Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: Family in Living Room

so now we're going to head into our next video we're going to have the family come in do you wantto set that one up for you this is this is this is a three really nice folks uh this little guy's great and they're just they're just nice people good looking people and uh we uh they came in with a lot of different clothing and you'll see what we selected for him to wear and but this is a pretty normal situation it's a sort of a normal family and a normal average john q public and they look great and they're just nice folks so hopefully we created something that by the time we got to the end and we really keep refining and refining are posing and and the relationship in the connection between them all then leave at the end got something I think they're going to be very happy with okay so mom and dad let's get you guys on an m j mary and luke come on man merry we'll have you on that front stool right there just with your shoulders just a little bit away from that light yeah there you go in ...

take a heading to straddle that stool back there just like that and go ahead and sit and get comfortable I know it's kind of hard but it's hard to sit up when you're sitting down but you have to kind of keep your back straight uh I got to get him hired some can you grab those books back in there let's just make him a little bit taller and he's in here I'm gonna put a tele yeah that'd be great and let me get one last reading of this real quick john if you don't mind let's just meet director in the middle right there in the middle for me and I'm just gonna fire I'm just find this off with this little sky port here we go good five sixteen point seven seven okay good okay so look what I need you to do my buddy is I need to get you as close over to dad as you can there you go maybe even put your arm around dad's shoulders yeah perfect perfect dad kind of lean from your waist over toward mary just american you just lean back into those guys just a little bit look as tall as you can and just kind of lean through that gap right toward me mom I gotta lean you up just a little bit now lean forward just a little bit look not sorry mom luke just come to me a little bit more that's it that's it that's it who look at that families mine hey look bring your fingers together a little bit if you can just get your things that's it perfect and turn your head a little bit to the side the other way yeah that's it oh this is good looking dad lower your chin down for me just a bit right there mom just turn your head a tiny bit to me right there yeah who has the height on that back like let me just look at it one more time um it's not back I think we need to raise it up a little bit go ahead let's take it up maybe a foot or so I think they'll give me a little better highlight on her what lens are you using this is this I'm on the seventy two hundred at four I'm one of the few guys I know that that uses the seventy two hundred for uh a lot of people use the two wait I think it's crazy heavy er and this lens is absolutely a sharp is the two wait uh lose one stop of speed on the aperture side but I've gained up I've gained from that with the so you don't have his much shoulder trouble I have no children like use the same lens yeah this is a great lands and it's a sharp as it can be so I'm pretty happy with it mom can we slide you back another half a step and look really lean in toward me his closers you can oh this is good oh this is good it's a mighty good looking family mom let's move your arm around behind dad's waste there just a bit great great great dad listen when your fingers a little closer together that's perfect there we go luke lean lean that way just a little bit for me and lean right to me is just a bit that's it goodwin about mom's hand just relax your hand a little bit mom just yeah there you go that's the way to go let's just test one right there I mean just look that haif again yeah I think we're good on the on that height let me just zoom in on mom I'm just a little bit hey real quick if the light of the faces and everything looked great john just for fun can you cheat cheat that that accent light toward me just yeah just a little bit away from the background where you focusing in the group I'm focusing right on dead because he's about halfway in maybe a third in so just spin it this way a little bit that's it that's it so let's get you guys back mama need to school you back just a little bit more debt can you scoot to me a half step great and look I need you that way a little bit and lean into me as much as you can be like just lean on in their fight your way into this picture there you go that's great let me just take one real quick try that one good let me do one more a little bit closer look can you lean over toward dad just a tiny bit right they're perfect and let's hide your hand for me luke just move your hand down a little bit yeah yeah yeah that's it now lean right over to that a little bit look perfect perfect part olga that dad send down a little bit that's great nobody moves nobody moves nobody gets hurt some mom actually dead just let your hand is lay on top of her hand just like that that's good enough right there move them higher up on your leg that's it perfect perfect perfect luc hide that hand for me back there there you go who oh this is good hey you guys look like you like each other this is great good one good one good one I'm just double checking everything compositionally let's do one more got luke wright the middle of a big old blink there we go go go go luke yeah good no flash one more here we go got it okay good relax for just a second you guys one of the things is compositionally I'm seeing this kind of as a square uh it could go it could go either way could be a horse on it could also be a square but compositionally in my mind I'm framing this to kind of work is a really nice square image and this is something that's one of one of the great benefits of the world of digital you know we go vertical wiggle square we can crop week into so many different things easier than we ever did in the days of you know that old stuff that film stuff so uh I'm gonna rearrange this picture a little bit and uh we'll take another one okay john let's move before we changing them let's move these stools out away and let's get them I'm just gonna get them standing here is going to slide this over like that and let's I wanted to jump down luke and let's move this right over in the center with move these books over you wantto yeah this a little bit forward yeah that's gonna be good and once you jump up there look and let's put dad I'm gonna keep you on that side over there and mom with you on this side and I want both of you kind of turned in at a forty five year almost doing it perfectly and then both of you come to me about a half a step just a bit that's it and uh mom you could probably even put that hand right in there and just kind of lean in toward him a little bit like that good good dad your arm around behind her butt down really low and I want to see your hand I just wanted it just kind of put your shoulder in the right spot there let's take a look and then when when I'm right I'm just going to do to lean forward toward me that perfect uh john yeah let's I'm a tw eight and two thirds I think our hate and a half let's power everything down one stop just to throw that background out just a little further I think is probably a good idea so let me just power that down real quick and summat for oh here and I will take it down a three oh okay this one goes down to two point three so it's not quite full stuff okay I think that's going to be I think there'll still be plenty so now I'm going back up actually now that they're standing let me raise this light back up just a bit same here yeah just a little the beauty of big ceilings is we can do this without having a problem without running into a big issue we talked about that on the walk through the beginning that way have the ability to teo freedom freely make adjustments like this on the fly dad can you and mom just lean toward each other a tiny bit and the dad just laying around over toward me a little bit right there let me just open up my exposure here real quick and fire one off here hey do me a favor there look can you just uh can you just fold one foot over the other foot I'm not seeing it but it makes you hold baby now you cooking let's put your hands in your pockets just leave you but leave your thumb sticking out there you go there you go great great great great that's like better than ok even this traveling right there here we go nobody moves oh that was good gorgeous gorgeous nice looking family right there good turn your shoulders towards your mom looked just a little bit turn turn actually me move your feet in your hips and everything just turned that way a little bit more no juice your shoulders like good put go ahead and stand up straight again not just turn that way more more more more turn turn turn more more more your feet too just the same that way there you go and just let your shoulders turn that way a little bit too in fact you know what I just let you just fold your arms like that for me yeah that's it perfect now here's the tough part I want you to keep your shoulders sort of turned like like that and I just train just re head back that way now dad you're just living in this cap right in here there we go there we go much much better mom can we just let that hand want to hide your thumb kind of behind there yeah there you go like that good good good good once you get the light sort of set then it's just working with the family now you're just trying to we're working on subtle changes varieties and trying to make them look their best that's our job so I think any a portrait photography portrait should be a complimentary likeness and so if we can compliment them they're going to buy a very large one for their wall and that's the idea here we go you guys good look buddy you're awesome you're the awesomest let me get a little bit lower here and I'm gonna close it just a bit there and I'm gonna do that one more time here we go here we go good I'm coming a little bit tighter good and I'm like come on one more time about what focal and thought he's shooting at right there I'm at one hundred ok so I'm a little longer than the seventy but I'm not so long that I'm having everyone says I shot this with a seventy two two hundred but they never say where in that range it's quite arranged to you yeah so I met about most of these have been around one hundred um and I think that seems to be worked pretty good you guys looking good you feeling good okay relax for a second let's do one more set up okay so one of the things that when you've got a group of three you've got the option of doing a triangle or an inverted triangle and and by inverting the triangle here I'm gonna put dad you're going to be our center post their dad so have a seat right there good and let's let's just turn you a little bit too actually you know what let's turn you a little bit to that side okay good uh mom let's bring you around this corner right on dad's shoulder and it's kind of move in move in move in and maybe just sit that hand right you did it just kind of moving like that and then john let's bring those books around we're goingto let luke get a little bit taller uh you guys have when you're when you're doing this kind of work in your studio or in your home studio you've gotta have different heights of things people can sit on and stand on it's really important to be ableto get the heads in the right position and the it's kind of a cop out to say well I didn't have anything for understand I should've made him taller boxes apple boxes are foam rubber or something you know go ahead and jump up there luke and let's take a look at you and this hand this your right hand just put in your pocket again leave your thumbs too can have a little bit like that let me just fix that bottom of your shirt hojo here could looking young man I'm telling you turned toward dad just a little bit yep and leaning that way mom you're gonna lean toward me interesting thing compositionally when you're photographing couples together in particular look how her lips line up with his eyes it's a perfect composition right so so when you're when you're looking at positioning heads it doesn't matter if you're doing a type head shot three quarter length or full length look at mouths and eyes lining up but not side by side her eyes and his eye should never be on the same plane somebody's eyes need to be lined up with somebody's mouth does that sound weird or what uh okay you look pretty good can you just bring your other arm up on dad's shoulder and just kind of let you know just kind of lean over on your hand a little bit like that perfect mom lied to me a little bit dead chin down just a little bit and everybody looks good let me just back up here and take a look uh john light back there actually you know what I don't think you need to move it okay I'm looking her highlight and it looks pretty good like just like it is look just for fun straighten up your back stand up is tall as you can there you go let me just take a quick peek at this alex girl everybody looks fantastic really fantastic except luke doesn't he stopped smiling at me he's no longer smiling that's good that's good dad once you put us if you can turn a little bit toward me and put your right arm around behind looks waste down around his back that's it that's it yeah I look just scooting his close as you can tell him that's it uh turn you know it's kind of awkward thing here but I'm trying to get this little gap closed up right under there so looking lean that way and now lean over a little bit more there we go there we go good mom you're doing pretty good coming around the corner just a little bit more now lean that's it perfect perfect perfect that's him down just a little bit great not too bad not too bad that can hide that hand over there that big old mucker yep yeah bringing around by closer to you more more more I just want to see it that's it there we go there we go good good good mom looks great never better mom always signed the checks on these kind of jobs always here we go here we go chances are was her idea to have the portrait made not dad's that's what moms do this looks really good you guys I'm going to check one last thing here just to be sure and uh yeah that looks beautiful because to one more of those and then I'm gonna make one subtle change good relax for just a second let's move the main light on the other side ok eso now it's on the same side with the accent light so we didn't move that over that way and let's rearrange you three dad wants you stand up and uh just keep going down all the way over as far as you can get set in the wall and forward about two steps a little bit more and but keep it it's far to the right as you can go just a little bit like I just tuck it in that corner right behind that chair there you go there you go mom let's have you have a seat and let's turn you a little bit this way just a little you know what actually that's pretty good with one leg off do that again that looks pretty good uh look we're gonna move you around on the other side kind of one that side yeah that's gonna be pretty good don I think what I'll probably want to do on that side actually is tip that down more and take it up a little bit higher I think we'll do that for this time down down down down down down down right like that and then take the whole thing up about maybe a foot something like that so what I think we'll try this dad let's move you about where those books are and let's move those around well actually give those to look on the other side to stand on lucas is going to slide those around over here howard do you want this three we'll just leave it the same for right now okay and so dad we're gonna come just come around this corner a little bit now lean over toward her a little bit like that you let's move you forward just a little bit more than me move those books for you let's put you right up there and you get to lean over toward mom and maybe put that arm upon mom shoulder like that yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah that's the official photography way of saying that looks good bye going yeah can you bring the hand up you're so your arms touching her shoulder more a little bit more yeah yeah yeah and turn your head this way look a little bit more mom you look terrific turn your head toward me this way little bit more that you couldn't look better just put one hand in your pocket there you want to straight out then we're skimming the skim just a little bit more to the left just a little bit that's it that's it good that they'll have our background a little darker too that just leaned to me a little bit perfect just let your thumb stick out a little bit just writing their holy toledo you guys look great that's the official word for it holy toledo great great great nobody moves perfect no flesh oh I guess I should turn on my remote sorry I hate when that happened when a meter this nothing changes our distance hasn't changed and that's that's a great point to make thanks for bringing that up I'm really serious about my meeting during the shoot like this but and I moved it to the other side of step but the distance hasn't changed at all so it's the same distance has gotta be the same exposure so we'll fire one and double check it but I think it's going to be exactly the same so nothing nothing got hurt there we go good good good right there great man this is really looking good once you lower it just a little bit I think we may be high making four inches lower the whole source is a little bit lower the accent light is really terrific it's really helping a lot uh coming in real nice on the faces great let's do this one more time here we go you ready look you want to get this over with don't you here we go here we go good lou go ahead and put your other hand on top of that hand can you do that you know I just kind of lean your head over toward mom a little bit and you're ten down just a bit right there dad you're looking great mom you're perfect nobody moves this is really nice you guys good one more of those good good good good good good good hey luke take a deep breath relax shake your head around really shake it shake it shake it shake it now look at me that's it perfect perfect good good good I got it took care by relax for a second you know what the most important parts of this is uh making them relaxed they've got to feel comfortable they've gotta have confidence in my ability to do this and pull this off or they wouldn't be here on dive got to reassure them of that as I go through this I've got to know what I'm talking about so for me I've noticed that it seems like working in the home studio people are more relaxed coming in it's less industrial than parking in a mall parking lot or in a separate building parking of that's just nothing but a studio this is a home and it's set up as a home and it's a comfortable home uh and I think it makes them a little bit more of these and then the part of it which will go into a much much more in depth later on is the relationship and the posing of them connected together and I think those things couple together are going to help make a portrait that that they're going to like and that they're going to treasure and that's going to be a an heirloom that gets passed down through the years I think okay so we have a few things to talk about no way um first and foremost you know once you get started like that you really do I tryto exhibit some energy especially when there's a young one on the set uh because as we talked about a day or two ago once you start the shoot and once you start the session you gotta have their energy and they've got to stay with you and you've got to keep them up okay this is good good to bring your head and yet you don't moved over with champagne you can't lose that energy you've got to keep that moving or it just dies and they and they you know they slapped down their shoulders relax their head their chin drops in their mouth kind of drops and everything's changes but if you can keep them up good everybody talk good good leaning yeah yeah yeah good good everybody's happy and everybody's in there and they're with you and they'll stay with you but you gotta put out that energy and sometimes that's at the end of a long day of work and you know you still got to keep that energy going all the way through and at the end of the day when they're all gone you can just you can pass out and fall into a puddle