Need help doing Christmas portrait

[dmaxpower]

Ok so I admit it, I am a point and shooter with a DSLR. My wife wants a Christmas 'portrait' of my 16 month old son. I would like to do it tonight with stuff I have around the house. I have failed miserably to this point.

I have 40D, 50mm f1.4, Tamron 17-50 f2.8, canon 18-200 and a 430 flash.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[Ry-Cam]

Do you have a christmas tree with decorations?

I recently took these pictures:

http://camick.ca/photos/436436030_Xu4AN-L-1.jpg
http://camick.ca/photos/436444324_soEH8-L.jpg

The kid is on the christmas tree mat with some balls around him, and a present in the other picture.

Good luck, post your results!

[Justin_Thyme]

Never have subject facing you with shoulders squared.
430 should have TTL so your exposure can be done automatically.
Shoot in Av mode at F6 or there abouts.
Bounce flash off of ceiling, not straight on.
Use 50mm

[GQsmithy]

I have failed miserably to this point.

I have 40D, 50mm f1.4, Tampon 17-50 f2.8, canon 18-200 and a 430 flash.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.


That could be your problem, right there. I hear the image quality on these is terrible. :rolleyes::D

Seriously, sounds like you're getting good advice so far. Usually, children photograph better when you get down on their level. Keep the props simple and the sessions short. Have fun.

[christyjo2]

That could be your problem, right there. I hear the image quality on these is terrible. :rolleyes::D

Seriously, sounds like you're getting good advice so far. Usually, children photograph better when you get down on their level. Keep the props simple and the sessions short. Have fun.

I saw that too haha. I agree about keeping the props simple and definately the sessions short.

[dogwalker]

430 should have TTL so your exposure can be done automatically.
Shoot in Av mode at F6 or there abouts.
Bounce flash off of ceiling, not straight on.
Use 50mm

I'm a noob at this, so I'm glad I found this great thread. I do have a question, though, on the E-TTL. I've had my 450D a short time, and just got a 430EX II. I do like to bounce, and even use (sometimes) a Lumiquest 80-20 setup to shoot some of the light forward to fill shadows.

However, I keep having to manually bump the flash power up. I thought E-TTL would accomodate for the bounced light and adjust accordingly?

Maybe my ISO's too low? I'm using 100. I did notice that if I use 400, it looks very, very good.

[dmaxpower]

haha, ooops what a bad spelling mistake.

[dmaxpower]

Thanks for all the advice. I will try those tonight. He got tired early last night. The worst part is trying to keep him still. He's too busy to stop for even a second. It's hard to focus on the eyes and snap a shot before he moves.

[EOS_JD]

Thanks for all the advice. I will try those tonight. He got tired early last night. The worst part is trying to keep him still. He's too busy to stop for even a second. It's hard to focus on the eyes and snap a shot before he moves.

If you set the camera with sufficient depth of field (say f8) if he moves a little you should still get a pretty sharp image.

The above is useful tips. When shooting with flash in yuor living room, you should have enough power to bounce the flash off the ceiling, set camera to M, shutter speed 1/80th or maybe 1/125 if he moves quick :) set aperture to f8 and ISO 200. If this is under exposed lift the ISO to 400.

This will ensure any movement is frozen and that you will have enough dof to get a nice sharp image. The flash will output enough light to expose correctly. You can use +/- flash compensation if you need more/less light.

Using a long lens or working very close to the subject will have an effect on the depth of field but try it out and just take time. Get someone to stand behind you to catch the attention. Not off to the side but just above the height of the camera (or your head).

That way he'll appear to be looking into the camera.

Natural images are great. I'd suggest using the Tamron 17-55. Will allow you to zoom in out a little if he moves :)

If he's moving around the room, try using AI Servo. Focus is tracked so long as you half press the shutter button (you can set this up differently and have the AF button separate from the shutter - read about Custom Function 4 if you think that might help).