Time for Senior pictures

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/250—Two Alienbees B1600 mixed with daylight [diagram below]

It is that time of year that I get requests for doing Senior photos. I have not marketed myself to this market, but friends through church and work call and ask if I will photograph their Senior.

Today's Senior pictures are much different than when I had mine made back in 1980.  Today we are seeing more and more photos of Seniors in their favorite activity.

Last night I captured Grant Newsom at the pool where he is on the swim team and also a lifeguard.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/250—Two Alienbees B1600 mixed with daylight

When we first met to start the shoot I was told that Grant's employer scheduled him to work right at the same time and didn't tell him about the change in schedule. He didn't want to let down his employer and was really concerned this was going to take a long time.

We did all these photos in one hour. Three locations and one of those required us to drive a small distance. This means taking huge soft box and setting up and taking down in three locations. It also meant that he had some outfit changes to do.

Well after to first few minutes Grant relaxed realizing we were getting great images and moving quickly.

This is why you practice over and over doing these type of photos so you are ready to go when you have to "Get Er Done." I have done this so many times through my career I was able to quickly move and set up and get some pretty good images of Grant. I will let you be the judge of the images.

I used two Alienbees B1600 flashes being powered by Paul Buff Vagabond battery packs. The reason I used two at the pool was I knew that when you do the butterfly stroke you are looking down most of the time and the light just isn't there most of the time. I filled the shadows with the flashes.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/250—One Alienbees B1600 with a large softbox off to the right to be mixed with daylight

We had a lot of fun capturing these photos. The main reason I feel like you get great photos in this situation is the Senior is doing what they love the most. They are in their world of comfort and I am there to join them.

Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/250—One Alienbees B1600 with large soft box and mixed with daylight

For the most part I wanted to capture the competitor in the pool, thus less smiles here. We did get some, but I like the fierce look.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/250—Large 30" x 60" foldable softbox with Alienbees B1600 mixed with daylight, also one Alienbees B1600 directly behind the model

We just changed shirts and locations pretty quickly to keep on schedule for the Senior to run to work.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/250—Large 30" x 60" foldable soft box with Alienbees B1600 on the left and then mixed with daylight [lighting diagram below]

Keeping it simple I am using one large 30" x 60" Paul C Buff foldable soft box as the main light and then letting the available sunlight light the rest of the photo. The flash is about one stop brighter than the rest of the scene. I exposed for the softbox light and used an ExpoDisc to get a custom white balance before shooting the photos.

Nikon D4, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO OS HSM, ISO 100, ƒ/5, 1/250—Large 30" x 60" foldable soft box with Alienbees B1600 on the left and then mixed with daylight

When you look for a photographer for Senior pictures some of the best will be former newspaper photographers. They have shot everything, so it will be rare that your child has a favorite hobby that they haven't shot before.

I covered the 1996 Olympics and specifically covered the swimming and diving. I was ready for Grant in the pool.

Remember these Senior pictures we will cherish the rest of our lives and for generations later as they look back. Next year is my 35th high school reunion. It feels like yesterday and we are all pulling out those photos from back in 1980.

By the way we finished in time for Grant to go to work and have a date that night.

Shaping the light is how you light metal

Just throwing light on a metal object 

This is what you see a lot of on ebay and other websites of people selling metal objects. My examples are using my Yamaha YTR-734 Silver Trumpet, which I pulled out and started playing again.

After cleaning it up I didn't want to waste not preserving this for myself.

You would think just putting a metal object like this Silver Trumpet on a blue background and using two off the camera flashes at 45º angles (like copy stand) would give you perfect light. This is how this is lighted.

Here is the setup for the photo above.

I have two hotshoe Nikon Speedlights (1 SB900 & 1 SB800) lighting the trumpet. They are setup like a typical copy stand photo shoot. Works great for objects other than metal. Perfect for copying flat art work and books.

This is the same photo as above with just the room light and no flash.

This is the available light without the blue background

By removing the blue fabric the white table wrap the light around the metal and give it more shape.

Two flashes

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My recommendation is Tent Lighting

Here I am using tent lighting. I pulled back the front panel so you could see inside.

When you wrap an object with light all around it you get much better results.

There are four flashes lighting this setup. Two Alienbees B1600 up in the ceiling pointing towards the back and two on umbrellas as you see here.

This is the setup with white seamless background.

I think you might do a better job of selling this trumpet on ebay with lighting like this than the light above.

Notice how in the bell the blue fabric is reflected. if you look really close you will see just a little black spec. This is the camera peaking thought the front panel.

Here the only difference in the above photo is using a blue fabric.

Somewhere in between?

Maybe you want something in between the top photo and light wrapped all around the object. Instead of tent lighting just use white foam board and cut it into different shapes. You can then put a black sheet out of the photo but blocking light. Then just place the strips of white foam board to place you want to add white verses the black. Slowly you can give different looks. Use different color foam board and you can add color to the reflections like the blue fabric is doing here, but just put it outside the view of the camera but in the reflection of the metal.

Rather than me showing you everything, go photograph something yourself and see what you come up with.

What clothing works best for a portrait?

Pick your clothing carefully


There are two types of photos when it comes to clothing: 1) For Portraits and 2) For Fashion.

If the photo shoot is for portrait you need to be sure that the clothing doesn't distract, but rather compliments the person's face. The fashion photo shoot is all about the clothing and the model is just there to make the clothing look good.

Look at these three examples of tops for a typical head shot.

Photo #1

Photo #2

Photo #3

To be sure we are concentrating on how clothing can add or distract from a portrait I shot these all the same so that the only difference is really the clothing.

First of all all three outfits look good on the model and the point isn't about which one you like the most. The point in a portrait photo is which one makes you look more at the model's face and less about the clothing?

Simple Tips:

1. Avoid busy patterns as in Photo #1
2. Choose a solid as in Photo #2
3. Avoid Stripes as in Photo #3

Each person will look best in one of the following necklines: v-neck, oval or round.

Color choices can be tricky as well. Everyone will look good in Aqua. The reason for this is this is the closest to the complementary color for the skin.

While different ethnic groups have different skin, the general rule is it is more about how light or dark the skin is more than color differences.

However the other factor is our eyes and hair color. Complimentary and the same color are generally good on a person. Complimentary colors tend to make you pop more than the same colors.

The general rule which is often the most difficult to follow is always keeping it simple.

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Lighting diagram used for examples

Items:
(2) Alienbees B1600
1-stop brighter on background than lights on subject

White backdrop
I recommend not having it perpendicular to the camera. Slight angle will help avoid light flare caused by light bouncing off background

(2) Alienbees B1600 with bounce white umbrellas

Nikon D4 with 28-300mm
No description for this item.

Versatile lighting setup for groups and head shots

This is a lighting setup I used for an awards dinner last night. A little over 100 awards given on stage in just a few minutes. After they got their award they walked off the stage and I took their photo.  I was averaging about 3 groups a minute with 2 shots each.  We were moving.

So this is where speed was very important.

Items I used for the shoot:

• Backdrop: Westcott Masterpiece Muslin Background - 10x12' Sheet - Moonlight Cloudscape
• Camera: Nikon D4 with 28-300mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/500
• Studio Strobes: 2 - Alienbees 1600 Setting on 1/8 power
• Radio Remote: Pocketwizard MiniTTL and (2) Pocketwizard Plus II transceivers 

When I set this up I used light stands that go to about 8 feet tall. I would suggest 10 foot light stands if I were to do this again. I set the lights 45º to either side of the camera and as I high as the light stands would go.

The reasoning is that I had no time to have people sit down and pose them. They would all be standing.  I wanted the shadows to go down behind the and not up on the screen. I kept everyone about 2' to 3' away from the background to help the shadows to fall down or wide.

I wanted to shoot at f/8 to be sure if I ended up with two rows everyone was in focus. I didn't need much more depth a field.

I shot at ISO 200 and 1/8th power on the monobloc lights.

Results for the Awards Photos

The reason I didn't use umbrellas or soft boxes was the space issues.

While you are here photos

Now the primary reason I am hired is to get these photos which are then sent to those in the photos for them to use in their own newsletters to promote their winning of the awards. However, once you are there they often want some other photos. The most common is head shots of their staff.

Since we didn't have the luxury of time and space to use another lighting setup I shot the staff head shots using this lighting setup. 

Results for quick head shots

The client is satisfied because the photos work well for their uses.

More than photos

If all I were doing was just taking these photos it would be one kind of a job, but they need names of everyone. So I was able to shoot and identify all the people in the photos. Think about pulling this off.

How would you shoot and identify all the people in the photos?

I then print out contact sheets with the photos and the names under each photo. The text is also in the metadata of each photo, so if they can search for photos by names or open the file in software that reads metadata (PhotoShop) and read the caption.

Since the photos all have identification embedded, then the client can easily just drag and drop these photos into a database and easily pull photos in the future.

Keep in mind when you do a job that there might be a better way to do any individual part of the package. However, you must take into consideration all the aspects and how they impact one another to reach the goal for the client. 

YWAM School of Photography: Mixed Lighting

Here is another lighting assignment for the students.  They were to go outside and use the sun as a back light and then use a strobe as main light.  Here is the assignment and diagram that I sent to them.

Description: Mixed lighting

Items:

Monobloc
You may choose to use your hotshoe flash if you choose, but it must a be off the camera.  Short cord will not work for this.  You need a really long cord to fire the flash or you need to use the radio remotes.  Use extension cords for power or use the battery powered strobes.

Camera
You may use any lens you choose for this assignment.  Fish-eye, wide angle, portrait, telephoto, lens baby or shift.  Make this a strong environmental portrait as you can.

Sun
This is done outside with the sun still lighting the sky.  Can be dusk, dawn or mid day sun.  Be sure the subject is back lighted by the sun and not on their face.

Subject
We need good expressions in this photo.  Maybe have the subject posing with something.  Sitting on a motorcycle or holding a surf board are some examples of what students have done in the past.

Here are the students results:
 

by Elsa Mesot

by Lisa Mironuck

by Annett Rek

by Sharon A. Reitsma

by Deborah Mataia

by Lauren R. Tercero

by Francisco Leon V.

by Janie Wakefield

by Joshua Soon Yong Choi

by Xiaodong Yu

by Hastings Franks

by Katie Suderman

by Sarah L. Quinones

by Malcolm Adair

Why I photographed them this way (Part 3)

Nikon D3, 14-24mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000

Flash Outside

I love to use two different Flash systems outside.

1) I use the Nikon SB900 with SU800 on my Nikon DSLR or on my Nikon P7000. I also use the Radio Popper PX system to be sure the signal is consistently firing outside.

2) I use the Alienbees 1600 with a Vagabond Mini Lithium batter and the CyberSync system to fire them.

The first photo i used by SB900 to shoot the photos. I could shoot the photo and fill-flash with the hot shoe flash quickly and move around. The flash had to be very close to the people outside to be useful.

Walk and Talk photo I like to use. Nikon D3, 24-120mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/160

Walk-and-Talk

The next two photos are using a technique I learned from Jeff Smith a corporate photographer back years ago.  Back then I was shooting film and with today's flashes this is easier to do.

I like having the subjects walk side by side talking to each other. Often as in the first photo they walk straight at me and other times like in the last photo they just follow the path of a sidewalk for example.

I have an assistant either carrying the Nikon Speedlite system or my Alienbees system.  The advantage of the Alienbees is I can have the assistant further away and still with the power of this flash fill in easily.  Actually, most of the time the Alienbees are firing at 1/16 or 1/8 power.

The assistant walks off to the side, usually lighting them at 45 degree angle to the camera.  They walk just outside the picture frame and keep an even pace with them as they walk. You need to hire an assistant who can walk and chew gum at the same time for this technique.

My portable system for Walk-and-Talk. AlienBees 1600, Vagabond Mini, CyberSync radio remote control

CyberSync Radio Remote Control

Vagabond Mini

The reason I like the Walk-and-Talk technique is it gives something to the subjects to do. I find this not only helps to focus them, but after a couple times doing this they tend to not only relax, but I get great expressions.

Tip

If you use this Walk-and-Talk technique I recommend you tell them to walk close enough to each other they feel each other occasionally touching. In addition, I recommend one person talk and the other listen. Lastly, I ask them to look into each others eyes or at each others faces.  There is a tendency for people to look at the ground or off somewhere else.  I want them to look interested in each other.