truly appreciate any thoughts on doing some outdoor family pics. Could be related to lighting, filters, staging of the subjects, things to look for, things to avoid, best time of day, cool props, lenses, flash v no flash, angle of flash.
Will be mom, dad and up to 3 kids.
As always I appreciate your feedback.
Jeff
PS-- If you have any interesting family shots you want to share along with what you did to get them--that would be helpful as well.
Hi Jeff,
I'm James from Anchorage Alaska. Portrait photography can be very challenging. Because there are literally dozens of different skin colors and skin tones. Lighting situations can vary greatly from one individual to another. There are dozens of good lights available on the market to choose from, including steady (continuous), strobe and flash. A flash is a light that attaches to your camera, or is built in. A strobe connects to your camera but is separate, usually on a light stand with an umbrella. I would strongly recommend buying a basic 3 light kit to start, along with at least 2 reflectors.
If you want to do most of your portrait photography outdoors, your best light source is usually natural light, preferably defused. Bright sunny days don't offer good light for photographing portraits because of the harsh and hard shadows it produces. Cloudy days are best because the sunlight is defused, producing very nice and soft shadows.
The internet has a plethora of information for the beginning, advanced & professional photographer. Here's a link where you can go to buy lighting equipment;
http://www.dmkfoto.com/ It's a very good sight and offers a wide variety of photo equipment at very reasonable prices. Granted the equipment isn't top of the line, but it offers good quality equipment at very affordable prices. I got my first lighting kit from here and continue buying from them because they are affordable with my limited budget. I have not been disappointed with my equipment from DMK Foto. FYI, I'm not normally recommending, nor do I promote businesses unless I believe in it and even then, only rarely.
Last, I would recommend researching the internet specifically about outdoor portrait photography. You would be amazed at the amount of people willing to share their knowledge online, especially on
http://youtube.com. I use the internet all the time, researching and learning about photography and videography. Sorry to be so long winded, but I hope you find this helpful and useful.
James, Anchorage Alaska