Any Pro Photographers Wanna Help Out a Newb?

[clickity click]

Hey,

So it's not me that needs the help, it's my wife.
She wants to photo babies and children. She has bought herself a Nikon D5300 as well as lighting rigs with wireless flash, backdrops and reflectors.

She has it setup at home, practising but we are struggling to get the subject to look any way better than your average home snap shot.
She took some awesome photos the other day but can't remember how she achieved them.

We are using manual only.

What should we be doing?

[NaughtyRob]

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photog...hy+books+kelby

I am thinking she may not be using enough lights, or too many lights... Whats her setup for strobes?

[NaughtyRob]

Another....
http://www.amazon.com/How-Photograph...tography+books

[clickity click]

Well she has 2 lights with softboxes and one without. She has tried a combination of using 1, 2 and 3 lights. They are 180w strobes.

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by clickity click

Well she has 2 lights with softboxes and one without. She has tried a combination of using 1, 2 and 3 lights. They are 180w strobes.

think in terms of key, fill, rim and ambient.... look those up and negative fill...with kids shoot low light so the eyes open up, more innocent I think.... then shoot around F4-5.6 making sure the eyes are in focus and center of the attention ...that's just inside stuff

[fitzmulti]

Originally Posted by Grapesoda

think in terms of key, fill, rim and ambient.... look those up and negative fill...with kids shoot low light so the eyes open up, more innocent I think.... then shoot around F4-5.6 making sure the eyes are in focus and center of the attention ...that's just inside stuff

^^^ Excellent advice.

Also...when you do achieve the settings of how you want things to look.
WRITE THEM DOWN, SO YOU DON'T FORGET!
{Practice makes perfect, also!}

[clickity click]

We have started to write things down and record all the good stuff.
The good thing is even if you forget you can still go into the photo properties and get that info.

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by fitzmulti

^^^ Excellent advice.

Also...when you do achieve the settings of how you want things to look.
WRITE THEM DOWN, SO YOU DON'T FORGET!
{Practice makes perfect, also!}

exactly... the most import area of the photography biz is the ability to produce a marketable image consistently, and you do that by finding the 'look' that you like ( the clients like), that you can achieve and reproduce...over and over and over.... in other words you don't have to know EVERYTHING, you just have to know how to do what you do

the real work in photography is client relationships, budgets and working with subjects.... then in post find one or two 'look's that you like that are marketable, and market those...just like photography....you don't need to KNOW everything about photography... I would also consider some DSLR video, a few small 'silly action/cute' gifs...

on the video do something different like shoot the kids playing around and then have the kid tell a story and on tape and dump the audio under the vid... get lots of laughing...

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by clickity click

We have started to write things down and record all the good stuff.
The good thing is even if you forget you can still go into the photo properties and get that info.

shooting on a set? easiest thing is a soft key 1-2 ft off center and a side fill opposite that bangs the background

[JustDaveXxx]

Originally Posted by Grapesoda

shooting on a set? easiest thing is a soft key 1-2 ft off center and a side fill opposite that bangs the background

Everything he says is dead on.


Like to add the photos ability to work with the models is what can also set you or your wife apart from the rest of the photogs in your area.


Me, personally I'm a top photographer that can turn out anything the client wants to spec, because I'm good at working with adult models. But on the there hand I have 2 kids and and really suck at taking pics of kids. I take my kids to Sears or Walmart for pics. I put those guys in the dirt when it comes to lighting, experience, and skills, but they put me me in the dirt when it comes to positioning, kids and getting the best pics out of kids.


I honestly should try working with my kids with some of the techniques, that I see these Sears and Walmart guys use. But when pics cost me less than $40 with a coupon, why try.


And another sad thing is I take all of my kids pics and vids with and iPhone. Knowing lighting and using manual settings I get some pretty sick pics with an iPhone 5S. I like to back light using the sun and positioning and the iPhone Flash gives off a nice front light pop. My family thinks that I dragged out my 6K Nikon and lighting rigs when they see all of my Kids pics. lol


Just Dave

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by JustDaveXxx

Everything he says is dead on.


Like to add the photos ability to work with the models is what can also set you or your wife apart from the rest of the photogs in your area.


Me, personally I'm a top photographer that can turn out anything the client wants to spec, because I'm good at working with adult models. But on the there hand I have 2 kids and and really suck at taking pics of kids. I take my kids to Sears or Walmart for pics. I put those guys in the dirt when it comes to lighting, experience, and skills, but they put me me in the dirt when it comes to positioning, kids and getting the best pics out of kids.


I honestly should try working with my kids with some of the techniques, that I see these Sears and Walmart guys use. But when pics cost me less than $40 with a coupon, why try.


And another sad thing is I take all of my kids pics and vids with and iPhone. Knowing lighting and using manual settings I get some pretty sick pics with an iPhone 5S. I like to back light using the sun and positioning and the iPhone Flash gives off a nice front light pop. My family thinks that I dragged out my 6K Nikon and lighting rigs when they see all of my Kids pics. lol


Just Dave

the s4 might take great pics but I'll never know..I always have motion blur in phone pics

[Sly]

This flowchart may be of help: http://www.snapfactory.com/startchar...tart-chart.pdf

[johnny o]

and when you're REALLY outta ideas shoot everything at f22 like grapesoda does for all his amateur porn.

[marcop]

Originally Posted by johnny o

and when you're REALLY outta ideas shoot everything at f22 like grapesoda does for all his amateur porn.

In Brian's defense, it's the client that demands that, and it's not Brian's choice. As we photographers know, there's a lot you can do creatively with depth of field, but apparently fans of professional-looking "amateur" content just have to have everything in focus.

[johnny o]

marco p, brian was hounding me of how shitty a photographer i was a few months back. i asked him to go "shot for shot" and let the viewers here decide who was a better shooter. he opted NOT to take post any pics, mention anywhere his work had been published etc., but continued to talk shit as if he were god's gift to photography. he should chose his battles a bit more wisely next time.

[marcop]

Originally Posted by johnny o

marco p, brian was hounding me of how shitty a photographer i was a few months back. i asked him to go "shot for shot" and let the viewers here decide who was a better shooter. he opted NOT to take post any pics, mention anywhere his work had been published etc., but continued to talk shit as if he were god's gift to photography. he should chose his battles a bit more wisely next time.

I don't want to get involved in the contretemps between you and Brian, and I'm sorry if it appears I was doing that. I just know about the situation with Brian's client who wants the aperture at f(ucking)22 (or close to it) for every image in every set.

I hope you and Brian can resolve your differences.

[Cherry7]

Originally Posted by Grapesoda

exactly... the most import area of the photography biz is the ability to produce a marketable image consistently, and you do that by finding the 'look' that you like ( the clients like), that you can achieve and reproduce...over and over and over.... in other words you don't have to know EVERYTHING, you just have to know how to do what you do

the real work in photography is client relationships, budgets and working with subjects.... then in post find one or two 'look's that you like that are marketable, and market those......

Then you would not really be a professional photographer. A professional photographer should be able to create for his client or from his own imagination. Not just take the same photograph over and over again - just changing the model.

Photography is not atomic physics and if you can spend $1000 s on a camera it would be worth spending a month reading a book about the subject.

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by johnny o

and when you're REALLY outta ideas shoot everything at f22 like grapesoda does for all his amateur porn.

I'll tell you this one more time shitbag.... first I shoot at F16 and second, I shoot at F16 BECAUSE the members prefer that... if you could manage to GET and KEEP a fucking job you would understand "shooting for a client'

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by johnny o

marco p, brian was hounding me of how shitty a photographer i was a few months back. i asked him to go "shot for shot" and let the viewers here decide who was a better shooter. he opted NOT to take post any pics, mention anywhere his work had been published etc., but continued to talk shit as if he were god's gift to photography. he should chose his battles a bit more wisely next time.

great now sell that image 10,000 times a get an apartment to live in...BTW you're a dumb cunt too.. a guy is asking about photography help and you use the thread to cry about your shitty life. I am a working producer... you are the chin-nut with god delusions...

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by Sly

This flowchart may be of help: http://www.snapfactory.com/startchar...tart-chart.pdf

fuck I would quit if I had to use that chart ...

[tony286]

Grapesoda knows his shit.

[ezgirl]

Is it a mastery of photography to shoot at a lower f stop? If there was only one way to shoot then there would be only one photographer, one model and one picture, and maybe only one viewer too. Wouldn't sell a lot of photos. I would have shot the girl on the desert road at f/22 because to me it would have emphasized the vastness of her surroundings and her peculiar and vulnerable situation - thumb out, dress pulled up to attract a ride. Harsh vegetation, sand and rock, inhospitable surroundings as far as the eye can see. Is that a rattlesnake in the shadow of a tumbleweed? In the "amateur" genre (more accurately known as pro-am) the viewer wants to see everything in sharp focus. He likes the realism of a "real" girl and everything in focus reproduces how he would see the girl if he were there. When I look at real homegrown photos I like to look in the background, see what book titles are on the shelf, is that her panties on the floor over in the corner, what does her wall art say about her, sheet over the window and no drapes or curtains? Is she a party girl? Girls are so messy! Look, you can see every detail of her pussy, every wrinkle in those lovely lips. The eyes are in sharp focus, you can see she is looking right at you and making contact.

I like the girl in the desert, shot wide open, it makes her stand out. But shot at f/22 would look great too. And if the paying client wants it at f/22 that is a real bonus.

[ezgirl]

Here ya go, shot f/22, click on it (you should get the large image if I did it right) and you can see the wrinkles in her pussy lips and on her face lips.
[IMG][/IMG]

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by Cherry7

Then you would not really be a professional photographer. A professional photographer should be able to create for his client or from his own imagination. Not just take the same photograph over and over again - just changing the model.

Photography is not atomic physics and if you can spend $1000 s on a camera it would be worth spending a month reading a book about the subject.

maybe, I view my business as producing specific imagery that converts and retains... I'm a producer, not an artist. I am a professional photographer, professional videographer, professional video editor and professional stills editor.... BECAUSE that's what I do all day and that's what I get paid for.. because that's what I have in my imagination.... getting paid and supporting my family

[candyflip]

Lighting is trial and error if you don't know what you're doing. There are lots of resources out there.

There's nothing I hate more than seeing is another mom who picked up a cheap DSLR from Target and now thinks she's a photographer. It seems a new one pops up each week. They all take horrible photos and edit them up to look even worse.

Leave it to the pros. Or at least learn and be competent before taking people's money.

[johnny o]

i guess i touched a nerve on the 'amateur niche' shooter


billy zane

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by johnny o

i guess i touched a nerve on the 'amateur niche' shooter

[munki]

Originally Posted by JustDaveXxx

Everything he says is dead on.


Like to add the photos ability to work with the models is what can also set you or your wife apart from the rest of the photogs in your area.


Me, personally I'm a top photographer that can turn out anything the client wants to spec, because I'm good at working with adult models. But on the there hand I have 2 kids and and really suck at taking pics of kids. I take my kids to Sears or Walmart for pics. I put those guys in the dirt when it comes to lighting, experience, and skills, but they put me me in the dirt when it comes to positioning, kids and getting the best pics out of kids.


I honestly should try working with my kids with some of the techniques, that I see these Sears and Walmart guys use. But when pics cost me less than $40 with a coupon, why try.


And another sad thing is I take all of my kids pics and vids with and iPhone. Knowing lighting and using manual settings I get some pretty sick pics with an iPhone 5S. I like to back light using the sun and positioning and the iPhone Flash gives off a nice front light pop. My family thinks that I dragged out my 6K Nikon and lighting rigs when they see all of my Kids pics. lol


Just Dave

So happy someone else is still shooting Nikon

[DeanCapture]

Well, looks like you've got plenty to chew on so.....good luck

[marcop]

Originally Posted by munki

So happy someone else is still shooting Nikon