My first studio portrait session

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Today was the first time I've ever taken a photo of a 'model', I've always steered clear of 'people photography', just because of the extra difficulties involved. With a car....it just sits there nice and quiet.....people are a bit different

But I am quite lucky to be able to use the studio at work, so Jay (Burpspeed fame ) asked me to do some shots of his 1yr old son and family......which was something I was more than happy to have a go at.

I didn't do any set-up shots, but Jay did get this shot using my phone to give you an idea of the set-up:

I had a rough idea of the lighting set-up. One flash left of camera high, the other right side lighting the background. I also experimented with a SB800 from behind to light the hair.

So I set it all up, and this was honest to god the first frame I captured!:

1.

I guessed at the camera settings from my product photography experience, and was pretty spot on! A lot easier than I thought!

So we just played about, and these were the results:

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He's just about getting the hang of walking.

10.

Overall I'm pretty happy for my first attempt, as always there's a few things I'll try differently next time - mainly changing the lighting around a bit.

Oh....and photographing him was a challenge too! For the crawling shots, Jay would let him go, then I had to try to get a shot before he goes out of the effective flash area.....bloody difficult....he's rapid on all fours!!

Any C+C would be great

 

[Quade]

Some very cute pics there Dan. Wow he has grown up alot! Not bad for a first effort mate!:approve:

 

[Matt W]

Nice pictures! LOL at launching the child in the air.

 

[Riad]

Nice shots

 

[DaveDreads]

Wriggly little buggers arent they, at least he wasn't balling his eyes out, nightmare when that happens.
You did well, whenever I shoot familys with babies I always bare in mind
that as long as the customer's happy thats all that counts.

Although I don't ask my customers to launch their children into the air. LOL

Was the colour temp on the camera the same as the lights output?
Did you do that without a flash meter?

 

[Andy.]

Great shots.

It's a personal taste, but I always opt to burn the grey shadow out in the foreground a bit more. On one hand, it's grounds the subject, but I always prefer the image wiithout the grey. I.e. Keep the real shadow but burn the less lit paper.

 

[capturedbyjames]

Top stuff.

I tend to use a massive reflector to remove the front shadows... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't though.

Did you move the lights at all from the shot at the top? When shooting families I always tend to spend all my time at their level, and my softbox usually lives about 6 inches from the floor.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Wriggly little buggers arent they, at least he wasn't balling his eyes out, nightmare when that happens.
You did well, whenever I shoot familys with babies I always bare in mind
that as long as the customer's happy thats all that counts.

Although I don't ask my customers to launch their children into the air. LOL

Was the colour temp on the camera the same as the lights output?
Did you do that without a flash meter?

Not too sure about the colour temperature.
Yes, shot without a flash meter. I really should start learning how to use one lol! We even had one in that studio!

Top stuff.

I tend to use a massive reflector to remove the front shadows... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't though.

Did you move the lights at all from the shot at the top? When shooting families I always tend to spend all my time at their level, and my softbox usually lives about 6 inches from the floor.

I kept the lights pretty much the same for all the shots, I moved them a touch for some though.