Looking for some tips from you Pro's for Sister in Law's Engagement Pics tomorrow

I taking my Sister in Laws engagement pics tomorrow in Brooklyn overlooking the NYC skyline. We've getting there for sunrise so the lighting will hopefully not get too harsh. I'm working with the equipment in my sig in addition I have a reflector I'm taking with me. I was hoping to get some tips or advice you could give me as this is my first engagement shoot. I already have a handful of poses in mind that I'm using as a guide. I've been practicing outdoors shooting my daughter and my dog (my only models on hand right now lol) and I feel like even with a fast shutter and not wide open aperture I seem to get soft (not super sharp) looking photos and bland colors. I'm stressing myself out because I want to do the best job I can do for her. Any advice and/or tips would be greatly appreciated!

ETA: PICTURES POSTED BELOW

dancinmyazoff wrote in post #14078123
I taking my Sister in Laws engagement pics tomorrow in Brooklyn overlooking the NYC skyline. We've getting there for sunrise so the lighting will hopefully not get too harsh. I'm working with the equipment in my sig in addition I have a reflector I'm taking with me. I was hoping to get some tips or advice you could give me as this is my first engagement shoot. I already have a handful of poses in mind that I'm using as a guide. I've been practicing outdoors shooting my daughter and my dog (my only models on hand right now lol) and I feel like even with a fast shutter and not wide open aperture I seem to get soft (not super sharp) looking photos and bland colors. I'm stressing myself out because I want to do the best job I can do for her. Any advice and/or tips would be greatly appreciated!

A few tips.

First, look at Philco's post which is stickied on this forum - its a great read.

Second, make sure you have someone come with you to help you with your reflector. When the sun comes up a little, turn their backs to the sun and fill them in with your reflector. Dont forget you can also use it to bounce your flash off if they want a certain landmark that isn't in the right light.

Third, my guess is why you are getting the bland, not super share images has a few issues. First, you may be missing focus. Some cameras and lenses don't line up right and will either front or back focus. Second, you are using low grade equipment. There is no way a $200 lens is going to output the same quality as a $2500 lens. Third, you may need to make some adjustments in post processing, changing the sharpness, vibrance, curves, etc.

Good luck. Take this experience, learn from it, and in a few months take them out to do another shoot.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately the only person I'd be able to take with me is babysitting my 7 month old lol so I'll have to improvise! I appreciate the advice!

You could shoot and hold a reflector. It's not easy though*L*

I've been a professional for more than five years, I still find engagement shoots tough, probably because I haven't done many. Starting to research the night before the shoot really isn't that useful. A year before the shoot would be more useful.

The key is to make the couple comfortable, make sure they're happy, and show/express their feelings and connection in the photos.

To give bright colorful images you need to expose well and post process well. I also add light from off camera, but that's difficult without an assistant.

tim wrote in post #14081266
I've been a professional for more than five years, I still find engagement shoots tough, probably because I haven't done many. Starting to research the night before the shoot really isn't that useful. A year before the shoot would be more useful.

The key is to make the couple comfortable, make sure they're happy, and show/express their feelings and connection in the photos.

To give bright colorful images you need to expose well and post process well. I also add light from off camera, but that's difficult without an assistant.

Thanks for the reply Tim, actually the couples interaction I'm not nervous about at all...that's actually something I'm good at. I teach and choreograph dance and am pretty seasoned in being able to get people to evoke a specific emotion. I've been practicing everyday working on getting proper exposure in camera more. I'm basically as prepared as I possibly could be but I am always worried that my best won't be good enough. I guess I'm just looking for a last minute pep talk to calm my nerves

Shoot raw. If you dont know how to shoot raw, then shoot raw+jpg. This would be a perfect time to experiment with raw while still doing what you are comfortable with (if you are used to shooting in jpg).

Note, raw takes a lot of room on the card, so make sure you have enough space.

If it's not windy, you can get away with clamping your reflector to a light stand. I've done this before when I've been by myself. It's not ideal but it can work. The main thing is that unless you want a silhouette shot you will need to bounce some light back onto the couple. Keep the reflector off to one side for best results. You don't want to have the light coming from an on-camera position. This is, of course, assuming that you have a nice sunrise. If not, just add a bit of fill light from your flash. It won't be as pretty as some off-camera light but it will do the job.

How did it go?

Thank you for all the replies.

RedTiePhotography...I do shoot RAW, I got myself a huge memory card!

Overall it went pretty well...aside for the fact that we hit so much traffic even leaving at 6am so we got to our location a bit later that I wanted so that warm sunrise light was short lived. From this though I definitely think I should invest in a lens that will work better outdoors...I'll take some rec's (my nifty is fabulous indoors but seems to lack it's clarity outside). I will post some pics when I get a chance. Thanks again!

dancinmyazoff wrote in post #14090667
Thank you for all the replies.

RedTiePhotography...I do shoot RAW, I got myself a huge memory card!

Overall it went pretty well...aside for the fact that we hit so much traffic even leaving at 6am so we got to our location a bit later that I wanted so that warm sunrise light was short lived. From this though I definitely think I should invest in a lens that will work better outdoors...I'll take some rec's (my nifty is fabulous indoors but seems to lack it's clarity outside). I will post some pics when I get a chance. Thanks again!

Can you be more specific as to what the problems with your lenses were? In general, you should have been able to get sharper exposures given the brighter light available outdoors. I've never heard of an "indoor" lens beyond the fact that some lenses have too narrow of an aperture to be useful indoors. You could always stop down outside, but I presume the real issue may not be glass. Do you have any specific examples?

I hope it's ok I'm posting the pics on here even though this is not the "photo sharing" section but I thought I should follow up. If I recall as long as it's not hosted by this site I can show more than 5? If not, I'll delete a few. I usually refrain from from sharing because some people have been very harsh, just replying with rude criticism and not constructive at all...and, well, I'm here to get better and learn...gotta start somewhere

*I feel like my photos are lacking that extra something that would make them look more than just a snapshot. I'd love feedback.

50mm (Nifty 50 lens)
ISO 100
F/2.2
1/160 sec

Ill give my crit here.

1. Cute shot with a really natural emotion captured. I think I would have done it from a little higher up. Careful with the double chin.

2. I dont really like this shot. Its a bit underexposed and the pole doesnt make an interesting background.Moving yourself to the right or the left a little will get that pole out of the background.

3. Again, I dont like that pole nor the light. When there is light and dark portions like in this image, it makes it look somewhat snapshotty.

4. I like this image, but I dont like the pose. Good job using the direct light nicely, but I dont find a good connection between the couple.

5. Cute, but too blue. The pose is fairly week- he looks uncomfortable and she isnt flattered.

6. I am sorry, but I have no idea where this was going. This is just so odd. It is a major crotch shot for the guy, the woman has no head or feet. I really would just like to know where you were going with this shot.

7. Cute emotion on the woman, but the guy kills it for me. The composition is just ok, and it looks like it could turn to an upskirt shot quite easy.

These are comments made for your benefit. If you do not agree with something/anything I said, please ignore it. None of this was intended to hurt your feelings or insulting.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #14110660
Ill give my crit here.

1. Cute shot with a really natural emotion captured. I think I would have done it from a little higher up. Careful with the double chin.

2. I dont really like this shot. Its a bit underexposed and the pole doesnt make an interesting background.Moving yourself to the right or the left a little will get that pole out of the background.

3. Again, I dont like that pole nor the light. When there is light and dark portions like in this image, it makes it look somewhat snapshotty.

4. I like this image, but I dont like the pose. Good job using the direct light nicely, but I dont find a good connection between the couple.

5. Cute, but too blue. The pose is fairly week- he looks uncomfortable and she isnt flattered.

6. I am sorry, but I have no idea where this was going. This is just so odd. It is a major crotch shot for the guy, the woman has no head or feet. I really would just like to know where you were going with this shot.

7. Cute emotion on the woman, but the guy kills it for me. The composition is just ok, and it looks like it could turn to an upskirt shot quite easy.

These are comments made for your benefit. If you do not agree with something/anything I said, please ignore it. None of this was intended to hurt your feelings or insulting.

Thanks so much for the comments. I forgot to mention that all these are SOOC, just converted .jpg and added to flickr. For my edits, I took the pole out of those pics lol! Thanks for the tip about #3 and the light and dark portions. #6 I was just trying something different, wanted to give a relaxed sexy vibe, my sister in law liked it which is all I can ask! Again thanks for the constructive criticism, I can definitely take it when it's not blatant hurtfulness and appreciate it!

dancinmyazoff wrote in post #14110726
Thanks so much for the comments. I forgot to mention that all these are SOOC, just converted .jpg and added to flickr.!

I am not trying to pick on you at all, and I really appreciate that you took the criticism in good faith as they were intended to be. But it is one of my pet peeves when people post images SOOC. Why would you not run it through a small round of pp before showing it to anyone?