Stuck in a rut...

[kitkatdubs]

If your client asks for a particular pose, do it.... But then do a better pose. 9 times out of 10-- they will order the better pose.

I am shooting on a Canon 50D - I am wondering if I upgrade to say a 5D Mark iii would help with the cropping part? My camera is a crop sensor lens so I feel like that is quite annoying. Also, I have heard that the Mark iii is very good with low lighting?

 

[tirediron]

The Mark III will definitely handle low lighting better, but WHY would you shoot portraits in low light? As Wyogirl mentioned, you need to be adding light. Speedlights will do the job, but with the availability of inverters and Li-ion battery banks, you can just as easily tote full on studio lights around.

As for cropping; the camera will make no difference. The frame ratio is the same in either one. If you can't get it right in your current camera, spending $2000 (which would be MUCH better spent on lighting) won't help.

 

[kitkatdubs]

I took maternity photos last night for free... here is a shot that I liked. any feedback would be helpful!

 

[tirediron]

This is a perfect example of where lighting would have helped. A lot! The couple really doesn't stand out at all. A single light at low power just off-axis would have really lent some 'pop' to this scene. I do like the fact that the couple has coordinated their clothing (your advice or their idea?), but really the fact that she's pregnant is lost among st all the black and the placement of Dad's hand. I also like the way the branch frames her back and goes over their heads (accident or design? Be honest! )

I also don't understand all the empty space. Is this a special spot that they wanted to show? It's nice enough, but not very interesting, and to be honest, I think a tighter, portrait crop would work much better here.

 

[Braineack]

I took maternity photos last night for free... here is a shot that I liked. any feedback would be helpful!

Did you add in that flare?

using tapatalk.

 

[Derrel]

I think the couple would have benefitted from a little bit more foot space. Not a lot, but a little bit. I'm positive I would have picked up that stick from the lower left corner, and tossed it out of my shooting area. I like the hillside behind, and the tree is a nice symbol of life, and how it can branch out, from one base, multiple branches. The dark black point hides the wrinkly tail of his T-shirt, but the blacks need a bit more detail in them. Here the shot is, with the exposure brightened a bit, then the edges of the frame darkened with the Lightroom burn tool, and the stick that was in the lower left corner quickly cloned out.

Maybe go for a more theatrical look? This is adding more burning (darkening), and then some dodging, to create that sort of "shaft of late afternoon light" look. The flare looks added to me, but I see people doing it a LOT these days, and I think some younger people really like the artificial flare look. I spent about two minutes editing these, but if a person spent more time they could easily,easily better the edits I banged out in LR.

Last thing...I think about one inch or so needs to be lopped off of the right hand side of this composition. And again...they need a little bit more room below their feet!

 

[kitkatdubs]

Yes I added the sunflare. Does it look good or bad?

 

[The_Traveler]

OK, the flare adds some romance but the people just merge into each other.
But lots of empty space, their feet are almost at the bottom edge and 4 x 5 is a better standard size for frames in US.

 

[kitkatdubs]

OK, the flare adds some romance but the people just merge into each other.
But lots of empty space, their feet are almost at the bottom edge and 4 x 5 is a better standard size for frames in US.


View attachment 115930

I really like the crop you did. Looks great.

 

[kitkatdubs]

How do you know when you're ready to start charging?

 

[dennybeall]

Some good info so far. I would say also to remember it may be the same ole/same ole stuff to you and your husband BUT it's brand new to the client. If that's what the client wants and expects then you're doing your job and may need to express your creativity in other ways.

 

[vintagesnaps]

When you have no doubts you know how to do the job. I've been a photographer long enough that it's second nature and I know what to do in a variety of situations. (And still, if someone asked me to shoot a wedding I'd run the other direction! I know what I can do and how to get it done as well as what I don't have the expertise or desire to do). And I remember starting out, I was nervous and excited but had no hesitation about doing it.

Try comparing your photos to other established portrait photographers in your area (not the people with cameras on facebook and craigslist who underprice), because your work will need to be competitive with that - and you need to learn how to price accordingly. Try American Society of Media Photographers or PPA for info. on contracts, licensing usage, etc. - get info. from working pros (like John - Tirediron).

It's good to start learning what's involved in doing this but with the type questions you've posted I think it seems like you're getting ahead of yourself trying to do portrait sessions. For example, the outdoor portrait session the other day - that would have been better had you gone out and taken pictures that time of day to realize that wasn't going to work, that the info. you got about 2 hrs. before sunset was inaccurate.

There seem to be consistent critiques here that discuss seeing similar issues with what needs to be improved in your photos. So that would tell me those are reliable opinions (where one person's critique could just be personal preference).
It would be beneficial to do more learning before you go further with this.

Try local hands on classes or maybe a local camera club that may have studio space and presenters, etc. Get out with just your camera (or drag your hubby along?? lol) and take pictures so you can get consistently proper exposures, better compositions, etc. Think about the setting, the scene, the time of day - how will that be eventually to add people into the mix? how would it look as a background?

And it helps working with kids/families to know how to interact, how to direct people, etc. If you have way more practice with your camera you'll probably be able to work more efficiently and get the shots so the kids don't have to wait while you putz with your camera or figure out positioning, etc.

If you know what to do then when they say they want ___ you can offer another idea that once they try it, they may like that even better than what they first thought they wanted. Sometimes that's based on something they saw and may not be the only/best option. In the example you gave, what did the person really want? maybe a photo that showed everyone's faces because maybe she/he has seen group photos where you can't see all the faces well. So discuss how you could pose everyone so the faces will show. That's just an example, you'd need to discuss and ask questions to find out why she/he wanted everyone lined up in a row, you might be able to get the look the client wants in a different way that they didn't even know about.

I think it takes time and a lot of practice and learning and you can get there.

 

[paigew]

I agree your lens is too long. I have used a 70-200 and don't personally care for it. especially for shooting family sessions and the like. I use my 24-70 for sessions with my 135 for a few shots here and there. I agree you should re-evaluate the editing and try to get your subjects to connect more. There are lots of resources for classes on line. I think creative live has been mentioned. Good luck. Keep at it!

 

[MidnightUK]

A selection of possible resources, in no particular order

1) Try searching on YouTube for "Jared Platt Profoto" he has about half a dozen tutorials on there. He is very good at explaining the reason why he lights as he does, he does a lot of technical explaining, do not be put off by that, value it! It does not matter if it is indoors or out, listen to why he is putting lights here or there. The problem with most teaching is the lack of explained reasoning. I think the above posters are correct, most trainers do not have the level of sophisticated understanding.

2) For posing and lighting guides try
Jerry Ghionis

and


3) Look at old books (2nd hand shops/internet) on how to portrait light from the 1940s/50s

4) Sue Bryce is a very good poser of people, so anything by her. Example


5) Event Space training by B and H Photo, loads of hour long excellent videos on every aspect of business and photography you can name
B and H

6) Modern books on Cinematography and Lighting (can order them on loan through your local library) as a good film maker knows more about lighting a space as well as the human in it, than most average photographers will ever know. Remember that lighting the space the person is in can totally change how you view the whole image and indeed what your perception of the model is. This is never mentioned by most trainers. It is covered in some of Jared Platts videos, another reason why I think he is good at what he does.

7) Watch films/movies for their lighting effects. It can be helpful if you find the story itself boring! There are a load of out of copyright films on YouTube, the term "full movie" is helpful when searching or use the name of an historic film star. The black and white films can be particularly interesting as you only have to deal with looking at the light and shadows, not the impact of additional colour. (note, do not click on any links to off site videos, stay in YouTube itself.)

8) Try the Strobist website, you may be able to do what you want to do with small flashguns, at least as an initial experiment.
Strobist: Lighting 101 - Understanding Your Flash

9) If you don't already have lights, consider buying Yongnuo brand flashguns from Amazon - they are cheap but everyone finds them very high quality, forums are stacked out with praise for them.

10) Look at any Hollywood stills of stars (google images is your friend) either as portraits or as scenes from film sets. Anything between say the 1930's to 1970's is usually good, the stills photography quality declined pretty fast after that.

11) Corrective posing if the person has flaws - Jeff Smith


12) Christopher Grey, Master lighting guide

 

[MidnightUK]

My dad, when I got my first camera at 18, used to look though my stack of newly returned prints, put the on the table and say nothing.

He would say he was supportive as he had bothered to look at them at all.

Looking back as an adult I realise he did not want me to grow up and develop because he was afraid of change or that anyone might do better in life than he did (he actually did very well, ironically)

Some people are bored to death by the interests and passtimes of others.

Some people cannot put praise into words as they were not praised much themselves so have no experience of it, so they want to say good stuff but don't know how to get it out.

Some fear sounding critical when they don't want to hurt you.

You will meet all of these types, both good and bad. Identify them with care as they can help massively to build your confidence, which is wonderful and to be treasured or undermine utterly in low key ways you hardly notice happening.