So I have had two indoor shoots over the past two weeks. The first, I took my studio lighting equipment and set up in a clients home. This worked great for doing a simple family shoot, however, did not work so great for capturing a 11 month old. This second shoot, I took a whole different approach. I decided to use an off camera 580ex II with remote trigger TTL metering shot through a white scrim/reflector. A technique I have been using to get a softer look with my portraits. My lovely wife was the one having to hold both the flash and the scrim. To do it correctly they both need to be on a tri-pod. I tried to get as much natural light into the shot as possible. I did a manual white balance metering, which I happen to like, but only when my flash goes off. The interesting dilemma with manual white balance is that you have to re-shoot your 18% grey card every time you change lighting conditions. I am still working with how to use a grey card in post processing, but to be honest I prefer my own coloring to the cameras. Secondly, you have to shoot with a very large aperture, 1.2+. In my case 1.4 or 1.8- My ISO was between 50-1000 however, I did shoot most of these shots at 400 which is my preference for indoor lighting. I did struggle with a lot of grain in some of these photos, but you won’t be able to tell. My post editing involved really reducing the clarity and boosting the sharpness. I applied various lighting effects to really open up my images and give them that creamy magazine effect.
Well enough about me… Judah was such trouper in his coat – wan’t such a fan of his hats. As you can tell, he is quite in love with his mother and his stuffed bear. Would love to hear what you all think? Special thanks to Mrs. W. for making for a wonderful afternoon. Thank you!
My Personal Favorite!
Wisconsin Child Photographer
Indoor Family Photographer
http://www.jamesstokesphotography.com/family
