How to Christmas family portrait, the little things that most people don’t do that can improve your family portraits
Christmas gatherings are great times for group portraits
This year we had several families on my wife’s side gather at my wife’s sister’s house for a nice Christmas party. Of course I brought my camera and a few other things as well. Usually I don’t make it into too many pictures at these events, but this was a lot of people who had come a long way to be together so I figured I would be taking a group picture.
Prepare to take the portrait
Here are some things that I did in preparation for the image. First, I set up my camera on a tripod and pointed it toward the fire-place and chair that I thought would make the most pleasing arrangement. I took some images and determined that I could get away without using my flash (however, in retrospect I think that the flash would have helped and if I had been working on a professional basis, I would have devoted much more time to determining lighting).
MOVE THINGS and get rid of clutter
MOVE FURNITURE… There was a coffee table in front of a sofa facing the fireplace. Rather than have them show in the pictures, go ahead and move things around some to PRE-COMPOSE the shot without distracting elements like coffee tables in the image.
While checking composition of the background look around for other things that can be removed from the picture. In this case, there wasn’t anything else that needed to be moved out of the view of the camera. I took a couple of shots to test out the auto timer on the camera. There was the short one and the long one. The short one would not give me time to get into the picture in time, so I set it to the longer timer and that looked like it would work fine.
Start with the key people then gather others around
Now I started moving people into the frame. First grandpa who would be on the large chair, then is daughters and their families grouped somewhat together.
I made sure there was a pathway for me to get where I was going to stand then I explained to everyone that I would be taking 10 pictures. When shooting a group it is very common for someone to blink each time the camera fires. In this case, I had a very slow shutter speed of about 1/20th at f4 with an ISO of 1000. Again, I would certainly not use ISO 1000 on my current camera for professional portraits (there is a certain amount of digital noise at a higher ISO and this is an older camera / Canon 1D mark IIn). But, for a quick family portrait on a non-professional level, this was going to work fine. I explained to look toward the camera and that as the red light flashes quicker, the camera will fire. After about 4 shots, I checked the images and found that my son was making faces each time. After several people explained to him scornfully that this is something that everyone wanted to be nice, he relented and I took about 6 more shots of the group.
Don’t forget to have some fun
Now for some fun. “Okay, everyone do something cooky for this picture.” Here is what resulted. With family and even professionally, why not have some fun with the people you are photographing. Make is something to remember.
With a little further investigation on your part you can see that I was not quite able to move the coffee table out-of-the-way enough to completely remove it from the portrait. However, with a little Photoshop stamping I was able to use the open area of carpet to cover up the coffee table in the top final image.
What might I do to improve these images. I would have attached my camera flash and pointed it up into the gabled ceiling to my right. By bouncing the flash off of a wide area the light would have been soft and pleasing (Never use on camera flash directly pointed toward your subjects if you can find something that you can bounce it from). I would have moved the sofa and coffee table some more so that I would not have to do Photoshop work on the image.
Did you take any family portraits at Christmas time? Did you have some fun with it? I hope so.
Time for Christmas cards for the Knoll family
Portraits of the girls for their Christmas cards
Christmas cards are the excuse so that mom can make this happen. Once each year for the last three years, Karen Knoll has asked me to photograph her two daughters. Lizzy rides at Trails End Equestrian Center and we usually take the pictures at this facility so that Lizzy can get some photographs with their horse.
Senior portraits are not the only time to get portraits made
Even though we only spend a little time together each year, I feel like I am ever so slightly getting to know these two girls, but that isn’t as important as the fact that Karen has some lovely portraits of her daughters as they grow and mature each year. As they become more comfortable with me taking their pictures (even though it is just once each year), I feel that I am getting more natural expressions. I’m learning what it takes to get them to relax and enjoy themselves while being photographed.
Here are a few photographs from this year’s portrait session at Trails End Equestrian Center:
Lizzy and Allie portraits for 2011
Here is my blog post from last fall 2010.
Peter DeMott Photography • Germantown, Ohio • 937-478-6222
Fall portraits with color for seniors and families and children
Gone are the days of 95 degree heat with 90 humidity here in the Dayton area. Suddenly the crops and the trees are showing us that fall is here with small bursts of color. Because of the heavy rains over the last two weeks, the grass is all greened up again too. Good grief, I had to mow my grass twice already even though its cool outside.
Time for fall portraits with horses
If you have a horse and you want fall portraits, act now before they start getting their heavy winter fur. Actually, I’ve seen many great portraits with horses and their human companions when they have their winter coats. Cool evenings make for some more interesting clothing choices like sweaters and scarfs and hats. Perfect weather for something different for senior portraits as well with furry hooded coats, scarfs, and long-sleeved sweaters.
Time for family group portraits
Cool evenings make for some good family group portraits. However, the days are shorter so scheduled times are more limited.
Like the slogan of a major manufacture of athletic shoes
I was just talking to a woman today about having some portraits done. She has seen my work and knows she will love her portraits, but she dreads having her picture taken. My job is going to be to get her to relax and enjoy herself so that I can capture, not the stiff and fearful person, but the wonderful outgoing person that I know her to be. She even was considering canceling her session, but with some gentle prodding, and the “JUST DO IT” attitude she is going forward with the session.
So many families have very few portraits of themselves in relaxing outdoor environments and enjoying each other. Is it time for you to “JUST DO IT!” ? Time moves so fast in families and in no time you kids are going to be going off to college and starting their own families.
Peter DeMott Photography • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222
Between the storms there is beautiful light for portraits
Ha, Ha, you big bad storms, you did not keep us from having a great portrait session in Dayton, Ohio
This week it has rained every day, but between the storms the light is beautiful. Everything is green and flowers are blooming everywhere.
These are several examples from a portrait session Tuesday evening. I don’t really have a category for these young ladies as they are already through high school, so they are not senior portraits. On the other hand two of the girls are sisters which would fit into the category of family portraits, but the third young lady is a good friend to both sisters and is not a family member. So, I will post this one under family portraits and senior portraits.
Meet Lindsey, Michelle, and Laura.
As we strolled through the park we would find locations for great backgrounds then we set up poses for each girl individually, then as a group. After a bit they changed into their jeans and tank tops for some casual portraits. I think they had a great time together. Having their portraits done together was a great experience.
The rest of the session can be viewed here: Lindsey, Michelle, and Laura
Schedule your own on-location portrait session
Feel free to tell me about a session your have in mind, family groups, best friends, senior portraits, children or whatever. Also, don’t let all this rain prevent you from calling. Lately the storms have been passing by quickly and the sun pops through for really great light. Remember, for portraits, some overcast and clouds can create very pleasing light. If you call and are worried about getting rained out, we just automatically set up two appointment times.
If you would like to set up a portrait session just go here and tell me what you have in mind Contact/Share your ideas for your on-location portrait session
Behind the scenes / How did you do it?
• All these images were taken with a Canon 1D Mark IIn at about ISO 200.
• This entire session was photographed using my 70-200 USM IS F 2.8 Canon lens. In many cases I am back 15 to 25 feet from my subjects. Longer focal lengths are very friendly to people.
• My wife Patty helps with posing and also holds the 52 silver reflector to bring beautiful light into the front of the image. Many of the images have back or side lighting and without the reflector the faces of the girls would be in shadow and they would not have turned out like this. The back and side light sets them off nicely from the background and gives nice shape and depth to the images.
• During the session I shoot a photovision color target so that I can bring correct color to the images when processing from RAW files. I did forget to take shots of the target in a couple situations so I am having a bit of frustration getting the color right on some of the images that I have not posted yet. After conversion to a JPG I dodge the whites of the eye slightly (lighten them a little, this overdone by so many photographers) and the teeth a little bit too. I check for blemishes and use the healing brush as needed, then I run portraiture (photoshop plugin) which evens and smoothes the skin without softening the eyes and other important facial features. I run this on default setting, but I bring it back to 65 opacity on that layer of the photoshop file (again, so many photographers over use this tool making their senior students and other subject look like china dolls instead of people – rolling back the effect keeps the texture of the skin visible and keeps the subjects fully human).
• Last, depending on the image, in photoshop I may burn a little bit around the edges and at the bottom of the image. Visually speaking your eyes are drawn to the lighter portions of the image and I want you as a viewer to be drawn to the faces of my subject not to bright background elements.
• You are welcome to call or email with questions if you want to learn more. I love photography and networking with other photographers and see photography as a lifelong learning process.
Peter DeMott Photography • Greater Dayton area • Specializing in people and also horse photography • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222
Casual family portraits and high energy little boys
I did some casual portraits for a family I know. They have two lovely girls and two young boys who were full of energy at the time of the session. I’d rather have high energy than tired and grumpy, but we had to come up with a way to focus their energy so that we could capture them in the portrait.
I asked Chris if he horsed around with the boys sometimes and after he said yes, I organized the family (without the boys) on the sofa. Then I told the boy, go climb on dad which the gleefully did do.
You can see more portraits from the session here: http://pdemott.smugmug.com/Portraits/Chris/15809800_umdxb#1185311621_CJQKu
• Peter DeMott Photography • Dayton, Ohio • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222
HELP PORTRAIT Dayton, Ohio 2010 – December 4th
We are so excited about this gift to our community. Here are the basic details.
WHO: We are photographing the local families of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed or deploying.
WHAT: Each family with have a portrait taken, edited, printed and given to them on site. Packet will include 1-5×7, 4-wallets and a digital file if desired. (no pets, please)
WHERE: Hope Hotel & Conference Center
http://www.hopehotel.com/map.php
WHEN: Saturday, December 4th from 10am – 4pm.
Walk-ins are welcome throughout the day and you do not have to make an appointment, however if you know that you will be coming to take advantage of this gift, if you email us with your name and approximate arrival time it will help with our work flow. If you would like to help us in that way send your name and approximate time to leighcaraccioli@gmail.com (She will NOT be replying with a confirmation to your email)
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Next Year / Do you want to get involved?
This is not about publicity or notoriety. It’s about giving.
We have discussed have two locations in Dayton next year. One would be directed to an inner city neighborhood and the other would be in service to our troops again, however it will be up to those who choose to participate. If you would like to participate please join this page:
If you would like to do something like this in your community check out these links
http://help-portrait.com/getting-started/
Allie and Lizzy annual portraits for Christmas cards
Each year I get an email from Allie and Lizzy’s mom. When can we do a session over at the Trails End Equestrian Center? So we came up with a time and a date and I was able to take pictures of Lizzy with her horse. Allie could not make it, so we set a time for them to stop by my house and do Allie’s portraits.
Family portraits in your home or at your home for a more intimate feeling
Consider family portraits in spring and fall and winter, not just in fall
There are lots of great places to have family portraits. Local parks can work great. The family home or homestead can have great meaning as there is a familiarity and a warmth in the portrait that is sometimes a little more difficult to capture in another place. I see that there are more people looking for photographers to do family portraits in the fall, but I would encourage families to consider other times of the year too. Spring, once the trees have foliage and the grass is green can provide great backdrops for family portraits.
Family portraits outdoors in early fall
Early fall, when the tree still have their leaves and are colorful can be great too, but this year in the Dayton area we had a drought and fall brought brown leaves. There was some yellows, but there were not as many trees that showed color in our area. Since we were in an draught, the grass was also brown in many places. I fee that spring can be a bit more predictable and easier to work with for outdoor family portraits.
Photographer “On Call” for fun winter portraits, family portraits, senior portraits, and horse and rider portraits in snow
In the Dayton area winter weather is rather short lived. White snow comes down, but within a day many times the beauty is gone. I would actually be willing to be “on call” for wintery family portraits, senior portraits, and portraits with horses. Families could have fun with hats and scarfs. They could hug and keep each other warm. They could even play in the snow (build a snowman together for example), but it could be very unique and fun to photograph.
Family portraits at your home can bring a more personal intimate feeling to your family portraits
Here are some examples of family portraits. One is outdoors in the front of the family’s home. The other is indoors in front of the family fire place in the family room of their beautiful home with Christmas decorations showing subtly in the portrait. Tell me which you like better and why. Just click on the “leave comment” or “comments” link by the title of this post. If you are seeing this on facebook you can leave a comment there or click on the title to bring you to my web site to place a comment there.
Would you like some family portraits that capture the relationships within your family in the comfort of your home? Peter DeMott Photography 937-478-6222. I’d love to hear your thoughts too by your comments from where ever you are, even if you are too far away to be photographed by me.
Fall family portraits and more…
Fall family portraits and more
As the weather cools off a bit it is a great time for family portraits.
This is a family portrait on the front porch of the family home.
This was a fall senior portrait session at Kristen’s home with her horse.
This is a fall senior portrait of my son Evan with his best friend Kyle.
This is from Daniel Goffe’s fall senior portrait session.
If my family was not all over the place, Jordan in Africa, Sarah in Florida, Evan in Cincinnati, I am sure we would get together for a front porch family portrait with dogs and horses.
Photographing the times of our lives, families, friends, birthdays, gatherings…and more
On Saturday my wife and I went to Marshallville, Ohio to visit with her brother Mike and Sister-in-law Kathy. It was Kathy’s birthday and at the same time the Marshallville “history days” or some such celibration. Patty’s dad was there, her sister Pam, and Kathy’s parents were there too. There was a hot-rod show and I caught the last tractor pull of the afternoon. It was a good day.
The portraits below started with my asking to take a portrait of Mike and Kathy, then we decided to take a portrait of the girls, then the brothers and sisters, then the family. Then Kathy asked if I would take few pictures of her mom and dad too. Kathy’s mom and dad are very old and her mom is starting to have memory issues.
Patty’s dad had fought through cancer last year (he was at death’s door) at the same time in the same hospital her mom was critically ill.
I’m telling you all this just to encourage you to pull out your camera and volunteer to take some portraits when you are with your family and friends. Tomorrow the entire situation could be completely different. And it is not always the oldest person who we loose. These portraits took a few minutes, not like the hour or so I normally spend with my photography clients, but they too will last a lifetime and have great meaning for those who choose to keep them.
Don’t forget to have the portraits printed out. Computers change. Hard drives crash. Technology changes quickly and computer media becomes corrupted or out of date as well.
PORTRAIT TIPS: Use a wider f stop to make the background more blurry (f 2.8, f4, f5.6). Shoot with a longer lens (at least 85mm) for more pleasing portraits of people. Shoot in open shade, not in the bright sun. The light will be much more even and pictures will be much nicer without having people squint and without having dark shadows in their eye sockets. Try to have your subjects brighter than the background (keep the background in the shade too). Last of all I always say, ” Now touch each other, it will make people think you like each other!” This always brings some natural smiles AND the portraits seem so much more intimate when the subject are touching.
Here are just a couple of the portraits I offered to make for a few minutes during the day we spent with Kathy and Mike to celebrate her birthday. This is Mike & Kathy.
This is Patty’s family. Left is her older sister Pam, then dad, then Patty and her brother Mike on the far right.
I took some candids of other things from the day, but I also put my camera in the trunk of my car (nearby) to socialize with everyone.