bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

OK, on the huge corporate project, they sent me the details of what they expected.

Here is a copied and pasted line in the description of the settings used in their example image. (shot in AV mode? Really?)

"Alameda is using a Canon, with a 4 point open, AV setting"

In plain English, would that be Aperture (AV mode) at F-4. What does 4 point open mean exactly?

Now, they are actually purchasing an LED panel for me, and don't want me to use my strobes (that I am comfortable with), and they want the turn around for 110 people in 4 days. I explained that there will be very little editing with that kind of turn around, and they were fine with it.

It reminds me of grade school photos. They want 3 poses, 2 shots of each pose (they sent examples of the poses)

The creativity is completely gone from this project. They even have everything stringed (measured from backdrop to subject, backdrop to LED light, backdrop to "natural light window", etc.) If it weren't for the price tag they want to pay, and that it's going to be a contract job where I return on a regular basis to string everything, and press a button, I'm just about to back out. They are even assigning one of their people to get all the releases signed, maintain them, and "herd" people through the line. I'm basically going to be standing there pressing a shutter for a few hours.

Anyway, is there something about "4 point" that I'm missing, or are they just trying to get fancy with plain old F-4? I haven't shot AV mode on purpose in forever. (I did when trying to learn Nikon CLS, but gave it up and went back to manual)

I'm expecting a real snooze fest, but like I said, the money is there. :-)

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I guess part of the good news is, I'm getting a "free" LED panel, white savage backdrop paper, they are even sending stands, even though I probably have 4 sets of backdrop stands... Is it really stupid that I'm dreading this?

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

If you can take pictures of 110 people and get a "good" expressions from each of them my hat goes off to you. You are going to snoozes too? - Dave

greg vescuso Loc: Ozark,Mo.

I think your over thinking this . You give them two shots of three poses. If you can get all three poses with one lighting setup , yes it will just be like school pictures ( a cattle drive) and a lot easier to edit later because your lighting setup will make all your shots look the same. Not very creative but efficient.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I'd answer, but I'm a Nikon friend! Best of luck with this. Sounds like fun! If working is too much fun, you shouldn't be getting paid, so put some effort into getting good expressions and the nicest shots you can, and you'll be asked back. Headshots are never that much fun, but they can be if you're a people person. Go with the flow!

superpijak Loc: Middle TN

Bob - Just remember, not all the jobs we take are 100% fun. Go with the mission, you might actually enjoy it. To me it sounds as if whomever wrote the settings isn't photography savvy. Yep, rest of us would say aperture priority at f4 and so forth......

tjw

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

Bob, I love your posts. Better than reality TV. Anyway, the 4 point thing may be referring to F4 or maybe 4 point lighting as in this diagram I found with a google search. That doesn't seem to make sense with the LED panel however unless it is the key light and they want you to provide the other 3 points of light. Peter Hurley uses continuous lighting with several panels. Ah, I don't think I am much help, but keep us in the loop when you get it figured out.

I am still willing to swing over and help you out with the setup and such, but it sounds like your friends have that all taken care of.

Who is Alameda?

Rob Almeda Loc: Gaithersburg, Maryland

My guess is it is a 4 point lighting system. Who is Alameda?....well it is not me....BTW Bob, just have fun with your project and you will do everything okay. Good luck !!!

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Alameda California? (home office) Probably spelled it wrong?

HA, just finished the first round. Got 62 done the first day. Many people were either out of the office, forgot and wore "logo" t-shirts, or just plan refused. Not my problem. I switched from a "per person" to a flat fee for the job. I had a sneaky feeling that it wouldn't go smoothly like the cattle call they had envisioned.

The set up was a cluster ___ They gave me 6 pages of instructions on what they wanted. The exact poses, light set up, etc.

The instructions said "emphasize natural light" and they put me in a room with windows tinted with what looked like limo tint. When I first walked in the room, the lights weren't on, and I almost ran into a ping pong table.

They specified the light panel as "fill light" but had it positioned as key light. 45 degrees up, 45 degrees off to subject left. I had my 2'x3' light panel that I use for newborn shots in the car, so I "faked" the window behind me as "natural" I'm not overly happy, because the LED panel is cool, and I specifically put warm color bulbs in my panel.

The paper is like 5' wide, and they wanted the subjects to be 67.5" in front of the "fold" of the paper. Problem is, at that distance, the larger people's shoulders were outside the paper. They specifically wanted from the belly button up, "they will crop". OK, no problem, but i still had to move people back so I didn't have to photoshop white behind everyone.

Next "fun" opportunity. They said "no editing, just JUST cropping, AND fixing glare in glasses" OK, some glasses are just shaped so that no matter how you put the lights, you will get glare.... so I had to take extra photos of all the glasses people (all old like me, so a LOT of glasses) with no glasses, so I could fix the glare. Sigh....

The 4 point, HAD TO BE aperture, since they only wanted me to use the non existent window, and the 1'square light panel (mistakenly called) the fill light. I don't do aperture mode, and I know I won't use it for the rest of the people later next week. Depending on the clothes, and the skin tone, my metering was all over the place at f/4. I had to go in and adjust almost every photo to get the backgrounds to all resemble one another. It is something I didn't notice during the shoot, but it made a huge difference. Spot metering would have done the same thing, because I had everything from, so white, they looked translucent, to EXTREMELY dark African American skin tones, and everything in between. Shooting that many people using the settings supplied in the "guidebook" they sent, made 10x more work than if I would have just metered, set it in manual where I wanted it, and went to town.

OK, that was the "bad."

The good is that
1. I would say that 90% of the people I shot the first day were amazing to work with. They took direction, and all but one gave me very good results. (he wasn't about to cooperate, from what I'm told, he thinks the government is going to use his photos off the internet, or some weird thing)

2. Got 4 family portrait shots, and a 2017 wedding so far.

I really didn't enjoy the feeling of frustration that I had no creative license, I felt hamstrung by the company, but the people there were just absolutely great. I made a little sign with numbers and handed it to them as they walked in, and told them to prepare for their mug shots. It broke the ice, and just by joking around, I think I ended up with some really good expressions. If a guy was next, and had a woman behind him. I would tell him that he needs to keep his clothes on, and the "underwear modeling session" would begin after we got the rest of the staff done. This got quite a bit of joking around started. There were a few, like everywhere, that wanted to do the "tough guy" thing, but by the time we were done, I had a very nice expression, if not a huge smile, on everyone by the time I was done.

I did sign a non-use agreement. Thankfully, the people that booked me for family shoots have already agreed that I will be able to use their family shots if I want to.

All in all, I actually learned a lot about shooting in "modes" and why I will probably just stick with my manual mode. My hand held meter is still my best friend. (next to my lovely bride, that is)

Thanks to everyone who offered input.

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

Thanks for the follow up. We can all learn from that experience. Bob, I think you discovered a new marketing avenue! Boring headshots = new wedding & group shot opportunities.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Congratulations! You came out on top despite a creative and technical nightmare! This goes to show you what happens when folks who know nothing about photographic portraiture start creating instruction based on misconceptions about natural light, the use of LED equipment, negative commentary about flash usage and a whole bunch of other silly rhetoric that circulates throughout the amateur world! If they would have left you to your own good experience and devices, I am sure the assignment would have been more enjoyable for you and, in the end, would have produced more creative and artistic results for the clients.

Your people skills are what got you through the job and brought you the referrals that you deserve.

Just analyze the "instructions": Continuous light sources could have brought about motion blur due to subject or camera movement, especially if you were shooting in a rush to accommodate a tight schedule. Working at a very wide aperture could have created some depth of field issues, again, when trying to maintain sharp focus when working in a hurry. Working with so-called natural light with dark tinted windows? Give me a break! Did the powers that be not know about their own location conditions? This anti-retouching and editing nonsense come from people that know little or nothing about proper retouching methods.

You are a good man- you managed to overcome all the potential problems and come out with a proper job. Sorry for the rant- it just gets my goat when dummies get to run the show!

Best regards, Ed

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Thanks everyone. I will tell you that I really REALLY don't understand why people want to shoot in aperture mode, especially with this last experience. Way too many variables effecting the outcome. The black gentleman with the dark clothes slowed my shutter down really badly, and blew out the white background.

I'm back at it Wednesday morning with a few stragglers that didn't make it to the first shoot, and going in with my eyes open. I'm metering everything, and shooting in manual where I'm comfortable. Thankfully, I did use my Colorcheckr passport to help with the mixed temperatures of light a little, and will do the same thing.

I really am glad that it's paying so well, but I can also tell you that I'd much rather pass on it if it ever came up again. Doing the corporate office for a regional chain restaurant next week.( total of 50 people) I already told them how I was going to shoot. More environmental shots, and creative poses and positioning. They were very happy with the suggestions, and that they won't look like "mug shots" (which is what this job that I'm finishing up Wed. feels like.

Thank goodness there are still people who want to stand out from the crowd.

bk