This week’s installment of my portrait photography tips we’re going to talk a little bit about lighting and how to position yourself for better portrait results outside. When we were at the pumpkin patch with Jack last week, I overheard a dad say to his wife…..”don’t shoot into the sun, you never want to shoot with the sun behind the kids!” Now it’s true, setting yourself with the sun behind the camera makes it easier for the camera to focus and return a good exposure. However not only does the sun shining directly in your subjects face make it difficult for your family or children to see (kids are especially prone to squinting), the hard light hitting their faces creates a very distinct shadow across their face.
Since Halloween is coming up this weekend, I went back to last year for a couple of examples. The photograph above is an example of the sunlight hitting “bugga” not straight on (I always try to avoid straight-on sun), but from the side. While it’s not a bad image, the sun puts half of his face in the super bright sun, and the other half is a super dark shadow. For fashion models, some bridals, or dramatic portraits, this type of hard shadow on the face can be acceptable. However for children and toddlers it’s not something I’m that fond of. I’d rather see both sides of the subjects face with a slightly softer, more even light from one side to the other.
However after turning him around so the son is behind him and to the right, the amount of light hitting his face is much more even, and his eyes actually have some sparkle, as opposed to being dark circles in the first picture. Figuring out the exposure is a bit different with back, or rear-quarter lit subjects. If you rely on the camera to make the decision for you (auto mode), you’ll probably end up with a face that’s too dark. Next week we’ll talk a bit more about exposure and using the manual exposure mode on your DLSR to handle this type of situation.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to use your digital SLR to take better portraits and photographs of your children and family, send an email to Jay@jacphoto.net for information on Jay’s upcoming Photography Basics Workshops!
I cracked up when I saw this on their kitchen whiteboard….apparently there’s already been some discussion about when to start a family!
Both of Christie’s Pup’s were ready to roll, although Jack wasn’t so keen on being relegated to the upstairs once everyone was dressed
Every groom says “Oh I’m fine, not nervous at all, just excited and ready for the big day (and they’re all lying!)” It was really refreshing that Charlie admitted “Yeah, I’m a bit freaked out right about now!” Although you wouldn’t know it from this picture….looks pretty cool….
After their ceremony, we hopped across St. Charles’ Fox River and headed to Pottawatomie Park and the timing couldn’t have been better for their wedding and bridal pictures. The cool thing about using Pottawatomie Park for wedding pictures is the large tower and pavilion make it possible to take pictures there even if the weather doesn’t cooperate. Fortunately the weather more than cooperated for Christie and Charlies pictures, and we were lucky to get there just as the sun was setting (which by the way is the beautiful thing about fall weddings….as soon as the sun is gone…it’s time for the cocktail hour to start anyway. So even though you might not have a ton of daylight for your pictures….you’ve got the best light of the day!)
This was awesome. Neither Christie or Charlie are really into wedding cake (or cake in general I guess), so they decided to hire Cold Stone Creamery to provide an ice cream bar instead of serving wedding cake! So there was no cutting of the cake, just a scooping of the first scoop! Kinda cool when the first major decision of your marriage is what type of candy topping to put on your ice cream!……
…..mmmmm, come here caramel goodness….get down with your bad – self on that waffle bowl and vanilla ice cream!
Today I got an email from the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP) letting me know that Charlie & Glenn’s wedding from last month at Chicago’s Swissotel and Holy Name Cathedral has been published on their site as one of their “Real Weddings”! You can see the published pictures HERE. Thanks again for letting me photograph your special wedding ceremony and reception!
I photographed the Bat Mitzvah of Henry’s older sister, Bridgett, a couple of years ago, and one of the things I’ve always loved about this family is how close Henry and Bridgett are.
Henry’s reception at the Morton Arboretum’s ThornHill Center was a combination of his Bar Mitzvah celebration, as well as his father’s birthday which is this week. So Henry wasn’t the only one who went for a chair- ride during the Hora! I’ve photographed several weddings and used the Morton Arboretum for portrait sessions, however prior to Henry’s Bar Mitzvah, I had never had the chance to check out the Thornhill Center. If you’re planning a visit to the Arboretum, definitely take a drive over to the west side of the property and take a look!
Special “Thanks” go out to Kyra Poulos of Event Bliss event planning. Kyra made sure everything ran on time, and even found a way to bust out a few moves with a lucky guest at the reception! (Kyra also designs invitations, so if you’re looking for a fresh take on wedding or event inviations, be sure to check her out!)
Over the weekend we headed out to Goebberts Pumpkin Farm so Jack could pick up a Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween. If you’ve never checked out Goebberts, it’s as close to a seasonal amusement park as you can find, and is a great opportunity for parents with cameras to take some cute pictures of their kids and family……
However I don’t care how adorable this boy is, or how cute your kids are….if you try to take a portrait with the lens of your camera this close to your subject’s face, it’s not going to end up good. Standing this close to your subject requires you to use a very wide angle lens in order to fit the entire face into the frame. Shooting a wide angle lens, this close to your subject results in something that looks a bit like this……….
If it looks like Anthony’s face has been stretched out like you’d see in a fun house mirror (his forehead really isnt’ that big!)…this is what happens when a lens is zoomed to a wide angle (10mm in this case to exaggerate the effect) and placed as close as possible to the subject (about 12 inches from his nose). I guess if the effect you’re going for is to make your children’s portraits look like cartoon characters it’s a good technique. However it’s an easy fix by simply using a lens with a longer focal length and increasing the subject to camera distance…….
Here’s what “bugga” looks like when the focal length of the lens is increased to 70mm, and the distance increased to about 2.5 feet. While I didn’t exactly have the most cooperative subject, it’s still a much more appealing portrait shot this way as opposed to the option above. (There are some other technical benefits, but that’s for another post )
If you’re interested in learning more about how to use your digital SLR to take better portraits and photographs of your children and family, send an email to Jay@jacphoto.net for information on Jay’s upcoming Photography Basics Workshops!
Pictures in the Park for Ronald McDonald House Charities!
Yesterday I donated an afternoon of my time to offer 20 minute mini family portrait sessions in order to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities capital campaign. My wife, Amy, is a memeber of the RMH auxilary board, so it didn’t take a lot of arm twisting to talk me into this one. All the session fees and a percentage of the portrait art sales from these 20 minute mini session will go directly to Ronald McDonald house charities capital campaign which helps fund the new Ronald McDonald house being built in conjunction with the new Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital.
There’s a very good chance I’ll offer these benefit mini sessions sometime in the spring, so if you’re interested, please shoot me an email and we’ll let you know when the sessions are being offered! Thanks again to all the families to participated on Sunday!
So our other “son” Otis the Border Terrier is proud to announce that he’s a proud papa today. Ellie at Windward Farm gave birth yesterday to a litter of four male and two female border terriers. Several of these new pups still need loving homes, so if you know anyone who’s looking for a new friend (and believe me, these dogs make incredible pets for families, couples, single people, whatever your status), please call Mary Jo at Windward Border Terriers at 847-566-8073.
So there won’t be any wedding photographs on the blog from this past weekend, because there was no wedding to photograph. However, I still managed to watch a bride come down the aisle, and watch a couple of parents wipe away tears while watching their daughter recite her vows. For the first time in over two years, I actually attended a wedding as a guest (actually as a groomsman no less), and this weekend was extra special because my youngest sister was the one getting married!
I’ll admit that I’m biased about this one, but one of the more unique and elegant features of their ceremony was the decision to eliminate the traditional unity candle lighting in favor of asking everyone in attendance to light a candle as a symbol of the commitment that their friends and family are making to support the bride and groom through their presence at their ceremony. Obviously as a photographer anything visual like this is going to jump out and make an impression on me, but also the fact that I’ve photographed hundreds of weddings and have not seen this done before was really cool.
I know it’s not as trendy and probably won’t generate millions of hits on YouTube like crazy-ass first dances, or foolish strutting bridal party processionals, but this is the type of classy and original addition to a wedding ceremony that I’d love to see catch on.
Rather than post a bunch of crappy snapshots, you can take a look at Amy Aiello’s blog by CLICKING HERE to see a few of the official photographs from Mary Jo and Frank’s day.
Well, I guess I had to post ONE snapshot….Little Jack got all dressed up in a suit for the big day and helped pass out programs and candles to the guests as they came in! (after being thoroughly bribed with loli-pops!)
Despite the cool rainy weather, Jack and I decided to head downtown yesterday and cruise around Navy Pier. I’ve recently photographed a couple of different wedding ceremonies and wedding receptions there, and thought it would be a cool place to take the little guy.
Since there was going to be a lot of walking, I figured a solid balance breakfast of sugary cinnamon rolls would be a good way to start! (Actually, this kid is a cinnamon roll freak and wants these for breakfast any chance he gets…in fact the first words out of his mouth after climbing out of his bed yeterday were “Cinnamon rolls DaDa!”)
0MMMMMM, cinnamon goodness……
Oh yeah….guess who has to help put the icing on.
He wasn’t quite as impressed with the Ferris Wheel as I thought he’d be……
And despite all the places to eat at Navy Pier….we end up at McDonalds!
Although all the walking definitely took it’s toll….this was about five minutes after we got back in the car.
But if there was any doubt whether he had a good time…check this out….
Since Halloween is coming up this weekend, I went back to last year for a couple of examples. The photograph above is an example of the sunlight hitting “bugga” not straight on (I always try to avoid straight-on sun), but from the side. While it’s not a bad image, the sun puts half of his face in the super bright sun, and the other half is a super dark shadow. For fashion models, some bridals, or dramatic portraits, this type of hard shadow on the face can be acceptable. However for children and toddlers it’s not something I’m that fond of. I’d rather see both sides of the subjects face with a slightly softer, more even light from one side to the other.
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