This is the image I was trying to post
This is the image I was trying to post
ha ha ha....Originally Posted by sean setters
Well, I made many mistakes with my first ever prom photos. Since joining this forum about two years ago I always shoot Raw, I was taking snapshots of my son's baseball team recently and instead of having to convert the photos, I decided to just shoot Jpeg and send the unedited photos to his teammates. I forgot that the camera was still set to JPEG. I used the white foam board but never got to experiment. You can easily see the dark shadow on the left side of my son's shoulder (tall kid with crew cut). To add to the drama, my daughter's (blue dress) date was about an hour late due to poor communicating. Nothing like rushing for something you've never done before. Don't see professional photography in my future.
Anyway, these are the better photos. Not up to par with most of you guys and gals, but certainly better than nothing or a cell phone photo. I was laughing to myself the entire time as the relatives, parents and neighbors were getting in front of me taking snapshots half the time I was shooting. Now I know how you guys feel at a real shoot. It was a great experience and was asked to shoot my nieces prom next week. Learned a lot thanks to you people, thanks for the advise.
Last edited by Always Looking; 06-03-2013 at 02:44 PM. Reason: Trouble adding photos
So, what setup did you go with?
Oh, and a how-to for embedding photos from flickr:
1) Click the "Share Button" on your flickr photo. A window will pop up with embed HTML code.
2) Click the radio button beside "BBC Code"
3) Choose an appropriate size, then copy the code.
4) Paste the code into the reply window.
Sean
AIT Prom 20130001 by Scott Secor, on Flickr
AIT Prom 20130002 by Scott Secor, on Flickr
Sean,
Ended up using the 5d3 with the 70-200 2.8 is with the 430 flash mounted to the camera. Bounced the flash off the foam board as best I could (board was about eighteen inches above flash). Left flash settings automatic and camera set up on manual. Son with date shot at 1/200, F6.3, 400 iso, 75mm, evaluative flash metering. Daughter with date shot at 1/160, F4.5 400 iso, 115mm, evaluative flash metering.
I accidentally learned that you really need set up time and lots of practice. I also noticed that it helps to know your equipment before the day you plan on shooting. Shadows are a little better on my daughter than my son, probably due to the fact that I was a little further away.
My thoughts:
I'm not sure that the foam board was placed high enough for optimal light on the subjects, and I don't think it was set powerful enough to provide enough exposure on the subjects.
If you look in the first picture, you can clearly see the shadow cast by the flash. It's just slightly offset from the subjects, meaning it's not far enough off-axis to look natural. Also, the board seems to have been placed very close to the flash, meaning the light didn't spread much before hitting the board. No matter how big the board was, the flash wasn't striking a large portion of it translating to a relatively small source of light. This caused a shadow (on the background) that was very hard and conspicuous.
Second, I personally prefer flashes to be my main source of light on a portrait. And no matter what the camera's ETTL tells me, I generally like a small bit of overexposure on the face. Opinions may differ in that regard, but I like the face to be brightly illuminated under most circumstances like this. Therefore, if you were using ETTL, you might have wanted to dial in some flash exposure compensation to provide a more powerful mainlight on the subjects.
What that said, you may want to invest in a small off-camera flash setup. All you need is a lighstand, an umbrella swivel, a white umbrella, and a sandbag. You can use your 60D to trigger your off-camera 430EX wirelessly.
I used the same setup for this picture (except I was using a 580EX):
Bobbi Jo Maternity Series by budrowilson, on Flickr
You'll notice that the flash power is a little hot on the subjects, but it doesn't look bad. I purposefully underexposed the ambient light to let the flash's output draw the viewer's eye to the couple.
Sean,
Makes sense, looks like I have to invest a few dollars and get the flash off camera. I rarely use flash, but I'm starting to learn the benefits. I certainly can see the faces are almost 'highlighted' in your photos. I use to wonder why some professional photographers prefer their studio as compared to outside, I am finally beginning to understand, they can control the lighting, back round, etc.
Thank you for your advise.
You got it. Being able to control the light plays a huge part in making a photo "pop." It isn't easy, though, especially outdoors...
My setups aren't always this complex, but they can be...
Jordan Chitwood Setup by budrowilson, on Flickr
However, the gear I listed for the maternity shot I showed didn't cost an arm and a leg. You can get a decent lightstand for $40, an umbrella swivel for less than $20, a decent umbrella for around $20, and you can make your own sandbag for next to nothing.
So, we're talking less than $100.00 to give you a good off-camera light source? Well worth the money, in my opinion. ;-)
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