STICKY:  How to photograph a high school Senior

lawdog2k wrote in post #14678594
Man, I need some art training.....I am just scratching the surface of portraiture and I am using my most available subjects...my kiddos. Got me some gadgets for shooting indoors with some modifiers, etc... practice, practice, practice.

I think the quickest and easiest technique to learn is simple on camera bounce flash using the Black Foamie Thing (google is your friend).

Once you have mastered that, it is second nature then to use a light instead.

What should I expect from his seminar? Will it be 5 hours of non stop info? Or will it be half an hour then half an hour break, and repeat 4 more times?

I think I remember from last time how much Tiff loved the question and answer period.

AvailableLight wrote in post #14678608
I'm doing that, too. Got a light stand and umbrella for starters. Problem is my wife and kids don't have the time for daddy to practice his shots so I'm going to have to get a doll or mannequin, LOL!

Find a cute senior and give her some extra prints for her time. Ask her if you can try some things. start playing with your light and start chimping. Move it close so its too hot. move it back so its not enough. Learn how the feather it and how to control your shutter speed and manipulate the affect with your ISO and you can figure it out. You have to be in control of all three settings but you must know what the ambient is first.

If you dont have a light meter,, here is a little trick...use your camera. Put it in TV mode, set your shutter to 1/125 and take some test shots. The camera will tell you the correct aperature. From there, you have 2 settings you are playing with to get a look you like. Its a good staring point.

Im going out with a couple of beauty dishes, ND and circulars,,vagabond minis. its all is use outdoors any more. you would be surprised how simple it is and the results are awesome......love love love the grids and the socks that Buff provides with his beauty dish set ups. I leave my softboxes in the studio these days. Im triggering everything with pocket wizards flex and mini triggers ad if i use a speedlight , then its for shallow depth work and fill lighting only.

Yeah, mark. I have been using bounce flash, but with just a StoFen or the little white bounce card on the 580ii. I will check out the black thingy. It looks fairly interesting for a cheap trick!

lawdog2k wrote in post #14678697
Yeah, mark. I have been using bounce flash, but with just a StoFen or the little white bounce card on the 580ii. I will check out the black thingy. It looks fairly interesting for a cheap trick!

here ya go Lawdog

http://neilvn.com/tang​ents/?s=black+foamy+th​ing

http://neilvn.com …about/black-foamie-thing/

Neil is one of the first guys to publish stuff about lighting a few yrs ago. He has his Stuff together and there is a ton of great lighting info on his site

bookmark him

video

http://neilvn.com …g-the-black-foamie-thing/

lawdog2k wrote in post #14678697
Yeah, mark. I have been using bounce flash, but with just a StoFen or the little white bounce card on the 580ii. I will check out the black thingy. It looks fairly interesting for a cheap trick!

This is a very valuable method.

Here is a recent one of a friend of ours, sitting on the settee talking to some other friends (senior age).

A bounced on camera flash with BFT.

Very simple, very powerful.

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nice examples mark....everyone has to remember that the black foamy thing is great as long as you have a wall to bounce off,,,,,i have not found it useful outdoors or if the is nothing to bounce off like a processional in a church. At that point i prefer to blend with a modified omni bounce and a demb flip

umphotography wrote in post #14679015
nice examples mark....everyone has to remember that the black foamy thing is great as long as you have a wall to bounce off,,,,,i have not found it useful outdoors or if the is nothing to bounce off like a processional in a church. At that point i prefer to blend with a modified omni bounce and a demb flip

Agreed.

This is great for indoor stuff, especially if you have a good clean surface within 10 feet.

The issue I had with the above shots, is they were both bounced off of walls that were a warm stone colour, creating a cast.

Hence the black and white and split toning.

Voice activated lightstands are the way to go beyond this.


An important point is this, in support of your earlier argument..

...I could not have got this shot with the natural light in the room, it just was not there, it needed help.

And that is why we need to use additional light sources, because available light does not always provide everything we need to sculpt an image.

umphotography wrote in post #14678468
USE YOUR FLASH.

You are never ever going to be able to get enough light in the eyes w/o a reflector or some other light source to put it here. If you have questions about balancing the light ask. Get a lightmeter and know what your throwing at your clients. Know your ambient and set your fill and your shots will improve 100%. Use of ND filters and circulars improve the results even more .

About 3 years ago I wasnt using my flash for most of my outdoor portraits, then I started to the year after and I noticed a huge difference in quality, especially in the eye detail. I now walk around with a 40" umbrella with a portable flash in it and probably look like a fool

Great thread and great pics

sevillafox wrote in post #14677303
Then meh. I went to a seminar by him. Worth the $59 I paid for one or two ideas. The rest was meh.

I am watching him right now. He sounds lot more like these bank CEOs. Two weeks ago I watched Don Giannatti and that guy was so easy going and telling really good stuff.

bobbyz wrote in post #14679242
I am watching him right now. He sounds lot more like these bank CEOs. Two weeks ago I watched Don Giannatti and that guy was so easy going and telling really good stuff.

Don Gianatti is the best. I had a chance to take a weekend seminar with him. We flew him to Minneapolis and myself and 17 other photographers trained with him for 3 days....12 hrs a day the first two,,,,,6 hrs the last day. We were on location outdoors and inside with studio lighting with about 12 models........invaluab​le. He taught me so much and most of all, how to see the light, how to blend it right and what to look for with set ups. So much i learned for in studio lighting that i dont use because my studio is not big enough. Cost was $4oo.oo and that included his airfare. All i can say is WOW....one of the best guys ive ever had a chance to learn from.

bobbyz wrote in post #14679242
I am watching him right now. He sounds lot more like these bank CEOs. Two weeks ago I watched Don Giannatti and that guy was so easy going and telling really good stuff.

thanks for the reminder, I missed the first hour, was anything important said?

Ive noticed the first thing people on this forum seem to recommend for ambassador programs is to NEVER DO IT FOR FREE but that is what he is recommending. also the only way to become an ambassador is to be referred by a previous ambassador which seems interesting, but if I did that I would have none for this year, last years spokesmodels for the most part just got their pictures done for a good deal *not free and I still made it worth my while*. but im looking forward to when I can screen them better instead of just trying to get what spokesmodels I can from a school.

GerryDavid wrote in post #14679437
thanks for the reminder, I missed the first hour, was anything important said?

Ive noticed the first thing people on this forum seem to recommend for ambassador programs is to NEVER DO IT FOR FREE but that is what he is recommending. also the only way to become an ambassador is to be referred by a previous ambassador which seems interesting, but if I did that I would have none for this year, last years spokesmodels for the most part just got their pictures done for a good deal *not free and I still made it worth my while*. but im looking forward to when I can screen them better instead of just trying to get what spokesmodels I can from a school.

As with anything you benchmark against, you also need to look at the area market -- if every studio in your area did free ambassadors, you almost need to or make it as appealing as being free. Fortunately in my area, only one place has an ambassador program and I just make mine a little more attractive than theirs in terms of the percent off, etc.

Tom