Starting taking Portrait Shots

[CatherineA]

I bought my first camera in the summer of 2017. I was particularly interested in wildlife photography and so bought a Nikon Coolpix P900. People in this forum were very generous with their time in helping me learn. Life took an unexpected - and unwanted - turn at the end of December when my 24 yo son had a cerebral hemorrhage and then brain surgery in early Jan. He is doing so very well and I have started to pick up the camera again but now it is for indoor portrait shots. My son enjoys having his picture taken and I love capturing his smiles.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for what I could get to take a different style and better shots. I am not a good photographer but still, maybe I could justify spending something for a black background (maybe a sheet would do?), or lights, or another point and shoot camera but one with a bigger sensor. Do any of those sound worthwhile? Thank you for your time.

[Manfred M]

I'm very sorry to hear the news about your son, but am happy to hear that he is doing a lot better.

I think the best way of proceeding would be if you posted some of your images so that we can see what you are doing and perhaps provide some direction. Portraiture (like all photography) is highly reliant on the light that you are using (direction and light quality). While plain backgrounds are often used in studio work, one genre I do like a lot is environmental portraiture, which shows the person in his or her "environment"; whether that be at home, at work or at play.

For portraiture, we tend to use soft, diffuse light. Early morning or afternoon light streaming through a window can be wonderful to work with, although the weather does need to cooperate. It's still not the ideal time of year to do outdoor portraiture work in Ottawa, but that time is coming too. Covered shade areas work very well in outdoor portraiture.

The problem with portraiture is that unless you are able to use natural light, the next step up usually involves a fairly significant cost as off-camera flash tends to be the tool of choice. Unfortunately, the flash that is built into cameras only points straight ahead, and that is not where we want it. Most continuous artificial light is a bit problematic to work with, as these light sources tend to be harsh, are not easy to change the direction of the light with and usually are not bright enough.

Simple reflectors (I have some white foam-core boards that I picked up at Staples / Office Depot for a few dollars) can certainly help in natural light and artificial light work.

[DanK]

Manfred is a far better portrait photographer than I am, and I wouldn't disagree with anything he wrote. However, if what you are interested in is casual and candid portraits, you can keep things pretty simple and still get some very good shots.

Assuming you are shooting indoors and need flash, the number 1 rule is what Manfred suggested: avoid direct flash. In my view, the two essentials are a flash that can be bounced and a camera that can control it. Most point-and-shoots can't. Many bridge cameras can, and everything above them can. I also almost always use a bounce card (they are included in some flash units) to cast a bit of direct light toward the eyes and avoid shadows under the brows. I would strongly recommend a flash that can be used in automatic (TTL) mode.

I have more gear than that--e.g., reflectors, a flash bracket, etc.--but I virtually never use them for candids.

[Andrew1]

Catherine, for straight portrait work take a look at the portfolios and online videos of Peter Hurley and Joe McNally. Both are at the top of their craft and have straight forward portrait styles that are easy for the beginner to grasp and get a start with. Once you get the basics down you can continue to develop along whichever style you come across that best suits your fancy. I'd also suggest Strobist 101 as a site to guide you through the basics of lighting.

There's a ton of info out on the web and much of it free for the looking.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=peter...hrome&ie=UTF-8
https://www.google.ca/search?q=joe+m...hrome&ie=UTF-8
http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2006/03/...flash-and.html

[rpcrowe]

There is a plethora of YouTube videos on one light portraiture.

I suggest that you might start off with one light and a modifier plus a reflector. For indoor portraiture, I prefer using a "studio type" strobe. There are many of these advertised on eBay at very reasonable cost such as: this setup. I wouldn't necesarily recommend this for professional photography but it should be just fine for intermittent use.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-LUSANA-3...IAAOSw-xVaAjOk

Combine this with a set of reflectors such as:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/43-110cm-5-...AAAOSwK~RaAgPg

As far as a background, a plain wall does a decent job. I have a multitude o various colors and styles of fabrics that I use for my dog portraits. I like velour and a yard and or two yards of a black velour fabric can be had for under twenty dollars from fabrics.com
https://www.fabric.com/buy/uo-964/st...t-velour-black
or you can get a couple of yards from Joanne Fabrics. Tha company always has online coupons you can use in the store.

Hang the fabric over a door or tape it to the wall and it can be a great black background. Gray material can also be used...

I also suggest that you don't get a P&S or bridge camera but look into a used crop format camera (Canon or Nikon). I am sending you a private message regarding this.

[Manfred M]

Catherine, for straight portrait work take a look at the portfolios and online videos of Peter Hurley and Joe McNally. Both are at the top of their craft and have straight forward portrait styles that are easy for the beginner to grasp and get a start with. Once you get the basics down you can continue to develop along whichever style you come across that best suits your fancy. I'd also suggest Strobist 101 as a site to guide you through the basics of lighting.

There's a ton of info out on the web and much of it free for the looking.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=peter...hrome&ie=UTF-8
https://www.google.ca/search?q=joe+m...hrome&ie=UTF-8
http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2006/03/...flash-and.html

Hurley is primarily a headshot photographer who specializes in shooting actors (headshots are primarily used on their resumes so that casting directors get an idea of what they can look like). McNally is more of a generalist, but both are very advanced photographers that use multiple studio lights quite extensively. The Strobist shot is taken with two off-camera speedlight setup; again nice, but well beyond the equipment and skill level that Catherine is at right now. She has a crossover camera and that is pretty well it.

With her gear, the sources you are suggesting will do more to scare her off than get her on the road to creating some good portraits, with the tools she has.


This is an indoor natural light portrait. No flash, no reflectors, etc. It's a shot I did almost 9 years ago, before I got into serious lighting work.

[CatherineA]

Thank you very much Manfred. I will see what I can do with the natural light that comes into the home. And, I will post photos soon too (computer problem today). I didn't know that flash light was preferred and I had thought that should I ever invest in lights that I would get continuous because it wouldn't startle the dog when I wanted to photograph her.

[CatherineA]

Thank you very much Dan for the light recommendation. It helps me understand the choices better. I guess the flash must be much superior which is good to know even if it isn't the news I hoped for. (My dog wouldn't like flash.)

[CatherineA]

Hi Andrew, Thank you very much for replying and for the links. I've enjoyed looking at their photos this afternoon and I'm going to enjoy watching their videos.

[Shadowman]

Everyone offering advice should keep in mind that the P900 only has on-camera flash but it does have a continuous light attachment that can be bought separately.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-pr...vie-light.html

[CatherineA]

Thank you Richard, those links are really helpful and it was kind of you to go to the trouble. I replied to your pm, at least I hope I did. My "sent items" box in "My Messages" says there is nothing in it but there is a green arrow pointing to the the left by your message. Hope that means that my message to you has been sent.

[CatherineA]

Thanks so much John!

[DanK]

I went back over this thread, and I'd like to chime in again.

First, it makes a HUGE difference whether your interest is formal portraits or more casual portraits and candids. There are exceptions, but formal portraiture often involves much more equipment.

Second, my advice is to keep it simple and to add additional techniques and equipment slowly, as you need to. For outdoor work, the key is learning how to use available light. You don't need additional equipment for that. For indoor work, you can sometimes use available light, as Manfred's example shows. However, most often, that only works if people are willing to sit still, and it only works if you have a good source of ambient light. If you want indoor candids, you will need artificial light most of the time. The key there is what Manfred said: avoid direct flash, because it usually yields ugly results--shiny faces, red-eye, and harsh shadows, among other things. So to do that well, the minimum step up--and I would stick with the minimum--is a flash that can bounce. Some off brands are quite cheap, but IMHO, it is very important to get one that works in automatic (TTL) mode with your camera. That allows the camera to control the amount of flash and makes candid work both easier and much faster.

With apologies to the people who have seen it many times before, I'll post a photo of what I generally use for candids. Sometimes I use a longer lens, but I almost never use any equipment other than the camera, the flash, the bounce card (the big white card), and a diffuser. The card and diffuser are cheap. I can't show you photos examples of the many candids of kids I have taken with this because I never post photos of kids publicly without permission of the parents, but it works very well most of the time.

[rpcrowe]

I went back over this thread, and I'd like to chime in again.

First, it makes a HUGE difference whether your interest is formal portraits or more casual portraits and candids. There are exceptions, but formal portraiture often involves much more equipment.

Second, my advice is to keep it simple and to add additional techniques and equipment slowly, as you need to. For outdoor work, the key is learning how to use available light. You don't need additional equipment for that. For indoor work, you can sometimes use available light, as Manfred's example shows. However, most often, that only works if people are willing to sit still, and it only works if you have a good source of ambient light. If you want indoor candids, you will need artificial light most of the time. The key there is what Manfred said: avoid direct flash, because it usually yields ugly results--shiny faces, red-eye, and harsh shadows, among other things. So to do that well, the minimum step up--and I would stick with the minimum--is a flash that can bounce. Some off brands are quite cheap, but IMHO, it is very important to get one that works in automatic (TTL) mode with your camera. That allows the camera to control the amount of flash and makes candid work both easier and much faster.

With apologies to the people who have seen it many times before, I'll post a photo of what I generally use for candids. Sometimes I use a longer lens, but I almost never use any equipment other than the camera, the flash, the bounce card (the big white card), and a diffuser. The card and diffuser are cheap. I can't show you photos examples of the many candids of kids I have taken with this because I never post photos of kids publicly without permission of the parents, but it works very well most of the time.

This is the same diffuser-reflector that I use or about 98% of my on-camera flash imagery: Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Professional...

www.dembflashproducts.com


There have been Chinese copies of this diffuser-reflector advertised on eBay and I bought one of them which fell apart after a few uses. I have been using the Demb unit for many years through hundreds of photo sessions and thousands of pictures. With the help of a bit of gaffers tape here and there and the replacement of some Velcro, it has withstood the test of time and a fairly careless operator.

I often use this for people portraits but, usually have it on a Stroboflash Camera Flip Bracket.



However, I use it in the configuration shown in the previous post for dog portraits which I will always shoot in the landscape mode because I often need this horizontal configuration when I do my dog calendars.


You can set up the Flash Diffuser Pro so that it will work for vertical configuration portraits as an on-camera flash...



One of the advantages of the Flash Diffuser Pro is that it will work with virtually any full size hotshoe flash - even the anon 420EX which can be had, used, for $50 or so USD on eBay.

[CatherineA]

Thank you for the extra information Dan and Richard. This gives me a lot to start with and to grow into. There isn't an abundance of natural light in our home and the sunniest spot has a distracting background. We do have a room that I could use to take photos and the control over lighting that I could have there would, it seemed to me, simplify things. But then again, today I was in Aperture mode yet couldn't manage to change the aperture so perhaps I should off commandeering a room for photography.

I have attached a photo of my son that I took today.

[CatherineA]

Oh dear, now that I look at it again I can see that it’s not a good photo at all. It’s very hard to be objective about these things when you're not only the photographer but the mom. It would have been improved by cropping out the distracting painting but even then...

[William W]

Oh dear, now that I look at it again I can see that it’s not a good photo at all. It’s very hard to be objective about these things when your not only the photographer but the mom. It would have been improved cropping out the distracting painting but even then...

I disagree.

There is a lot in that image which makes a good starting point for a suitable Final Image.

Secondly, you have already learned a few things from it. (probably this is the more important of the two points)

I have two appointments this morning - I'll be back in about three hours and show you what I mean.

WW


Second;ly

[Donald]

I agree with Bill in that I disagree with you .... if you see what I mean.

The most important points are that:
a) you want to learn
b) you are prepared to analyse and be critical of your own work
c) you are willing to show your work to others so that they can help you.

Your already more than half-way there.

[shreds]

Catherine,

Do not be deterred by all the technicalities, you can pick that up along the way, there is so much to understand about light and portraiture, but more important is your interaction and relationship with the sitter, in this case, your son.

(I know a lot about brain injuries, so I really hope that your son makes a good recovery. His age is on his side. So he should do but it will take time, lots of it. Just take it one step at a time and I wish him (and you) well.

Regards the photography, don't rush out and buy any kit just yet. Practice with natural light…its free and get hold of a copy of the book, Light Science & Magic by Fil Hunter et al. or just read the tutorials here at CiC.

Joe Mc.Nally is phenomenal so if you get a chance to go and see him talk/demo, then do so, but we all wish we could reach his level! He is entertaining to listen to as well. Hurley's style is much more commercial head shot repetition, good to learn from but ultimately his portraits do bear a similarity because that earns him money repeatedly.



Anyway, I hope you don't mind me doing a very quick edit of your shot to show how your portrait can easily remove the distracting background items. (No doubt others could do more to enhance the shot, but I wanted to show that getting distracting elements in is best avoided in the first place but ultimately can be eradicated later if you forget). Do always look at the background before pressing the shutter.

The focus and light 'catchlight reflection in your sons eye makes this shot. Quick tip, always ensure the eye is pin sharp on any portrait., its the first thing people see.

[pschlute]

It’s very hard to be objective about these things when your not only the photographer but the mom.

Catherine, There will be many photographers in this world who can take a better portrait of your son (until you have practiced a bit that is), but there will only ever be one person who can be his mom !