Indoor Lighting Suggestions

[clos]

I am going over to my brothers home tomorrow in hopes of getting a few pictures of our 2yr old daughters for Christmas. I do most of my shooting outside and have minimal experiance with indoor portraits. I of course want to get the best picture possible and my primary concern is lighting. Can you suggest a good way of going about it. Please keep in mind that I am not considering spending any additional money on hardware but will spend up to $50 on materials and props.

I have:
Canon 10D
Sigma 70-105mm 4-5.6
Canon 75-300mm IS
Canon 50mm 1.8
Canon 420EX Speedlite Flash

Question:

1. Can anyone suggest a good backround solution, I am not too interested in Digital Backdrops. I was thinking of a sheet but what color and how to set it up.

2. How can I get good lighting, I plan to use the Speedlit and bounce the light but my brothers house has high 20+ foot ceilings and I don't like direct flash. I use foam board taped to the speedlight to diffuse it a bit but still want a softer light. I was thinking maybe bouncing the light off a poster size foamboard that someone can hold above the camera, will this work well?
Suggestions?

3. Should I primarily use the better Canon 50mm lens or use the Sigma 28-105mm zoom for more flexibility.

4. If I use the 50mm should I reduce the dependency on the flash by using a wide aperature like 1.8 at 400-800ISO or go with a more appropriate aperature of say 8.0 at ISO200. I plan to lock my shutter speed at 1/100.

5. Should I use a tripod? Before you say yes, I dont have a good one and I suspect that he kids being young and all will be dificult to pin down so the "moment" might not happen in front of our setup. I am also concerned it might spoil the intimate setting we plan to create for the kids.

6. Any recomendation for the set-up as far as decor?

Sprry for the long post, I am very excited about this and want to get the most out of it.

Thanks all.

-CLos

[boobops]

1) Seems like it's too late to worry about a background - just shoot the kids in their normal environment.

2) bounce it off of the ceiling and use a reflector to fill in the shadows - a white sheet or white plastic will do.

3) You only have one suitable lens 50mm.

4) 400ISO is quite usable but choose between flash and available light as necessary.

5) If you're using flash don't bother with the tripod - available light then probably use it.

6) Use the available environment - kids look better in it anyway.

7) Good look!!

[DaveG]

clos wrote:
I am going over to my brothers home tomorrow in hopes of getting a few pictures of our 2yr old daughters for Christmas. I do most of my shooting outside and have minimal experiance with indoor portraits. I of course want to get the best picture possible and my primary concern is lighting. Can you suggest a good way of going about it. Please keep in mind that I am not considering spending any additional money on hardware but will spend up to $50 on materials and props.

I have:
Canon 10D
Sigma 70-105mm 4-5.6
Canon 75-300mm IS
Canon 50mm 1.8
Canon 420EX Speedlite Flash

Question:

1. Can anyone suggest a good backround solution, I am not too interested in Digital Backdrops. I was thinking of a sheet but what color and how to set it up.

2. How can I get good lighting, I plan to use the Speedlit and bounce the light but my brothers house has high 20+ foot ceilings and I don't like direct flash. I use foam board taped to the speedlight to diffuse it a bit but still want a softer light. I was thinking maybe bouncing the light off a poster size foamboard that someone can hold above the camera, will this work well?
Suggestions?

3. Should I primarily use the better Canon 50mm lens or use the Sigma 28-105mm zoom for more flexibility.

4. If I use the 50mm should I reduce the dependency on the flash by using a wide aperature like 1.8 at 400-800ISO or go with a more appropriate aperature of say 8.0 at ISO200. I plan to lock my shutter speed at 1/100.

5. Should I use a tripod? Before you say yes, I dont have a good one and I suspect that he kids being young and all will be dificult to pin down so the "moment" might not happen in front of our setup. I am also concerned it might spoil the intimate setting we plan to create for the kids.

6. Any recomendation for the set-up as far as decor?

Sprry for the long post, I am very excited about this and want to get the most out of it.

Thanks all.

-CLos


I'd use the 50. Put the two kids on the floor and let them play. Do this in a living room with a great big window to let lots of light in.

The two little ones will be all over the place and you will frustrate yourself if you even attempt to control them. Isolate on one and shoot wide open without flash. Raise the ISO until you get at least 1/125 shutterspeed. If you use flash it'll distract them, but assuming they have a toy(s) to mess with, dad will be out of their consciousness within seconds.

Now with this kind of depth of field (i.e. none) you won't get both of the kids in focus at the same time. So plan on using TWO shots (one of each kid) on one canvas. The good thing about this plan is that you can select the BEST shot of each kid. Otherwise you'll use the best shot of kid #1 with an OK shot of kid #2.

[clos]

Thanks for the advice.

Also, I just went to WalMart and picked up a king size white bedsheet, should I attempt use it as a backdrop?

I understand that it will be difficult to get them together in one shot and I know I can fake it in photoshop. But I intend to at least try and capture that 'moment' if it happens.

-Clos

[DaveG]

I was thinking less of faking a composite in Photoshop and more of two distinct images on one sheet of paper.