D60 Setting Checklist:
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White Balance Set to Cloud |
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ISO 200 |
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Speed 125 |
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Numbering Auto Reset |
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Large JPG |
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Parameters - Set 1 (No Sharpening / Saturation Low |
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F 11.5 - 19 |
Lighting - The light must be LOW, CLOSE, and LOW! ... the rule must be that if you back up 6 inches with the camera ... you will have the light in the picture. I have gone into the camera room and found the light up, to the left, and 3 - 4 feet away. That lighting setup is not effective unless they have glasses (they will also be guaranteed to need retouching)
You can easily see the circles under the eyes as you shoot these ... keep that light going down until they disappear. They should only be a problem for very tired or hung over subjects! On a sitting I did today I had the light bent over the light table and resting on the subjects lap ... she was holding it in place with her hand ... and her circles were gone!
Filtration - As wanted - All girls need the diffusion filter number 1 for some of their shots
Exposure - See above
Music - On Laptops
Posing - be creative! have fun! watch for what they are doing when you are not shooting and work with it! Do the standards then go crazy. Put the light behind them, under them, over them, beside them, do something that shows who they are and makes them feel cool! ... and pampered!
The examples above are very pretty ... and better than 99.9% of photographers in this country ... yet for us they are examples of what not to do ... the light is too high (causing circles under the eyes - and too far away (causing it to look drab and flat). Also, there is no filtration on the girl.
Things to be careful about:
Lighting consistency ... meter constantly ... every time you move the lights remeter ... (digital has a margin of error of about .2 of a stop) make sure the hair light is aimed properly, not spilling on an ear or cheek, and not making a strange halo on a greasy headed boy.
Clothing ... make certain that on guys the collars are straight, ties tight, jackets laying properly, cuffs showing ... on girls be sure no straps are showing that shouldn't show, that hair is not flying away, that necklines are even and that jewelry is hanging properly
Expression ... work to get a real smile ... don't settle for a kids fake attempt.
Framing ... be sure they are centered and framed consistently ...
Look out for some of the things below ...
The top left guy has his chin too far up and his tie isn't straight or tight enough ... his jacket doesn't fit but we can make it look like it does by smoothing it out after he is in position, and pulling it around the shirt so it looks correct, and smoothing the shoulder and pulling down at the bottom center to get rid of the wrinkle at the neck. He could also use some hair light as his hair doesn't look greased but is blending into the background.
The bottom right guy is cropped too far away, his vest needs, straightening, and the tails on his collar need to be pressed down he can turn slightly more towards the camera ... leaning in slightly would also help pull his clothing together better.
The girl on the top right needs a bit more background light ... or more centered behind her head to create a halo, she also has a bit of hairlight spilling onto the shadow side cheek and forehead.
Bottom left girl looks pretty good ... she could lean in a little bit more and be slightly closer cropping. Also, her chin needs to come down slightly.
Remember ... although these are 15 minutes ... they average $250.00 each and are very important to that person ... let's try to get something great of each of these kids ... and keep shooting if you aren't sure!!!!
Also Remember ... these kids and parents are very particular as a rule so they will notice this stuf