Senior Prom Formals

Kymi and her boyfriend has Senior Prom last weekend.  It was a perfect opportunity for me to use my new backdrop and get more practice with my flash.

They were really cooperative.  And another couple came over and let me take photos of them too.

With her baby sisters

With her father

Side view of her hair

"duck lips"

beautiful

Friends Drew and Vanessa

The boys were so cooperative with me.  They really get big gold stars for their good attitudes.

All 4 ready to go have the time of their life.

I had a lot of help with posing and positioning them from Kymi's mom.  She was a natural at knowing how they should stand and could get them in position while I got them focused in the camera.  

What did I learn: RIM LIGHTS!  I really wanted a light background, but it didn't arrive in time.  So I settled for this one.  I knew I was going to have difficulty getting the black suits to stand out from the backdrop.  I don't have enough lights to have a separate rim light.  In hindsight, I should have used a reflector to act as a rim light.  I was able to get some separation in post-processing, and could probably do more if I really wanted to, but it was only an issue in one photo.

I need to do more research beforehand on posing, so I'm not stuck thinking during the shoot.  Many props to Christina for her help.  I half-jokingly said I would hire her for my next portrait shoot just to do the posing.

I had a great time and am grateful to these guys for their cooperation, willingness and positive attitude.

Let's Hear it for the Girls - iheartfaces

Getting my act together and entering an iheartfaces challenge this month.  It's all about girls and I instantly thought of this photo of Kym.

Go check out more girl photos at http://iheartfaces.com.

Fun with Flash

Still needing some significant work on off-camera flash, Kymi and I set up a pseudo studio the bedroom.  One flash set up as a primary through a softbox and a consistent light set up through a shoot through umbrella.  I was going for a moody, angsty, starving musician environment.

Here are the best photos from our time together.

Fun with Flash

Thanks to the Scott Kelby, "Shoot Like a Pro" tour, I bought a flash and accessories for it.  I was pleased that he gave us suggestions for flashes and things that won't break the bank.  I was able to get a flash, a wireless trigger, and a softbox-tripod kit for less than $150.  And now I've been playing with them.

Due to our busy schedule, the only models available to me are my daughters after bathtime.

These aren't going to win any awards and I won't ever put them in my portfolio.  But I felt like I got a good start to shooting with a flash.  I started by just shooting with some backlight and using the flash to brighten up their faces.  But then when I wasn't content with it, I grabbed my reflector/difuser disc and put the black side on, put it on a chair, and had them sit in front of it.  It worked well enough for my purposes.  Couldn't do it all the time ... especially since you can totally see the wrinkles.

One of the first I took.  I think it's OK.  I'm struggling finding good focus when working with a flash cause it's too dark for the camera to focus on it's own and my eyes suck.  I think there might be too much shadow on the camera left side.  She's not dark and mysterious enough for half-lit face.

love the catchlight here

GOOFINESS!  I wasn't sure where to put the flash, so I went for over and lit all of her.  I love the catchlight in her eyes.

starting to go over to the side again, but not as far as before.

I think this is the best photo with her.  Decent focus, good exposure on the face, good smile, good catchlight, realistic coloring.

I couldn't get her to do a real smile, so I had her sing.  Again, I think the flash here is pretty good.

lighting 2 is a lot harder than just one.  Especially when they can't keep their hands down.  This isn't bad, but I think Audrey is a bit overlit.

She got really mad at me when I said it was almost bedtime.  Then we took this.  And I love it.  I wish the focus was on her face and not her hair, but otherwise I absolutely LOVE this photo.  The flash was directly in front of her face; I would've loved to try it from the floor shooting up, but didn't really have time to move things and get her to do this again.

So I moved to the floor.  This totally overlit her arms and her face was dark.  I LOVE Lightroom.  I really feel like I did a great job in post-processing of this photo. 

And in B&W, to add to the edgy mood of her pose.