Question about portrait settings.
Jun 1, 2012 05:23:11 #
Hi Greg
Sounds like you've taken on quite a challenge. Your location choice for the shoot is a particularly difficult one. Beaches generally don't have shade, so you'll probably be shooting in bright sunlight. Near noon will put the sun almost overhead, which is the worst case situation. Under those conditions your flash will not really be of much use to you if you don't have the high speed sync capability. A softbox will make the situation even worse, so leave that at home. It takes a very powerful flash to match the sun and the softbox will waste too much of your power.
I faced the same situation with a beach wedding on a destination wedding I did in November in Cancun. Bright sun, bright water, bright sand and no shade. Not an impossible situation, but a challenging one. With the equipment you have, here are my suggestions . . .
1) The better of your two lenses for portraits is the long one (75-300mm) Ideally use it at the widest zoom setting of 75mm (the perfect focal length for portraits on your camera)
2) Leave the flash ON the camera and don't use any diffusers or reflectors on the flash . . . you'll need all the power it can muster.
3) Place the subjects with their backs to the sun. Squinting at bright sun makes terrible pictures and bright sun is too harsh for facial tones.
4) With the camera set on shutter priority and set at 1/200th second, take a few test shots of the background scene that will be behind the subjects. When you get an exposure that gives you a perfect result, change the camera to "M" manual and use the settings that gave the best results in shutter priority mode.
5) Set the ISO at 100, the shutter at 1/200th second and the aperture at whatever worked for the perfect background exposure.
6) I would shoot each pose/subject with a reflector (soft white and the bigger the better) in very close, just out of camera view, and then the same pose/subject with fill flash. If the flash is TTL it will set the exposure needed automatically for the fill. You'll have to get as close as the 75mm will let you.
7) As for poses, google "photo poses" and find some written posing ideas with images . . . download the images and make yourself some small prints that you can carry along on your shoot day as reference. All you really need is a half dozen ideas and that will please your friends to no end. Don't get fancy, but do some reading on some of the basic rules.
8) The above is really for shooting in bright sunlight. In Cancun I had to do that for the wedding ceremony, but when it came time to do the formals, I got them into the shade of some buildings but using the same ocean and palm tree background that were still in bright sunlight. Still exposed for the background and used flash for lighting the subject. The only difference from what I've suggested above is that I had my flashes off-camera.
You can take a look at the results I got at:
http://www.weddingguy.ca/cancun/index.html
Good luck my friend . . . just keep 'em laughing and they'll love it!
Sounds like you've taken on quite a challenge. Your location choice for the shoot is a particularly difficult one. Beaches generally don't have shade, so you'll probably be shooting in bright sunlight. Near noon will put the sun almost overhead, which is the worst case situation. Under those conditions your flash will not really be of much use to you if you don't have the high speed sync capability. A softbox will make the situation even worse, so leave that at home. It takes a very powerful flash to match the sun and the softbox will waste too much of your power.
I faced the same situation with a beach wedding on a destination wedding I did in November in Cancun. Bright sun, bright water, bright sand and no shade. Not an impossible situation, but a challenging one. With the equipment you have, here are my suggestions . . .
1) The better of your two lenses for portraits is the long one (75-300mm) Ideally use it at the widest zoom setting of 75mm (the perfect focal length for portraits on your camera)
2) Leave the flash ON the camera and don't use any diffusers or reflectors on the flash . . . you'll need all the power it can muster.
3) Place the subjects with their backs to the sun. Squinting at bright sun makes terrible pictures and bright sun is too harsh for facial tones.
4) With the camera set on shutter priority and set at 1/200th second, take a few test shots of the background scene that will be behind the subjects. When you get an exposure that gives you a perfect result, change the camera to "M" manual and use the settings that gave the best results in shutter priority mode.
5) Set the ISO at 100, the shutter at 1/200th second and the aperture at whatever worked for the perfect background exposure.
6) I would shoot each pose/subject with a reflector (soft white and the bigger the better) in very close, just out of camera view, and then the same pose/subject with fill flash. If the flash is TTL it will set the exposure needed automatically for the fill. You'll have to get as close as the 75mm will let you.
7) As for poses, google "photo poses" and find some written posing ideas with images . . . download the images and make yourself some small prints that you can carry along on your shoot day as reference. All you really need is a half dozen ideas and that will please your friends to no end. Don't get fancy, but do some reading on some of the basic rules.
8) The above is really for shooting in bright sunlight. In Cancun I had to do that for the wedding ceremony, but when it came time to do the formals, I got them into the shade of some buildings but using the same ocean and palm tree background that were still in bright sunlight. Still exposed for the background and used flash for lighting the subject. The only difference from what I've suggested above is that I had my flashes off-camera.
You can take a look at the results I got at:
http://www.weddingguy.ca/cancun/index.html
Good luck my friend . . . just keep 'em laughing and they'll love it!
Jun 1, 2012 05:26:18 #
gregspix wrote:
Thank you Jerry.
My recommendation would be to say, only pay me if you are truly happy with them. That way, perhaps you get to have a second go without embarrassment and you get to keep a friend.
Jun 1, 2012 05:35:06 #
not a pro here by any stretch of the imagination but i'll put in my 2 cents(voluntarily) lol. go with the shorter zoom, av priority,low to mid range f-stop, carefully choose an uncluttered background thatyou check with your dof preview, try to re-schedule the time of the shooting to later in the day than mid day & hope it's an overcast day preferably, make certain your focus point is on the eyes then recompose your shot, bone -up on several good & appropriate poses for your subjects, & if you
re still worried about success, bracket each shot. good luck & have fun.
re still worried about success, bracket each shot. good luck & have fun.
gregspix wrote:
I guess next time I should make clear my intention... (show quote)
Jun 1, 2012 05:35:55 #
I also have a T2i/550D I do a lot of portraits but the lens I use is the EF-S 18 - 135mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS I sometimes use AV aperture priority.But sometimes use Auto also fill in flash it is much to do with experimenting but for groups or single shots find this the best lens.The kit lens has no scope.
Jun 1, 2012 05:58:07 #
Taken on board others comments and assuming you are going to go for it I would use your 75-300 (purely as out of your 2 lenses it encompasses the most flattering portrait range) Stick to 85-105 focal range stay away from the 300 & 75 ends and try and get steady stots. Maybe here are a few tips that you should know off by heart.
Google how to hold a DSLR camera. You have to hold it steady.
Sounds like you got focus issues. Focus sharp on the eye (Manual focus if you have to). Better if subject is still.
Dont breath when depressing the shutter.
You are going to have to crank up your ISO as your lens is not fast enough. Try ISO 200 and 400 you might have to go to 800 but watch your noise. If using a tripod try 100 maybe 200.
Take lots and lots and lots of shots with different settings.
Dont use the auto scenes but if you have to portrait is your best option. Try apperture around F8 and shutter keeping your speed hand holdable.
DO NOT ever use in built flash.
If you have a speed lite for fill flash try and use bounce flash or diffuse it with a tissue and elastic band over flash. If outside watch shodows on the face.
Watch your white balance if mixing daylight and flash. Dont auto whitebalance in this case. Even shoot grey card or white object under same lighting and use custom white balance.
Make sure if including hands they are posed well otherwise get em totally out the composition. (google how to pose hands).
Look at poses (or pose guides) before hand decide why you like it. Maybe print a few off or use tear sheets and discuss them with your model. Keep your camera slightly above the model.
Do not shoot straight on.
If they wear Glasses you could do with a polorizer or maybe ask them to remove them if you are both comfortable.
Compose with rule of thirds Get the eye on an intersection (google it if you are not sure). Try some tight shots and some wider but stick to the focal lengths and move camera closer/further from subject not the zoom ring. Maybe deliverately tilt the camera (30 or 45 degrees).
Take your time look around the viewfinder at the background so there is nothing distracting in the shot. Try and get some distance between subject to background.
You know the subject already so at a slight advantage but keep talking to them, reassure them through out, they will still be nervous and it will show in the images.
Take lots and lots of shots. Oh I said that already!!!
You still up for it? Enjoy and good luck.
Google how to hold a DSLR camera. You have to hold it steady.
Sounds like you got focus issues. Focus sharp on the eye (Manual focus if you have to). Better if subject is still.
Dont breath when depressing the shutter.
You are going to have to crank up your ISO as your lens is not fast enough. Try ISO 200 and 400 you might have to go to 800 but watch your noise. If using a tripod try 100 maybe 200.
Take lots and lots and lots of shots with different settings.
Dont use the auto scenes but if you have to portrait is your best option. Try apperture around F8 and shutter keeping your speed hand holdable.
DO NOT ever use in built flash.
If you have a speed lite for fill flash try and use bounce flash or diffuse it with a tissue and elastic band over flash. If outside watch shodows on the face.
Watch your white balance if mixing daylight and flash. Dont auto whitebalance in this case. Even shoot grey card or white object under same lighting and use custom white balance.
Make sure if including hands they are posed well otherwise get em totally out the composition. (google how to pose hands).
Look at poses (or pose guides) before hand decide why you like it. Maybe print a few off or use tear sheets and discuss them with your model. Keep your camera slightly above the model.
Do not shoot straight on.
If they wear Glasses you could do with a polorizer or maybe ask them to remove them if you are both comfortable.
Compose with rule of thirds Get the eye on an intersection (google it if you are not sure). Try some tight shots and some wider but stick to the focal lengths and move camera closer/further from subject not the zoom ring. Maybe deliverately tilt the camera (30 or 45 degrees).
Take your time look around the viewfinder at the background so there is nothing distracting in the shot. Try and get some distance between subject to background.
You know the subject already so at a slight advantage but keep talking to them, reassure them through out, they will still be nervous and it will show in the images.
Take lots and lots of shots. Oh I said that already!!!
You still up for it? Enjoy and good luck.
Jun 1, 2012 06:06:06 #
gregspix wrote:
I still have the question for any of you as to which settings I should use. Go with the Av, Tv or M settings, or play it safe and use the portrait setting for now untill I get a little more experiance?
Experimint take 1 picture on each setting . and see what the results are .
Jun 1, 2012 06:12:28 #
Jun 1, 2012 06:27:03 #
Isnt UHH a place for newbies to feel confident in asking these questions? If we arnt surrounded by professionals to show us shouldnt we feel like we can ask in hopes that someone is willing to go out of the way to share their knowledge. He didnt ask if he should be charging anyone he was asking for advice. Honestly him charging or not charging is not our decision an if we arnt the paying customer who cares if he charges. I jus know how it feels to not know things and for fellow UHHs to help us out. I love the wonderful advice i have gotten from MWAC n captin C as you two know the good stuff us newbies wanna know. the guys jus has to learn somewhere and what better way to learn than to ask.
Jun 1, 2012 06:29:05 #
I agree with all of the comments above. You can also find a lot of good advice at this web site: http://digital-photography-school.com/wedding-photography-21-tips-for-for-amateur-wedding-photographers
Good luck on the day.
Good luck on the day.
Jun 1, 2012 06:33:23 #
I agree with all of the above comments. You'll also find some good tips here: http://digital-photography-school.com/wedding-photography-21-tips-for-for-amateur-wedding-photographers
Good luck on the day!
Good luck on the day!
Jun 1, 2012 06:35:28 #
great advice for us newbies! Helps not jus one but us all out!
Weddingguy wrote:
Hi Greg br br Sounds like you've taken on quite a... (show quote)
Jun 1, 2012 06:40:31 #
francesca3
Loc: Sausalito, CA
Scott Kelby's books helped me a lot with formal portraiture and I highly recommend his digital photography books. There are three of them.
I hope he does not mind if I paraphrase him here!
The height you position your camera is very important.
For full length, standing, portraits (groups or singles)position your tripod at waist height.
For head and shoulders shots, position your camera (on tripod) either at their eye level or slightly above.
Shooting this way will prevent your photos from looking distorted and amatuerish.
I hope he does not mind if I paraphrase him here!
The height you position your camera is very important.
For full length, standing, portraits (groups or singles)position your tripod at waist height.
For head and shoulders shots, position your camera (on tripod) either at their eye level or slightly above.
Shooting this way will prevent your photos from looking distorted and amatuerish.
Jun 1, 2012 06:40:45 #
i would use the 75-300 av mode you can always shoot a bracket
in raw and tweak it,take many shots,try different settings,
take you kids to the same spot and practice with them(might
cost you an ice cream or two)
in raw and tweak it,take many shots,try different settings,
take you kids to the same spot and practice with them(might
cost you an ice cream or two)
Jun 1, 2012 06:42:08 #
gregspix wrote:
I guess next time I should make clear my intention... (show quote)
I think in your position, if you are a member of a local photography club, I'd ask along one of the members who has done well in the portrait section to assist and advise. If you are not a member of a local club maybe this is a good reason to join. I've found being a member of my local club to be invaluable in improving my phototgraphy and thereby making it more enjoyable. Good Luck with your shoot.
Jun 1, 2012 06:44:39 #
Lilli480 wrote:
50 mm 1.8 is good also.
Manual setting. 1/250 shutter with f/8
Manual setting. 1/250 shutter with f/8
Are you suggesting that he can use this setting under all lighting conditions? In the sun? . . in the shade? . . . in the rain? . . . in the snow? . . on the beach?
He is shooting portraits and technically a "portrait lens" is 1 and 1/2 times the focal length of a standard lens. The standard lens for a DSLR or a 35mm film camera is 50mm . . that makes a 75mm lens the ideal focal length. He already has that focal length in one of his lenses, so the need of an additional lens would be a waste of $$$$
Sorry, but that is bad advice.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.