Rick’s Rants and Raves

I don’t think I want to be a portrait photographer (professional or otherwise), but its one of those photographic skills that I know I’m lacking. The last time I tried to take a picture of my wife for her on-line profiles, I did a mediocre job, primarily because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

I’ve read a good bit since then, and I’ve been paying attention to some of the details mentioned in on-line forums and tutorials. I have a better camera, and a better understanding of how to use it. But I don’t have much more than that. When my mom asked me to take pictures at my Grandparents 68th** wedding anniversary party, I assumed she meant candid shots. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to try my hand at more formal work.

So, I’ve got a DSLR and a tripod. What else would I need? Off camera strobes (snobby photographer speak for flashes) with a wireless trigger, umbrellas or softboxes to soften the light, a back ground and something to hang it on. My budget for the event? Um that’d be $0.

Fortunately, I have a not-terribly-crappy external flash that has a bounce head, so I could bounce light all over the place. Fine, so I don’t need the strobes and umbrellas. Oh, and I found a white sheet all clean and folded in the hall closet. With a couple of cheap clips from the fridge, I could hang the sheet from my mom’s vertical blinds header.  So I don’t really need the background and hanging stand. I also modified an old desk lamp to fit onto my clamp-pod in case I needed some fill lighting.

I started setting up shortly after we got there, when my aunt says “Ooh, I need a picture for my Facebook profile”. Well, sit right down, and I’ll see what I can do.

The sheet is visible in the background, but otherwise I’m pleased with the result.

Barb wanted a picture with her girls, so I sat them down, and started working with them, trying to get them to relax a bit.

This one is pretty decent, but I continued to take pictures, cracking jokes, and letting the girls be embarrassed by their mother. This was a cute moment, and I like this shot better than the more formal one.

Next came pictures of my grandparents with three of their kids.

This one is OK, but the exposure increases from left to right–my flash was pointing at the sliding glass windows just to the right, so my grandmother looks a bit washed out. It would have been better had I closed the neutral color blinds to diffuse the bounced light.

This has got to be the best picture of my kids together in about 8 years. The sheet is a little more noticeable than I’d like, but its not that bad.

Next came Barb’s girls with their grandparents.

This one suffers from the same exposure problem as the other portrait-oriented one above, for the same reason.

Finally, Jim’s family wanted a group shot.

This one turned out very well. Jim put his hand on his wife’s shoulder, and I thought that really added a nice touch.

So, all in all, I feel like I did a pretty decent job for a) my first time really trying formal portraits, and b) investing $0 into my equipment for the job. I also got some fun candid shots. The biggest mistake was not noticing the light bouncing off the windows making the right side of portrait shots more exposed than the left. I might have been able to compensate with my office/fill light.

I’m also pleased that I got an excellent shot of Anne. I used the oldest trick in the book: “Oh, don’t worry honey, its just a test shot.”

My last bit of portrait work for this post was tonight. I’ve been working through ideas for the latest DPS assignment: Shadows. Given my improved self-confidence with portraits, I decided to try my hand at a much more challenging self-portrait. I’ve seen some incredibly striking shots of people lit from the side, so I decided to attempt to replicate this effect.

I like this one best, but there is another possibility for submission. I’ll let it percolate in my head a bit before I do the final submission.

**When I went looking for a card for them, I noticed that the store I went to didn’t sell an anniversary card above 50th. You’d think that every year after that would be an amazing miracle, to be celebrated high and low. 55th card? Nope. 60th card? Nope. 70th? Are you kidding?