Advice Needed

[Rui]

Hi guys,

I might be helping my friend to shoot some outdoor portrait shooting for his project. The compo of the pic will involve a car and the owner, shoot will be around noon time in a open field and i'll be using the 828 i got recently for the shoot.

As i haven't done portrait before (usually i do landscape and street), can anyone give some pointers to me like what i supposed to look out for and any dos or don'ts for the shoot?

Thanks!

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

hmm you could invite us to go together... (please email or pm me the pic of the model...)

its TFCD.. if you want, i can use my F828 together with you or use a DSLR...

[Rui]

Hi Del_CtrlnoAlt,

I'm so sorry cos it's my friend's project (and it's his company project) and not mine, i'm not really in a position to invite you guys... So sorry about it.

Still, i would love to get some advice from you guys esp when you all have so much experience while i'm still a newbie.

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

think u stay buangkok... near to our founder's area...

but if you got any specific problems you wanna ask, can pm us, else we dun even know where to start... we can write a book for you leh...

[King Tiger]

Originally Posted by Rui Hi guys, I might be helping my friend to shoot some outdoor portrait shooting for his project. The compo of the pic will involve a car and the owner, shoot will be around noon time in a open field and i'll be using the 828 i got recently for the shoot. As i haven't done portrait before (usually i do landscape and street), can anyone give some pointers to me like what i supposed to look out for and any dos or don'ts for the shoot? Thanks!

Hi Rui

Since it involve the car and owner, there is some nice site you can explore like Punggol End where the place are spacious.

There is no rules of what you cannot do this, what you cannot do that.
Rules are make to be broken. Explore your ideas. Who knows, you maybe a great photograpger

[pianodancer]

Originally Posted by Rui Hi guys, I might be helping my friend to shoot some outdoor portrait shooting for his project. The compo of the pic will involve a car and the owner, shoot will be around noon time in a open field and i'll be using the 828 i got recently for the shoot. As i haven't done portrait before (usually i do landscape and street), can anyone give some pointers to me like what i supposed to look out for and any dos or don'ts for the shoot? Thanks!

Besides the usual photographic skills (framing, exposure, etc.) which is independent of the camera, perhaps he may want advise on how to make the best (and worst) of F828, e.g. get round the purple fringing issue. In general, try not to shoot where there are too much contrast betwen 2 objects, e.g. leaves over the skies. But if you do, use a smaller aperture.

To work around the bokeh issue, try to shoot at telephoto, e.g. 105mm.

Exploit the F828! Shoot infra-red (but need IR72 filter to shoot in daytime).

But frankly, I personally don't bother with all these technical details. Just shoot and it'll look fabulous!! Seriously, apart from purple fringing, more grain and less bokeh, F828 performs and produces images as good as DSLR!

[Rui]

Originally Posted by Del_CtrlnoAlt think u stay buangkok... near to our founder's area... but if you got any specific problems you wanna ask, can pm us, else we dun even know where to start... we can write a book for you leh...

Del_CtrlnoAlt, thanks for the offer! Haha, maybe i can use the "book now"..

Actually, the first thing that popped into my mind was that the shoot is gonna be in the noon and i read some article before stating that it is not really advisable to do potrait at noon time. Why is that so and how to overcome the prob?

Btw, who's our founder? (heehee, new to this forum, so dun really know the people in here )

[Rui]

Originally Posted by King Tiger Hi Rui Since it involve the car and owner, there is some nice site you can explore like Punggol End where the place are spacious. There is no rules of what you cannot do this, what you cannot do that. Rules are make to be broken. Explore your ideas. Who knows, you maybe a great photograpger

Hi King Tiger, thanks for the encouragement!

As i never did portrait before, i'm quite worried that i might break some rules that experienced photographers frown upon. But seeing your statement, that really put me at ease. Think i'll just go ahead to trust my instinct and try my best!

[Rui]

Originally Posted by pianodancer Besides the usual photographic skills (framing, exposure, etc.) which is independent of the camera, perhaps he may want advise on how to make the best (and worst) of F828, e.g. get round the purple fringing issue. In general, try not to shoot where there are too much contrast betwen 2 objects, e.g. leaves over the skies. But if you do, use a smaller aperture. To work around the bokeh issue, try to shoot at telephoto, e.g. 105mm. Exploit the F828! Shoot infra-red (but need IR72 filter to shoot in daytime). But frankly, I personally don't bother with all these technical details. Just shoot and it'll look fabulous!! Seriously, apart from purple fringing, more grain and less bokeh, F828 performs and produces images as good as DSLR!

Thanks for the tips, pianodancer!

I've been taking some shots over the last 3,4 weeks or so with my 828. I can truthfully say that so far it has been a great experiece for me! Wonderful images and a lot of freedom in this cam! Like what you mentioned, the only thing was that bokeh's not quite enough for me sometimes (still it's been a vast improvement compared to my first ultra-compact digi-cam).

And thanks again, i'll keep advice to use shoot at telephoto in mind to work the bokeh issue.

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by Rui Del_CtrlnoAlt, thanks for the offer! Haha, maybe i can use the "book now".. Actually, the first thing that popped into my mind was that the shoot is gonna be in the noon and i read some article before stating that it is not really advisable to do potrait at noon time. Why is that so and how to overcome the prob? Btw, who's our founder? (heehee, new to this forum, so dun really know the people in here )

our King is the Founder...

anyway y not noon, cos 1stly, if you use life models, they will get very warm and sweaty due to the sun... also, the shadow cast on the models will be harsh as well, very hard to get good lighting on other areas...

you may need reflectors in such instance = more manpower...

anyway do you have a concept in mind what you wanna take in perspective? if you have, den draw us a picture, we think together lor...

[catchlights]

Originally Posted by Rui Hi guys, I might be helping my friend to shoot some outdoor portrait shooting for his project. The compo of the pic will involve a car and the owner, shoot will be around noon time in a open field and i'll be using the 828 i got recently for the shoot. As i haven't done portrait before (usually i do landscape and street), can anyone give some pointers to me like what i supposed to look out for and any dos or don'ts for the shoot? Thanks!

That's not a good time for outdoor portraits, try shoot in the morning between 7.30 till 8, the sunlight come from 45 degree to the subject’s left or right, nice warm color.

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by catchlights That's not a good time for outdoor portraits, try shoot in the morning between 7.30 till 8, the sunlight come from 45 degree to the subject’s left or right, nice warm color.

another master have spoken!!!

[Rui]

Originally Posted by Del_CtrlnoAlt our King is the Founder... anyway y not noon, cos 1stly, if you use life models, they will get very warm and sweaty due to the sun... also, the shadow cast on the models will be harsh as well, very hard to get good lighting on other areas... you may need reflectors in such instance = more manpower... anyway do you have a concept in mind what you wanna take in perspective? if you have, den draw us a picture, we think together lor...

Heehee, now i know who's the founder! Read from another thread that he just got upgraded to "Emperor" status..

Thanks, now i know why people try not to shoot in the noon..hmm, i dun have a reflector but is it possible to use a flash to fill out the shadows? Do you think it will work?

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by Rui Heehee, now i know who's the founder! Read from another thread that he just got upgraded to "Emperor" status.. Thanks, now i know why people try not to shoot in the noon..hmm, i dun have a reflector but is it possible to use a flash to fill out the shadows? Do you think it will work?

i tried b4, kinda useless... the color tone dun look nice as well... and you need a pretty good metering system... and like u know, clouds always trick your metering...

[Rui]

Originally Posted by catchlights That's not a good time for outdoor portraits, try shoot in the morning between 7.30 till 8, the sunlight come from 45 degree to the subject’s left or right, nice warm color.

Thanks for the advice catchlights!

Actually i did tried asking my friend if we are really doing the shoot, is it possible to do in the late evening when we have better natural warm light... but he told me that the models are his managers (think he need the shoots for his company newsletter.. didn't really probe too much..) and they are only free during that time...

Still, thanks for the advice and i'll keep it in mind if i intend to do my own portrait shooting.

[Rui]

Originally Posted by Del_CtrlnoAlt i tried b4, kinda useless... the color tone dun look nice as well... and you need a pretty good metering system... and like u know, clouds always trick your metering...

Oh... like that ah... Then is there anywhere you can recommend a good reflector and how much does it cost? Maybe can ask my friend to buy one since he's the one needing the photos.

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

i just thought of something... think you going to get hell of a time with reflectors or flash as well... but since thats a problem, tats a solution as well... use the car as a reflector... positioning is an essence now... how to create bounce light from the car... this you have to try...

you may or may not get yourself in the view of the car... you have to take note of that as well... hence a big reflector confirm can be seen on the car...

You may need a Circular Polariser to remove the reflection off the glass panels of the car.

you can get reflectors from any big enough camera shop... price varies...

[snowspeeder]

Originally Posted by Rui Hi guys, I might be helping my friend to shoot some outdoor portrait shooting for his project. The compo of the pic will involve a car and the owner, shoot will be around noon time in a open field and i'll be using the 828 i got recently for the shoot. As i haven't done portrait before (usually i do landscape and street), can anyone give some pointers to me like what i supposed to look out for and any dos or don'ts for the shoot? Thanks!

1) Remember to use ISO 64 (for clean images) on the 828.
2) Use RAW. For digital color corrections and high quality image.
3) Be aware of the background of your image. Make sure nothing is cluttered or distracting.
4) Might consider bring a litlle ladder or something as you might need the altitude to gain a different perspective of the shots.

[Rui]

Originally Posted by Del_CtrlnoAlt i just thought of something... think you going to get hell of a time with reflectors or flash as well... but since thats a problem, tats a solution as well... use the car as a reflector... positioning is an essence now... how to create bounce light from the car... this you have to try... you may or may not get yourself in the view of the car... you have to take note of that as well... hence a big reflector confirm can be seen on the car... You may need a Circular Polariser to remove the reflection off the glass panels of the car. you can get reflectors from any big enough camera shop... price varies...

Thanks Del_CtrlnoAlt! Use the car as a reflector! Think that might work cos i was thinking that the light reflecting off the car could be quite harsh and how to avoid it.. But you just turned it around into an advantage for me instead! Thanks man! You are good!

[Rui]

Originally Posted by snowspeeder 1) Remember to use ISO 64 (for clean images) on the 828. 2) Use RAW. For digital color corrections and high quality image. 3) Be aware of the background of your image. Make sure nothing is cluttered or distracting. 4) Might consider bring a litlle ladder or something as you might need the altitude to gain a different perspective of the shots.

Thanks snowspeeder! Didn't really think of point 4 before and i'm glad that you mentioned it.

Just wanna say you guys are a great bunch of friendly people and i really appreciate it!