Photo Tip
Fun With Outtakes

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2015 Thanksgiving Family Photo

Many of you may have seen this Family Portrait posted on Facebook after our trip to Lauderdale Lakes for Thanksgiving.  I thought I’d give a Photo Tip and also explain a little bit about the recipe for this image and another one.  First of all, I shot it with a Canon 5dMkIII DSLR, 24-105 zoom lens (set at 32mm), tripod, one flash fired into a reflective umbrella (to the right of and behind the camera) and another one fired through a small lightbox (at the extreme left and slightly behind the scene), along with the gorgeous light coming in through the large window on the right.  Exposure: ISO 500, 1/13th of a second with the aperture set at f7.1 for enough depth of field for the scene.  Also, I recently read a book on photo portraits by one of my favorite photographers, Gregory Heisler, who mentioned that portrait photography is something like 80% furniture moving.  I’d say this setup involved about 40%.  That is, I had to move chairs, a table, and a few things in the background, etc. All this to make it look “natural.”

NONE of that information is part of the photo tip!  Here’s the tip (below):

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Almost made it….Outtake 1

This (above) is the first shot.  I intentionally strolled slowly into the scene so that I didn’t make it before the self timer went off.  Got a good laugh which is always a high priority in everything that I do!!

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Mugging…outtake 2

With this next one (above), I had allowed enough time, but I took a detour.  Got another big laugh.
One of the next frames was the final result.  By that time, everyone was loose, happy, and focused.
THAT is the photo tip!  In my opinion, all that mumbo jumbo about gear and settings is secondary to working with your subjects to try to get a desirable expression.  Engage with your subjects.  Yes…even when taking family photos.

Let’s look at another photo that also appeared on Facebook and was taken right after the group shot with the same setup (and some additional “furniture moving”).  In this image, our four grandsons were lined up by age.  My photo tip applies here, too:  You have to let them have some fun, too!  So, first I told them to make funny faces and do whatever they wanted.  We did that a couple of times.  Then I asked them to put their arms on each other and by that time, they were ready for the portrait and so was I.  I actually like all the shots because they each show their personalities!
Here’s the series (below) in order:

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Making faces…outtake 1

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More fun…outtake 2

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The Boys

Fun stuff!
-Stephen M. Levin
“Life Scapes”
www.stephenmlevinphotos.com

 

 

SML Photography