Advice for studio shoot please..

jsy

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Alan
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Hi, I have my first job(unpaid favour!:|) at shooting a couple of kids (6 & 10) this evening.

I have a white muslin sheet hanging off the curtain rail.
I have about 20ft between me and the sheet

I have 1 300w-s/b and 1 300w-umb, also a 580exII at my disposal. (wireless)


I will be using a 5d2 with a 100-400 lens (I do have a 24-70 but find it way too wide for this).

What I'd like to know is, what is the best configuration for my kit for this shoot + some tips on camera/lighting settings for pics of the kids.

Any advice received with thanks! :thumbs:
 
I'll bump this thread up for you :cool:

..other than that, make sure there is a good distance between the subject and the muslin to stop any harsh shadows.
 
So you'll be using a tripod then.:(
I personally would have opted for the 24-70 keeping it to the higher end and
not below 50mm, this allows you to be more creative :)
 
So you'll be using a tripod then.:(
I personally would have opted for the 24-70 keeping it to the higher end and
not below 50mm, this allows you to be more creative :)

When I have been practising with my kit, using the 24-70, I always seem to be doing alot of cropping afterwards. Most of my pics are head n shoulders. If I get to the back of the room, say about 15ft away from the subject, I can fill the (full)frame with my 100-400, handheld with the stabilisation on and the shutter at 1/125.
When I have used the 24-70, I get up too close and personal to the subject :lol:

I will try both lenses tonight and see how I get on.
 
Be interesting to see how you get on, rather you than me handholding that;)
 
I use my 17-55 for family shots and 24-105 for individual children (on a cropped camera).

Cant advise on the lighting, I only know my own kit (and then only barely).

Make sure the material is as crease free as possible
Sort out the lighting before kids arrive and then keep changes to a minimum
Shoot RAW so have more flexibility with WB after the shoot
Engage the kids - with each other, with you - get them to take a couple of pics themselves if they are trustworthy, so they feel more comfortable. If you're happy to, show them the pics and tell them what a good job they are doing
Have an idea of poses before they come.

Have fun & good luck
 
I use my 17-55 for family shots and 24-105 for individual children (on a cropped camera).

Cant advise on the lighting, I only know my own kit (and then only barely).

Make sure the material is as crease free as possible
Sort out the lighting before kids arrive and then keep changes to a minimum
Shoot RAW so have more flexibility with WB after the shoot
Engage the kids - with each other, with you - get them to take a couple of pics themselves if they are trustworthy, so they feel more comfortable. If you're happy to, show them the pics and tell them what a good job they are doing
Have an idea of poses before they come.

Have fun & good luck

crease free... I spent an hour ironing (1/2) it last night - I obviously missed a bit (a big bit) :'(

Good idea on involving them takin some pics - that should keep em interested.

Cheers!
 
Ok, so here are some of the better pics :)

Some differ due to me testing different options etc.

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These look pretty good i think,but #2 & #6 i think are too closely cropped,nice shots though.:):thumbs:
 
The first 4 need the tones adjusting. Way too much red. The last couple seem better but lack punch.
Crops and poses are decent though, well done...
 
Many, many thanks for all the advice!

I have heard quite a lot difference in opinion re cropping in the past which is why I have a mix of cropped/non cropped pics, although the 'models' looked a little perplexed at the cropped pics I showed them!

Is there a golden rule for cropping? When or what to crop in portrait?

Re the colour and tone of the pics, yet again I have gone through the scale to see what the 'models' thought looked best.
 
Great background, well done! I agree I think the first 4 are too red.

As for cropping, I'd say that it's best to crop in PP rather than camera until you decide what you like (not sure which you did this time). Personally IMO, I think that in 2 the crop needs to be drastic (ie just faces) or include the whole head. Same in 3, it looks a bit like it's accidental crop rather than to enhance the image.

Have a look at others work to see what you like, there's lots of examples on here of drastic crops and (on the reverse) using lots of empty space.
 
Agree the colour needs adjusting in the first 4. It would be interesting to see what different crops brings to the images. Well done:)
 
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