mgstrawn Loc: Atlanta, GA

Good Morning! I have a friend who is using her new T3i to take directory pictures for our Church and they are turning out wonderful! The T3i was amazing with the fluorescent lighting that we have as well. The photos are so good that they are not going to need any post processing other than a little cropping. We have a user friendly program called 'Church Directory' which can be found at www.churchdirectory.com. You've received great advice so far and here are things we did to prepare: 1. Choose an area or room in advance where the lighting is best and set it up consistently before each shoot. Make sure that your subjects are not sitting directly under a fluorescent light!! If you are photographing against a wall, be sure that your subjects are standing/sitting at least 3/4 feet away from the wall to prevent shadows. 2. Set up some test shots with some willing people to try photographing 1, 2, or multiple people, preferably with some children to give you a feel for how you need to place them. You can google 'portrait poses' or something similar to that to find a wealth of information on how to pose your subjects. You want to be a uniform as possible with the directory unless you are just shooting totally candid shots as some churches do. 3. Your 18-55 lens is definitely the best one to use. When doing your test shots, you can determine the best focal length that will allow for uniform cropping. 4. Using a tripod that is set up the same for each shoot is a must!! I'm sure you already know this. 5. Use a church roll to keep up with everyone as you photograph them. The beauty about the program we are using is that we can update pictures and information frequently and painlessly. It also allows for the creation of a cover page and multiple activity pages as well. We are having a lot of fun and turning out an amazingly good product! Keep in mind, my advice comes from someone who is not a professional! There are some amazing professionals and 'high end' amateurs on this site who are very helpful as well.

designpro

Focal length is really important in portrait photography. There are two types of lenses, single (prime) or zoom. Many pros use only prime lenses when doing portraits. If choosing a prime lens, 50mm would be the shortest length to choose. You definitely don't want to go any shorter, because you will have to get too close to your model. A better focal length is somewhere between 75mm and 150mm. This gives the photographer a better combination of depth of field, distance from the subject, and flexibility in choosing the perspective.

If the lens does not have a long enough focal length, it could cause facial features that are out of proportion. Everyone has seen those images of the cows where the cow's nose looks way out of proportion when compared to the rest of the animal. That is done on purpose, of course, using a wide angle lens (less than 50mm) and getting too close to the subject.

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

Wow, some great advice. Much of what you said I am doing. There was some good points that you made that I will incorporate;ie posing 3 or more feet from wall. (I did see some shadows on the cream colored wall behind my test subject's ears.)
I am the treasurer and use a financial/membership program called Power Church. It has a "directory" feature that allows for inclusion of photos.
Do you know what mode was used for your friends pictures? auto, portrait, av? If av, what aperture was set? Was lighting set for fluorescent or did you use some other setting? The consenses is that I should set my lens to between 35 and 80 mm. What was used in your case?
I know that is a lot of info to ask for but would appreciate any and all suggestions.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

On the Canon t3i you an set the camera for florescent light. Be sure to do that.

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

Forgot to ask. What iso was used? I couldn't get churchdirectory.com to open. Is that sie possibly instantchurchdirectory.com?

mgstrawn Loc: Atlanta, GA

Yes, sorry about that! www.instantchurchdirectory.com. I will find out the photo information tomorrow and let you know.

mgstrawn Loc: Atlanta, GA

I am so enjoying all of your teaching posts!

CAM1017 Loc: Chiloquin, Oregon

Big no on the 10-22 unless you want them all to have big noses and be mad at you. I would suggest the 55-250 set at about 100mm to take a nice head and shoulder shot.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

Bingo.

Gal on the Go Loc: Annapolis, Maryland

I did a church directory last year and it was a great experience. The photos were all taken at locations chosen by each family, outdoors and beautiful scenes - some were done in their own yards. I wanted to do this as practice for me. We sold photo packages to generate some funds for the project. I used Creative Memories software to create the pages thus giving it a scrapbook background. All the photos were different due to the varied locations. Some photos included pets, too. This added interest to the book. The church has a business sized color printer so we printed in house and then had them spiral bound at Staples. With over a hundred photo shoots on locations it took a while to complete, but I am quite proud of the finished product. Good luck with your project.

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

Thanks for sharing that.

Your photo shoots and directory sound like a lot of fun. This will be my first time venturing beyond family shots so I'm being a bit more cautious than you were and as a result, less creative.

I'm using a church financial/membership program which permits the inclusion of 2"/2" photos if you desire. Everyone will be shot against the same lightly colored wall and I only will shoot maybe 45 families (many of them are camera shy). I'm thinking iof offering them all a free 4/6. That should increase participation, don't you think?

If this works ok, maybe next time, I'll venture out of the box more like you did and get more creative.

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

Thanks for sharing that.

Your photo shoots and directory sound like a lot of fun. This will be my first time venturing beyond family shots so I'm being a bit more cautious than you were and as a result, less creative.

I'm using a church financial/membership program which permits the inclusion of 2"/2" photos if you desire. Everyone will be shot against the same lightly colored wall and I only will shoot maybe 45 families (many of them are camera shy). I'm thinking iof offering them all a free 4/6. That should increase participation, don't you think?

If this works ok, maybe next time, I'll venture out of the box more like you did and get more creative.

robertcull Loc: San Francisco, CA

Hello, If you are going digital with the portraits remember that your Canon is 1.6x the focal length and the standard full frame lens for this activity is 135mm in 35mm so on your camera that would be 85mm. This setup provides the best portrait size. Hope this helps.
Robert

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

The classic lens for portraits is, and always has been, 85mm to 100mm length. The very least you would want to use would be 50 to 55mm - although it's not the ultimate correct length it would work. If you use the 10-22 you'll end up with people having bulbous huge noses, little bodies, and very wide faces like clowns because of fisheye distortion that starts to become present in short focal lengths. So use your 55-250mm lens and set it for about 100mm and that will give you the optimum results.

Your kit lenses are WAY more than adequate for that project.

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

OK,

Thanks Robert. Excuse my photo dumbness, but does that mean that I should set my zoom lens to 85mm?