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Potrait
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Hi Maybe some of you can help me,
My Wife and I had a new addition to the family a beautiful baby girl that’s two little girls under two now.
I am looking to do a portrait of the two kids but not sure if i have the equipment or skills to do this
I have a cannon 450d with no external flash Canon Lens 50mm F/1.8 II the standard kit lens and a Tamron
Macro lens.
I was thinking of using the 50m lens my main worries is lighting and background. I want a white background and the only lighting i have really is natural light some lamps and etc is that enough? Do i need a flash?
What can i use as a background ?a friend suggested altering the custom white balance setting on the camera by taking a picture of a grey
Any help would be great something that will not cost a fortune.
Thanks
JohnThis might help you out
http://www.trap17.com/index.php/budget-Photography-Studio_t26767.html” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;The 50mm is a great wee lens,and if you have enough natural light just use that nothing else needed
agree with Cathal the 50 1.8 is a great lens and you shouldn’t need flash if you have enough available light.
Get used to using the camera in aperture priority mode and set the aperture to 1.8 or 2. turn up your ISO so that you can get a shutter speed of 1/50 second min so that your pics are sharp.
Take loads of pics and watch out for the shallow depth of field if you are taking pics close up.
Leave the 50 1.8 on the camera for a few weeks and get used to it you will soon find that you’ll rarely use you kit lens.
don’t use the pop up flash unless you really need to as it will destroy you pics -especially close up of your new baby
the pics below are all taken with a 50 1.8 available light wide open. Its a great lens for photographing kids !
I see that you are looking to take some shots with a white background. This can be a little difficult with little or no lighting equipment. To effectively do the white background thing you would need to illuminate the background separately from your kids. This can require a lot of power and space to get the effect right. Heres an example of one I did at home recently. You could try something like this, but it takes a lot of effort to get it right. For more information, here are detailed instructions on how to set it up.
There is an alternative though. If you have some bay doors you could illuminate the little ones from behind. This shot was taken in natural light without the aid of the flash. I simply exposed for the face which was probably 2 -3 stops lower than the light coming from the bay doors and shot away.
Just a couple of more tips to add to the very good advise from Cathal and Gaffo. Set your camera on high speed continuous shooting and shoot in bursts. You never know when your little one will pull a killer expression. One more thing, keep an eye out for the light and the direction its coming from. This should always be at the back or your mind when shooting. In practice, this could mean getting your little ones attention turned to the direction of a window to illuminate their faces.
Good luck with the shots then.
David OS
I agree with David, if you want to get a white background you really need something to light it with, this can be achieved with a single f;ash off camera and then try and make sure you have enough ambient light for the subject.
You could also try hanging a white sheet over a patio door or large window, if you get enough light coming through, it should provide a nice clear background and use the pop up flash to illuminate the kids if needed.
It would be worth trying to borrow some flashes, if you don’t have any. If you live anywhere near Derry, I’ll be happy to lend you some gear.
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