Family potrait advice please

scott199

scott199

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Hi

i've been asked to do a family portrait, its for a very close friend, he knows im very new to this, i said i would try but better to go to a studio or something, but he insisted as he thought it would give a more relaxed atmosphere if i took the shots. their will bw about 6 adults and 4 small kids.

So can i have some basic advise, best lens, basic starter points.

Will more than likely be indoors as small babies are involved, i have no gear as such, what i do have is

nikon d5100, nikon 35 f1.8 and tamron 17-50 non vc model (if that matters)
will soon have a sb600 flash, but again never used anything like this. No other gear.

I know its like asking how long is a piece of string, but any base line tips to help me not look like a complete chimp, would be great.

Im must admit im not overly hopeful that anything will be worth using, but they hounded me into it :(.
 
35mm will be best bet. Nice and sharp. Backdrop is key. A clear and clean wall can be used (my first paid shoot was done against a wall), if not then unless you shoot wide open and have some space, you will struggle. If a wall is available then f5.6 to f8 and bounce flash off ceiling. Keep shutter to 1/60 at worst, ideally 1/125 to 1/200.
 
one flash for a large group is tricky
I use two and sometimes a third
still, look at using the one flash and diffusing it.
bounce it off of the ceiling and see how even you can get the light
the tamron lens is great but make sure you're not at f2.8
make sure the lens is at an aperture of 4 or more, f8 if possible so you get a decent depth of field.
can you practise a bit first? maybe arrange some chairs or something and take the shots with yourself as the subject and move around, checking that in each shot you have some decent light and not too many hard shadows...??
 
Just ask them to sit on a sofa all together, put a camera on tripod, hopefully your friend is tidy - otherwise make sure you have as empty background as you can. 35mm lens will be the key. Put camera on a tripod - few clicks - done ;)
 
Had a few test shots today with my kids.

This is much harder than I thought.
 
Rocky Shilly said:
Just ask them to sit on a sofa all together, Put camera on a tripod - few clicks - done ;)
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Hmm. I am not sure I agree that it is as easy as you seem to think.
Getting a group of people to all look good isn't that simple most of the time.
First of all you need to take control, but not in a bossy way -getting a family to sit on a sofa while you click away is likely to result in lots of snaps that look just like snaps.
It isn't easy, you need to plan and work hard. I am not sure I can offer any positive advice right now as my head is otherwise busy but take a look at the shots you have just taken and try to work out why they do or don't work and take it from there..
 
Just what I got, a few snaps, got to really sit down and look, which I have not had time to do yet.
 
Why would people advise you to stay inside with the equipment you have?

Get outside with a nice foliage background use your 35mm at 2.8 to blur the background, get the 6 adults all in a line kneeling and the kids standing in front of the middle 4 adults

Adult - adult - adult - adult - adult -adult
---------Kid.----- Kid.---Kid----Kid

Or get the four adults to hold 4 kids up and do a shoulder and head panoramic and stitch it. I'll post an example
 
It's not advise, they want it done indoors because of the babies and cold.

To be honest after trying, i have to admit, im a million miles from being capable of this.

I've spoke to a studio, offered to be the assistant and hand over all my shots for them to use, they seem willing.

So maybe this is a good thing ??? or are they just jumping at the chance of some free pics they might sell ??
 
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scott199 said:
or are they just jumping at the chance of some free pics they might sell ??
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Yes...

Im not sure if youve done your shoot or not but its time to educate your friend a little and explain how photography works! I.e. photos with groups of people inside takes expensive gear and a lot of knowledge!

It sounds like you need to stand up a little and tell him how he'll get the best images.

Sell him the idea of doing it outside...its natural, its relax, its lifestyle! Wrap the babies up warm, its cute and reflects the time of year...if he does agree....he can pay a studio!

Start with a formal group shot as your safety net, find a bench with a nice back drop and arrange people round it.....then once you have something safe in the bag take everyone a walk/play giving a little direction here and there!

Good luck
 
Matt989 said:
Yes...

Im not sure if youve done your shoot or not but its time to educate your friend a little and explain how photography works! I.e. photos with groups of people inside takes expensive gear and a lot of knowledge!

It sounds like you need to stand up a little and tell him how he'll get the best images.

Sell him the idea of doing it outside...its natural, its relax, its lifestyle! Wrap the babies up warm, its cute and reflects the time of year...if he does agree....he can pay a studio!

Start with a formal group shot as your safety net, find a bench with a nice back drop and arrange people round it.....then once you have something safe in the bag take everyone a walk/play giving a little direction here and there!

Good luck
Click to expand...

:thumbs: thank you.
 
The baby is only about 2 months, then 15 months, 4, 8, and maybe 15 if they can get him their. ;)
 
The only one of them you need to worry about is the 2 month old, the rest are plenty old enough to brave the cold. I photograph children outside all the time, just have that one wrapped up in a romper suit type thing and don't stay outside for a long time. In your OP it says you are doing A family portrait so it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to get your shot

there plenty of examples of what I mean on my gallery

http://www.onelittledaisy.co.uk/galleries/
 
joescrivens said:
The only one of them you need to worry about is the 2 month old, the rest are plenty old enough to brave the cold. I photograph children outside all the time, just have that one wrapped up in a romper suit type thing and don't stay outside for a long time. In your OP it says you are doing A family portrait so it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to get your shot

there plenty of examples of what I mean on my gallery

http://www.onelittledaisy.co.uk/galleries/
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, their are some stunning shots on your site :thumbs:

if i could get one that was half as good as any of them i would be really happy.

Love the take and angles you use.
 
Easy peasy:

get all the adults on the same plane in a row kneeling down, get the kids just in front of them. Put your 35mm on f/2.8, focus on the face of one of the children in the front.

They'll be about 15ft away from you giving you a depth of field of around 6 and a half feet which is plenty of DOF but will blur the background enough to make them stand out. Just try and make sure the background (trees, bush etc) is as far away as possible to get some pleasing bokeh.

Stick the camera on a tripod if you like, jump up and down and shout boo so all the kids look your way, take several shots just incase of blinkers and then merge them together if you need to

Bosh - job done
 
Sounds good.

two small problems, no tripod :( and no idea how to merge or what it is :(

but the rest sounds fairly strait forward
 
Tripod is not necessity. Merging is easy peasy using layer masks. YouTube it
 
Cheers mate time to enlist the youth at home. :)

Your pics have inspired me, I'm going for it
 
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