Lighting for Pre-School Photos

I have been asked to provide my daughters pre-school with their individual and class photos this year. I am excited and nervous. I do not own a studio and am still very much getting used to lighting and how / why it sometimes works and sometimes does not!
I will be taking photos of infants (whom can't even sit up on their own yet) to 5 year olds.
I have a canon 50d with a 17-55 2.8is, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8is, 50mm 1.8, and 85mm 1.8. I have two 430ex flashes and two white umbrellas with stands. I also have a small softbox.
I am nervous about my camera settings and how they communicate with the flash. At times I have had perfect lighting and other times (with the same shot and the flash firing) it is extremely under exposed and grainy.
I do not completely understand how far away the flash should be at certain settings of the camera compared to the distance of my subject. I also need to put a backdrop within the photo and think I know the subject is suppose to be about 4ft away from the drop.
Any advice would be great. I understand it takes more than just people telling me, but, I can't practice since it's in the school, so, I have no where to duplicate the setting!! Thank you!

karijcrossphotography wrote in post #10777879
I have been asked to provide my daughters pre-school with their individual and class photos this year. I am excited and nervous. I do not own a studio and am still very much getting used to lighting and how / why it sometimes works and sometimes does not!
I will be taking photos of infants (whom can't even sit up on their own yet) to 5 year olds.
I have a canon 50d with a 17-55 2.8is, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8is, 50mm 1.8, and 85mm 1.8. I have two 430ex flashes and two white umbrellas with stands. I also have a small softbox.
I am nervous about my camera settings and how they communicate with the flash. At times I have had perfect lighting and other times (with the same shot and the flash firing) it is extremely under exposed and grainy.
I do not completely understand how far away the flash should be at certain settings of the camera compared to the distance of my subject. I also need to put a backdrop within the photo and think I know the subject is suppose to be about 4ft away from the drop.
Any advice would be great. I understand it takes more than just people telling me, but, I can't practice since it's in the school, so, I have no where to duplicate the setting!! Thank you!

No offense, but if you know that you don't have the proper knowledge, understanding and equipment, why are you still contemplating on going thru with this?
Personally, I would contact an experienced professional and sit in on how it's done, then "maybe" if you get the grasp of things, then possibly do it the next year.....

justmy2cents

Look at Tim Park's pictures in the people forum. He posts awesome shots from his school shoot.

The Loft Studios wrote in post #10780152
No offense, but if you know that you don't have the proper knowledge, understanding and equipment, why are you still contemplating on going thru with this?
Personally, I would contact an experienced professional and sit in on how it's done, then "maybe" if you get the grasp of things, then possibly do it the next year.....

justmy2cents

^^^^ I was thinking the same thing... I would not attempt anything like that without more knowledge, experience, expertise...

Forget the flash and set up your background in the hallway, under a covered area. Use natural light.
That would eliminate variables, which you don't fully understand yet.

I do have a natural light location set up as well (thank you for your suggestion!!). I was just worried about the infants. And thank you for other photographer's name to check out, his work looks fantastic!!
For the others.....
I am already committed, so, "not doing it" is not an option. There are a ton of photographers that learn by reading, seeing, and doing, and not school, and unfortunately due to funds, that is the point I am at. I expected a little more "love" from a community of photographers! Thanks for responding either way!

If you insist on going thru with this, then I wish you the best of luck..... I'm sure you'll do O.K.

So here's what I know about doing infants.....
You want to get you what's called a "Baby Poser" (pictured below). They come is all shapes, types and sizes and allows for baby to be posed in all sort of unique positions like laying down, or in upright positions. I would stay away from the soft material ones and get the soft foam ones. Along with that you'll want to use nice soft and drappy type material like silk or spandex or something along those lines. And try to use a HUGE soft lighting source like a big window and make sure the your lighting stays pretty soft and glamourous which means a 1-1 or 2-1 ratio. So bring a pretty large reflector in tight on the shadow side of the subject.

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karijcrossphotography wrote in post #10777879
I am nervous about my camera settings and how they communicate with the flash. At times I have had perfect lighting and other times (with the same shot and the flash firing) it is extremely under exposed and grainy.
I do not completely understand how far away the flash should be at certain settings of the camera compared to the distance of my subject.

How are you triggering the lights? As for as "communicating", you probably should just use the flashes and camera in manual.

Set the shutter to 1/250s and ISO200. Then you need to figure out the aperture and the power of the flashes. A light meter can be handy for this.

Please use manual flash. There will be consistency of light output. Just make sure you put the kids in the aproximate location so the incident light will be consistant. ETTL is probably changing the the light output depending on the contrast of the clothing.

I think body posture is more critical. I'd imagine having the backdrop 4-5 feet away will be fine. Just get the light ratio's figured out quickly and then once they are set your only concern is body posture.

Do testshots in your home. Shoot raw and bring alot of memory. Make sure you have alot of AA batteries for your flash too.

Put this sitation as a crash course in knowledge. I wont wish you good luck because luck is not a component of good images.......practice, practice, parctice.

Shoot RAW so you can recover if the shot doesn't turn out well. It would be nice if you had a light meter but if time is not on your side just look at your LCD and determine if you have major hotspots on the face. Dial down the power.

I'd suggest buying some flash triggers for consistancy in firing.

have fun.

I think you are in over your head right now. Why do something that you are not confident in? Not fair to you ..the kids or the parents..
I think you should work on building skills instead of jumping to the fire right now.

Surely you can practice on something beforehand right? I sure as heck wouldnt go in cold......

Is this a paid gig? If no, then try to do your best. If it is a paid gig, hopefully you didnt overcharge if they dont turn out well.

Thank you for taking the time for the recent replies. It truly means a lot! All of your suggestions make sense and I am confident I can produce a good shot, I really just wanted some suggestions to make sure I was on the correct track. I shoot formals during weddings, senior shots, etc, so, have an understanding, just not full. Thank you for the baby props as well!! It is just overwhelming as it is my first "commercial" gig.
I do have the ST-E2 transmitter that I will be using to trigger the flashes. I am considering using one main umbrella located slightly to the right of the subject with two round reflectors (one on the left and one below) to help bounce so I do not over light subject. I unfortunately do not have a window where we will be. I do have a light meter as well. I am just a little unsure how to use it with the speedlight...
Thanks again. And, yes, I am absolutely looking for a spot right now that is similar to where I will be shooting to practice!!

karijcrossphotography wrote in post #10796184
I do have a light meter as well. I am just a little unsure how to use it with the speedlight...
!!

Your meter would need the ability to measure flash. I have a Minolta Auto IV.. I can measure incident light or change the setting to measure Flash.

Basic meters only measure reflective light or incident light.


Good luck with your shoot

karijcrossphotography wrote in post #10796184
.....I do have a light meter as well. I am just a little unsure how to use it with the speedlight.

Put your Speedlite in Manual Mode whereby you can control the power output...

1/1 = Full Power
1/2 = Half Power
1/4 = Quarter Power
and so on.....

Now take you meter, place it in the general area where the subject will be and point the white dome of the light meter towards the camera's lens and take an exposure reading. Adjust your Speedlite's power until you get the proper exposure reading that you want..... Set your camera appropriately and shoot.