Random Photography

[stealthee]

Ryan, I just have a built in flash. I am not a portrait person either. I guess my brother is not looking for "professional" photos, just stuff to use on Christmas cards, etc. I am just tough on myself and want to be able to have the chance to do the best job possible.

[Alan92RTTT]

If all you have is the on camera flash you might have better luck getting a good pic by going outside and using natural lighting.
I'd try:
Outside
Shoot RAW
Shoot aperture priority and open the aperture to get a soft background
Take two pics one with a piece of white paper held by one of the family one without. The kids only have to site still for the second as the 1st is just to capture white balance. You can use the 1st pic to figure correct white balance in post and set the second pic to it.

[stealthee]

I planned on shooting RAW. I'll know more about what they want to do for pics by the weekend I suppose. Thanks for all the advice so far guys.

[93STLTH]

I'm by no means a great picture taker, but I get lucky sometimes and everything seems to fall into place. Subject, light, etc. Also helps living in South Florida, I always seem to have willing subjects. Here's a few I like.

[stealthee]

That lizard pic is awesome

[93STLTH]

Got lucky with that one. He walked right up to me while I was on the beach. I was already low to the ground and the green on white background made for a cool contrast.

[AdamVR4]

I love iguanas. Great thread!

[dodgers_fan]

Really great photos in here, that iguana looks awesome BTW.

Here's a shot I took last night at the Los Angeles County Mueseum of Arts. This place has been used in a bunch of films, the whole campus is visually stunning but I went at night so this was all I could capture with my camera.

I took a bunch more but most of them consisted of me and my girlfriend holding hands, or kissing.

Here's a shot I took at Mitsubishi Owners Day with a color select setting thats pretty fun to play with.


And a black and white of my niece.

Sent From My Phone Using Some App.

[CoopKill]

couple I took in Europe a few years back

[Macky]

There are some of the best photographers from the forum posting in this thread. For those of you who have done portraits, do you have any suggestions on how to get proper lighting for "Family Christmas Photos"?

My brother and sister-in-law were talking about having me take photos for Christmas of them and there kids. I actually did a Christmas portrait of them on two occasions and people loved them. They thought they were done professionally, but I saw plenty of problems and was not satisfied. My biggest issue (other than dealing with my nephew who can't sit still for more than 2 seconds) was poor lighting. I tried a few different things in the room but nothing seemed to help.

What kind of settings would you recommend I set the camera too? Stuff like white balance, ISO, etc.

If the kids would sit still longer I could take several photos in several settings, then pick the best, but that option is slightly limited so I would like to try to get the settings, well. set, and start shooting as soon as people are in position.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated. I think they were talking about doing the photos next week. If they come out good enough I will post them up here.

sorry i didnt see this til now.

Based on experience, I would recommend:

1 - tripod. this is paramount because of the next tip which is...
2 - drag the shutter. use shutter speeds of 1/15 or slower. this will pick up the ambient light even if you use flash. say you got a fireplace or candles or warm lighting in a room. slower shutter speeds will pick up that ambient light and give a warm glow to the photo.
3 - use bounce flash if possible. aim it up and away. most flash heads now swivel and twist the flash head so this is very easy to do. *ALSO - using flash will "freeze" your subjects. as long as they can sit for a second (even kids), you should be fine.

here is an example I did for my grandma a while back. all it is is a tripod mounted shot, on selftimer of 2 seconds, bounce flash, with a dragged shutter at ISO200. the slow shutter picks up just enough ambient light and the lights on the tree, with the flash filling in.

Macky, haven't seen your stuff in a while ... glad to see it here!!!

thanks!