How to shoot glamour, camera setup

[t0nka]

Hi everyone, I'm new to g&n and I was wondering if there is a better to set your camera for shooting glamour? I know there is portrait mode which is suppose to soften the skin, but is there anything I can do in a different mode to get better results? I got Canon Rebel XT with EF-S 18-55mm f/3,5-5,6 USM, EF 35-80mm f/4.0-5.6, EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM with ET-60. The shooting will be done outdoors.

[tfiorda]

I can think of a few things. Exposure, composition, posing, lighting, moving the camera off of the fully program modes in to the creative modes and eventually manual mode.

Please don't think I'm being a smart-a$$. There is just so much more to glamour shooting than just a camera setting. From your equipment list, you have a very good start. The rest comes from experimenting, learning the different features of your camera, and going out and getting your head kicked in. :-)

Skin softening and other glamour effects are best done in post processing, i.e. Photoshop and the like. To make post easier, strive to get it right in camera first. That is where the exposure, composition, lighting and posing come in.

The one thing I don't see in your list is lighting. To start, look in to a good hotshoe strobe like the 580EX II. It will help you with fill lighting to balance the light between the outdoor ambient light and the light on your subject.

I could go on, but you might get depressed. If you have a good understanding of the fundamentals of photography, it's not a big leap moving to g&n. It's the same techniques used in a different manner with a few new techniques learned along the way. One thing to do is to find images that you like and attempt to duplicate them. Analyze the lighting, the models pose and expression, and what the photog has done with focus and point of view of the camera. Then experiment and see if you can improve upon what you see. And above all have fun doing it!

Tony...

[tacoma200]

I can think of a few things. Exposure, composition, posing, lighting, moving the camera off of the fully program modes in to the creative modes and eventually manual mode.

Please don't think I'm being a smart-a$$. There is just so much more to glamour shooting than just a camera setting. From your equipment list, you have a very good start. The rest comes from experimenting, learning the different features of your camera, and going out and getting your head kicked in. :-)

Skin softening and other glamour effects are best done in post processing, i.e. Photoshop and the like. To make post easier, strive to get it right in camera first. That is where the exposure, composition, lighting and posing come in.

The one thing I don't see in your list is lighting. To start, look in to a good hotshoe strobe like the 580EX II. It will help you with fill lighting to balance the light between the outdoor ambient light and the light on your subject.

I could go on, but you might get depressed. If you have a good understanding of the fundamentals of photography, it's not a big leap moving to g&n. It's the same techniques used in a different manner with a few new techniques learned along the way. One thing to do is to find images that you like and attempt to duplicate them. Analyze the lighting, the models pose and expression, and what the photog has done with focus and point of view of the camera. Then experiment and see if you can improve upon what you see. And above all have fun doing it!

Tony...
Tony has given you some good advice. If your sill using the program modes I feel you have a lot of studying to. If your doing a lot of outdoor photo's then as Tony suggest a 580exII would be a "great investment" along with a fast prime lens such as a 50 1.4 or 85 1.8. Good luck, learning is where all the fun is so study, practice, and this forum is a great learning tool.

[bsaber]

Very good advice from the above two posts. I recommend experimenting with Av mode as a starting point.

[charlesu]

I would recommend waiting to do nudes until you are ready. Try working with still life images first.

[t0nka]

I'm not using program modes, I usually use Av or M. I was just wondering what exactly portrait mode did to soften skin because that is what it says on the manual. By the way 580 EX II that much better then the 430 EX??

AND thank you all for the advice:)

[bsaber]

Well the 580ex II is more powerful than the 430ex by about a full stop. If you can afford the 580 then go for it. They're both great flashes. Personally, I prefer the 580ex II because of the better controls.

[XTremeSLR]

I think what portrait mode does is open the aperature to try and give you a narrow DOF. This will cause the subject to stand out from the background. I'm not sure what else it does. The best advise is to learn manual mode as soon as you can and just get use to using it. I sometimes will reference Av mode just to put me in the ballpark then I will switch to manual. If you watch the camera metering you will notice that slight movement of the camera will cause the metering to jump around when in reality the light is fairly constant when shooting in one spot. You can control these nuances by shooting manual, your exposure will be more consistent that way.