I was hired to produce a cover shot + some interior story photos for a magazine published by a Seattle private school.  Here's the process I went through to create the images.

Concept

The cover story was about a family with 4 boys (ages 15-25) that has had at least one child in attendance at the school for 20 consecutive years.  The photos were supposed to be informal, displaying a loving family enjoying each other's company and conveying some of their personality.

Location

I chose Gasworks Park in Seattle because there are a few locations there where I can get very clean backgrounds to accommodate the magazine copy around the portraits. I'd much rather have a clean background than a "cool" one.

Lighting

The shoot was timed to begin exactly at sunset. My plan was to get a few natural light images using the setting sun as the key light, then after the sun went down light the family with off-camera flash.

Most photographers wouldn't deliberately schedule a shoot to take place mostly after sunset. But why not? This time of day can produce some really interesting looks when combined with off-camera lighting.

Gear

I brought one body (my 5D) and one lens (50mm f1.4).  For a shoot like this, nothing more is needed. I just wanted to keep it real simple. My lighting was either natural light or my LumoPro speedlight mounted on a monopod with shoot-through umbrella.

My assistant Paige and I arrived about 15 minutes before the shoot start time. We walked to the exact shoot locations so I could quickly test what the light looked like. No matter how fancy you get with your lighting, nothing beats plain old setting sun for the nicest light.

(1) Here's a test shot of Paige - the light at 20 mins before sunset looks darn near perfect. You can see she's holding a monopod on which I mount my strobe. Then she holds onto the monopod like a flag bearer at a parade. This is a much quicker, flexible setup than moving around light stands.

(2) This was one of the first shots of the day. Natural light only. The purpose of starting with a shot like this is just to warm up my subjects and get them used to being in front of the camera. The magazine probably won't use this shot.  

5D/50mm, ISO 400, f7.1, 1/500 sec

(3) Okay, nothing new here - many wedding photographers do this with the wedding party. Meant for the inside story, the purpose of this image is just to reflect the family's personality. At this point it was literally 5 minutes before the sun set.  This was the last natural light shot of the day. In addition to the nice golden light on my subjects, notice how blue the sky is at sunset.

ISO 400, f6.3, 1/800 sec.

(4) This was the first image I took that was meant to be a candidate for the magazine cover. First of all, it needed to be a vertical to conform with the magazine shape. It's always a challenge to pose 6 people for a vertical shot. To do this, I put them on 3 levels, sitting, kneeling and standing. I organized them by age with the youngest on the bottom and parents on top.

The background was selected because - especially after deliberately underexposing the ambient by 2 stops - I knew it would be very dark.  This makes it easy to place copy over the background.  One 40" umbrella covered the entire family with no discernable light falloff.

ISO 400, f5.6, 1/125 sec

(5) This was the other candidate for the magazine cover. This time using the sky to make a nice clean backdrop to place copy. Again, the ambient was underexposed by almost 2 stops and a single umbrella covered the family nicely. The key to this shot was the pyramid shape of the pose, as well as their relaxed expressions.  I got the laughs just by asking them to goof around.

ISO 250, f6.3, 1/100 sec

(6) The last shot of the day was not really for the magazine, I did it for the parents so they could have a professional shot of their boys.

ISO 250, f6.3, 1/100 sec

For your next portrait session, try something different and shoot after sunset. You'll get something very different than what all the other photographers out there are offering!  

Laurence Kim Workshops

available in Seattle or via Skype

Venue:  Freestone Inn

2nd shooter:  Chantal Andrea

It's been a while since I posted a wedding. I'm still on a natural color kick - no actions (other than sharpening) have been applied to any of these images.

(1) left: 5D/24mm,  ISO 1000, f2.0, 1/30 sec

middle:  5D/24mm,  ISO 320, f2.5, 1/50 sec

right (Chantal): 5DMkII/35mm,  ISO 400, f2.2, 1/160 sec

(2)  left:  5D/70-200mm @200mm, ISO 400, f3.2, 1/1000 sec. Nothing makes your clients look as good as a portrait taken @ 200mm.

right (Chantal): 5DMkII/35mm, ISO 320, f2.5, 1/250 sec.  I often chimp with my clients - always a good way to keep them loose and engaged.

(3)  Top:  5D/70-200 @135mm, ISO 400, f3.2, 1/3200 sec. The fashion shoot took place in the middle of the day. The sun was brutally harsh. However, don't let that stop you from taking beautiful portraits. Just put the sun to your subject's backs and you're good to go.

Bottom (Chantal): 5DMkII/35mm, ISO 400, f4.5, 1/160 sec.  A good second shooter should always be capturing a different angle than the primary shooter.  I'm shooting down, so Chantal got low for this one.

(4)   Don't be so eager to always shoot wide open. Stop down a little bit. Your clients will appreciate having both of them in focus.  Many photographers I talk to are afraid of stopping down because they mistakenly believe the greater depth of field will make their images look like snapshots. Believe me, a well executed image (composition, lighting, subject interaction) won't look like a snapshot, even with a large dof.  It will just look like a beautiful, professional image.

Left (Chantal):  5DMkII/50mm, ISO 400, f8, 1/125 sec

Right: 30D/17-55mm @55mm, ISO 320, f3.5, 1/500 sec

(5)  Left:  30D/17-55 @43mm, ISO 640, f2.8, 1/250 sec.

Right: 30D/17-55@24mm, ISO 640, f2.8, 1/250 sec.

Yes, I'm still using my old, obsolete Canon 30D. Why? A few reasons I'm still using this old workhorse: (1) it enables me to use Canon's best zoom lens, the incredibly sharp 17-55 f2.8 EFS IS. This lens is far superior to either the 24-70L or the 16-35L, yet can't be used on a full frame body. (2)  It's practically worthless, so I'm not worried about it being stolen or broken. (3) I sometimes like the extra dof I can get with a crop sensor. I can get more in focus, even if I'm at f2.8.  (4) the 8MP raw file sizes are nice and small and (5) it still takes crispy images!  My advice: put your money into your retirement account instead of always buying the latest and greatest gear. What, are these images not sharp enough??  

(6)  30D/17-55 @17mm, ISO 800, f2.8, 1/125 sec.

I processed all of the black and whites using my favorite conversion method - just hit the "grayscale" button in Lightroom, adjust contrast to taste, and voila!

(7)   Left (Chantal):  5DMkII/24mmL,  ISO 320, f2.0, 1/500 sec.

I knew I'd take this image - or in this case, delegate it to Chantal - way in advance, as soon as I found out that Julie and Seth had written their vows on note cards.  Always ask if the couple has vows or speeches written out - they make for great photo opportunities.

Right:  5D/24mmL, ISO 320, f3.5, 1/25 sec.

(8)  The pre-ceremony cocktail hour.  

(9)  Left (Chantal):  5dMkII/24-70mm @28mm, ISO 400, f3.5, 1/125 sec.

Right:  5D/70-200 @ 130mm, ISO 400, f4.0, 1/1250 sec.

(10)  The cutest flower girls ever.

Left: 5D/70-200 @200mm, ISO 400, f4.0, 1/2000 sec.

Right: 5D/70-200 @200mm, ISO 400, f4.0, 1/2000 sec.

(11)  During the ceremony it's important to get both tight shots of the couple at the altar and some shots pulled back showing the entire scene.

5D/70-200mm @70mm, ISO 400, f4.0, 1/1000 sec.

(12)  Left: 5D/70-200 @200mm, f5.0, 1/1600 sec.

Right: 5D/70-200 @95mm, f3.2, 1/2000 sec.

(13)  It's easy to get lulled during the ceremony, but you have to be hyper alert to not miss the kiss, which sometimes only lasts a spit second. I'm happy to report that I've never missed one yet!

Left:  5D/70-200 @200mm, ISO 100, f5.0, 1/640 sec.

Right (Chantal): 5dMkII/24-70 @24mm, ISO 125, f4.0, 1/40 sec.

(14)  30D/17-55 EFS @17mm, ISO 250, f4.0, 1/800 sec.

(15)  My standard setup for formals:  manual metering mode, 35mm lens, f5.0.  This will give you all the DOF you need. A little fill flash (ettl, -1 FEC) keeps everyone tack sharp.  Shoot from the kneeling position to make your composition much more interesting. Stop shooting everything at eye level!

Left:  5D/35mmL, ISO 500, f5.0, 1/160 sec, -1 FEC.

Right (Chantal):  5D/24-70 @24mm, ISO 250, f7.1, 1/160 sec. I usually have people shooting right beside me during the formals. Doesn't bother me, but I do have to remind everyone to look at my camera. The little guy next to me is a future wedding tog.

(16)  Left: 30D/17-55 @18mm, ISO400, f3.5, 1/200 sec. Always keep an eye out for little kids. When they run around during the day they can lead you to some interesting compositions.

Right: 30D/17-55 @55mm, ISO 400, f3.5, 1/125 sec. Hugs right after the speeches are important - be ready.

(17)  The entire wedding party had to walk a couple hundred yards to the barn for the reception. I knew way ahead of time that I would get this shot, so I ran ahead then stood there at the end of the path and just waited for it.

30D/17-55 @51mm, ISO 200, f3.5, 1/6400 sec.

(18)  Details (Chantal) with the 35mm f1.4L.  

I usually delegate almost all of the detail shots to my 2nd shooter. It frees me up to wait for images like #17 above. By the way, the middle image is my plate - the Freestone Inn puts out a mighty fine spread!

(19)  Reception collage. All images taken either with my 5D/24mm combo or Chantal's 5dMKII/35mm. We both were using a bit of bounced flash, as it was quite dark in the barn.

My rules on bouncing:  When I need to light up more than just my subject I bounce. When I want to light only my subject I use direct flash. In this instance the room was not lit up with dramatic reception lighting - it was just dark all over. In that case, I needed to spread the light around a bit more, thus my decision to bounce.

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