 Caiti M. Goeden |
basic needs hello again everyone!! what is the basic equiptment for doin amateur at-home portraits. my main subjects are babies and toddlers. I already have a minolta maxxum 400 si, a tri pod, and film haha (duh!!), and not much anything else. I could definatley use you help!
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Nancy Grace Chen |
Before you spend a lot of money on lighting equipment, I would recommend that you work with natural light. I started out that way, and you can actually get really outstanding results with it. Make sure to turn your on-camera flash OFF (I dare say that it will NEVER produce a professional quality portrait), place your model near a window at an angle, and shoot them about 5 feet in front of a backdrop (a plain white or black sheet will work fine) or wall. You will be surprised at what good results you can get with such a simple setup. Here some photos I took with such a setup: Three Girls Bride Couple 1 Couple 2 Once you learn how to work with light, it might be good to get some studio lights so that you don't have to depend on natural light. Hope that helps! Nancy
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
anonymous |
Nancy, They are great natural light photos! Very impressed. I have one natural light photo in my gallery, it is the last photo of a little baby called Isaac.
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Michelle Ross |
Your Bride shot is beautiful Nancy .. . I'm doing another Senior Portrait shoot on Tuesday and have a place to do some natural light stuff. . . the last time I tried it worked but not like I had thought . ..I will try using a backdrop behind them though . . . last time I relied only on the wall and it didn't look very good. . . I think I will also move them further from the window instead of right next to it. . . did you use the natural light as side lighting??
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Nancy Grace Chen |
Thanks Natalie & Michelle!! Natalie-- you have some really lovely portraits! I found Isaac, and he is adorable. Your Dimples portrait is my favorite-- what a wonderful expression! Excellent work. Michelle- you know I love your work. :) Yes, the window was up and to the left of the bride. I have come to prefer side lighting (or at least have the window as an angle)... I like the partially shadowed look; it's a little more dramatic. I'm not sure, but it must've been a north-facing window because the light was so soft and perfect. Try to use a north (or south) window if possible to avoid direct/harsh light. Good luck on those! Oh, and I made a backdrop stand for myself out of PVC pipe from Home Depot. Cost me a total of about $5, works great! NC
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Michelle Ross |
Thanks Nancy! The window I have is a north window so hopefully it will work. . . it works best of a morning from what I've experience this far. I have a backdrop stand that came with the lights that I bought so that isn't a problem. . . I also have a PVC one I made but it's not as sturdy as I want it to be. . .if I had some sand bags it would work fine.
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Caiti M. Goeden |
thanks nancy! i'll try that. in my gallery..big blue eyes is one with a shower curtain as the backdrop and I used a window and a ceiling fan for my lighting. can you give me specific instructions on how you built your backdrop stand? that was going to be one of my next purchases but since pay as much and I could make it myself that sould help a lot!! thanks again! caiti
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Nancy Grace Chen |
Hi Caiti-- Ok, I'm going to try to attach two pics with instructions on how to make it. Let me know if you have any questions. You should be able to find all this in the same aisle at Home Depot. You can decide at the store how long/tall you want it. Just keep in mind that you need to make it even bigger than you think you need it. (if a kid is 2 feet tall, you probably need a stand that is at least 4 or 5 feet tall if s/he is going to be several feet in front of it.) Your niece is adorable... hope you can get more cute pics! Just remember to turn your flash off (looks like the flash fired in that pic, you can tell from the skin and the eyes)... whenever the flash fires, it overrides any other lighting you are using and does not create a flattering effect. Let me know if I can help with anything else... happy clicking! Nancy
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Caiti M. Goeden |
nancy, I couldnt find the attached photos so maybe you could just email them to me. (caiti_mo@yahoo.com). thanks.
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Nancy Grace Chen |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
Nancy Grace Chen |
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||||||||||||||
