Is anyone willing to talk with me about Children Photography?

[bgvotaw]

I am use to studio photography with adults. However, I have ventured into outdoor photography with children and I am having a hard time with settings. Can anyone PM me to help me out? I have work to show.

[HeatherLou]

Bashella, Welcome to TPF!

Sadly, there is no quicky *here are your settings for outside*. Since your outside, your lighting can change in a second. It depends on what time of day, if its cloudy or sunny, if your using flash or not, if you want a nice bokeh, or do you want everything in the picture in focus. So many variables come into play. My suggestion would be to take your camera outside (without a client, so you don't feel pressured) and play. Either use your light meter in camera, or if you have a lightmeter, use that. Write descriptions of where your at, what the conditions are like, and the settings that you use. That way, if you run across a similar situation, you at least have a jumping point to start from.

[toverman]

Welcome to the forum!

Photography outdoors is much like shooting in indoors in that to be successful, you've got to find a way to control and modify the light. With that giant glowing orb in the sky 12 hours a day, that can be challenging. But it can also be an asset if used correctly. The key is to ensure that the light you're using is good and where you want it.

[klynam]

First bit of advice: Get the largest collapsible 5-1 reflector kit you can afford. While the reflective coverings are very nice to have, the core of kit is the large "scrim" made of translucent material.

Second bit of advice: Always bring someone along on your shoot to hold this giant scrim (out of camera view) between your subject and the sun.

Third bit of advice: Shoot w/ longer lenses, anything between 85mm-200mm is good, at f6-f8. The lens length forces you away from your subject and compresses the image (these are good things) while f6-f8 ensures you subject will be in focus.

Fourth bit of advice: Put distance between your subject and background. This throws your background out of focus for nice emphasis on your subject.

Fifth bit of advice: Shoot from low angles, on or near ground level.

Anyone who does these five things will immediately improve his/her outdoor portraits of children.

[bgvotaw]

Originally Posted by Heatherlou

Bashella, Welcome to TPF!

Sadly, there is no quicky *here are your settings for outside*. Since your outside, your lighting can change in a second. It depends on what time of day, if its cloudy or sunny, if your using flash or not, if you want a nice bokeh, or do you want everything in the picture in focus. So many variables come into play. My suggestion would be to take your camera outside (without a client, so you don't feel pressured) and play. Either use your light meter in camera, or if you have a lightmeter, use that. Write descriptions of where your at, what the conditions are like, and the settings that you use. That way, if you run across a similar situation, you at least have a jumping point to start from.

Hello Heather. I appreciate the input; however, I should have been more clear. I do not mean "Hey, show me the exact setting for a child running", that would just be silly, since like you said, lighting changes, and so many other variables. What I mean is, I am having a hard time with specifics; "Should I keep my shutter speed slow for this, should I use flash for that"...I am looking for more tips than actual settings. I have been practicing, but still have not found what I am looking for. And it is very hard when you cannot really see your photo until you get home. Looks great on the screen, then you get it home and its over exposed, blurry, and such. :(

[bgvotaw]

Originally Posted by klynam

First bit of advice: Get the largest collapsible 5-1 reflector kit you can afford. While the reflective coverings are very nice to have, the core of kit is the large "scrim" made of translucent material.

Second bit of advice: Always bring someone along on your shoot to hold this giant scrim (out of camera view) between your subject and the sun.

Third bit of advice: Shoot w/ longer lenses, anything between 85mm-200mm is good, at f6-f8. The lens length forces you away from your subject and compresses the image (these are good things) while f6-f8 ensures you subject will be in focus.

Fourth bit of advice: Put distance between your subject and background. This throws your background out of focus for nice emphasis on your subject.

Fifth bit of advice: Shoot from low angles, on or near ground level.

Anyone who does these five things will immediately improve his/her outdoor portraits of children.

Thank you! That is excellent advice and I will try them all very soon!

[klynam]

Glad to help - hope to see your shots here on TPF soon... :-)

[ldelacruz]

Post some of the photos that you have an issue with then Heather and the other pros should be able to analyze them and provide CC.

[Cajungaltx]

Originally Posted by bgvotaw

Hello Heather. I appreciate the input; however, I should have been more clear. I do not mean "Hey, show me the exact setting for a child running", that would just be silly, since like you said, lighting changes, and so many other variables. What I mean is, I am having a hard time with specifics; "Should I keep my shutter speed slow for this, should I use flash for that"...I am looking for more tips than actual settings. I have been practicing, but still have not found what I am looking for. And it is very hard when you cannot really see your photo until you get home. Looks great on the screen, then you get it home and its over exposed, blurry, and such. :(

Bashella -
Read up on how to use your histogram in your camera - it will result in the fastest adjustment in getting the image properly exposed.

Kids are hard to shoot - at least until you understand the basics of exposure. Bryan Peterson's book Understanding Exposure is a fabulous book to help you get the info you might use.

Welcome!

[bgvotaw]

Originally Posted by ldelacruz

Post some of the photos that you have an issue with then Heather and the other pros should be able to analyze them and provide CC.

Here is an example (attached): 50 mm ISO 100 f 2.2 1/250s

We were in shade and she was posing...

Came out awful! :(

[bgvotaw]

oopss...here it is

[klynam]

cute kid - great pose - you need faster shutter speed - crop out the bark (top left) - shoot RAW and you can save most of that exposure in the computer...

[bgvotaw]

Originally Posted by klynam

cute kid - great pose - you need faster shutter speed - crop out the bark (top left) - shoot RAW and you can save most of that exposure in the computer...

I shoot RAW and JPG. So if I would have done a faster shutter speed, it would have been better? I hate how blurry my photos come out. :( I try a lot of things, even with a tripod, but the only time they do not come out blurry is in studio. Controlled lighting and all. lol

[Some Idiot]

just playing

[Some Idiot]

Originally Posted by bgvotaw

I shoot RAW and JPG. So if I would have done a faster shutter speed, it would have been better? I hate how blurry my photos come out. :( I try a lot of things, even with a tripod, but the only time they do not come out blurry is in studio. Controlled lighting and all. lol

No EXIF data.... what was your shutter speed?