Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: Baby and Mother

When we started this whole process, I would said I wanted to photograph a child with the mother maybe in a nursery type setting this is more of a living room type setting, which is perfectly fine. This is one of those situations where I like the photo journalistic aspect of it, you're not asking we're not really telling too much what to do. I just said let the kid play with toys and I'm going to figure out what I need to do from there that is really my style of figuring this out and how to shoot I'm not a big fan of setting it up and we've we've covered so much over the last well done this for three days now two days live and the pre shoot and we've really hammered home, setting the cameras with whether it's a d thirty three hundred eighty six ten amusing the d for us in here so that we could be tethered so everybody at home watching live can see the pictures as they pop up that's really important to have in here excuse me, but other than that it's just a matter of figuring it, figurin...

g this out I don't know this light yet I haven't really looked haven't figured out what we're doing would you like to come on out? Is that what I'm supposed to do? Tell them to come on out all right, so they're coming over I'm going to try not to make a kid cry today. I'm sure I've made plenty crying exactly hi what's your name max here, max go ahead, grab my hair there we go pulls on that's perfect it is soft and you are sarah I'm jared nice to meet you. All I'm gonna ask you to do is just whatever you normally would do. You're hanging out he's not sitting still and I'm just going to figure out what I need to do from there um that's that's really that I'm just looking guys I'm observing they moved my bag over here so I'm gonna get my bag back over here to get ready for what we need and just figuring out what I want to do. I love shooting in this situation twenty four more of the seventy two, two hundred I love longer lenses because then the kids not distracted by me he forgets about the poofy guy. You know, the guy with the poofy hair and I don't really want to talk too much because I want to shoot so I can't turn off the camera going to get that gopro going and I want to just start shooting let's figure out the settings, I'll walk you through it as we do it I'm gonna put the v r in on this time boom let's see let's go to thirty two hundred eyes so I'm just guessing my settings to start three to let's do about two hundredth of a second and just see what we've got right here not good composition but I just want to see what we got there I want to go to four thousand s o my exposure isn't too far off for anybody that asks about the history graham let's see what that looks like just for the fun of it it's not terrible but I don't like what I'm seeing fully I wantto want to speed up my show me just a little bit because if I'm zoomed out to two hundred I'm breaking the rule right now well I'm a to fiftieth of a second I just bumped it to I want a little bit more leeway with my with my shutter speed just in case he starts moving around I met three point two I don't mind going to four thousand or five thousand especially in this low light this is pretty low light but this is a situation we know we can do it with any cameras showed that for the past couple of days so I'm just looking at different angles here they ignored me as soon as I stopped looking at I'm watching for the composition and I'm looking you know is that green thing annoying I don't know but now he's looking at me lock in focus please thank you you can't let him roll let's see where he goes he's robbing a run to his dad right well that's what I would want but does he even know what it could sell players oh my god it works which way should I go that's what I did that's what I would do that was when we didn't worry about germs back in the day a lot of this is just figuring out what's happening what is he doing how is how sarah getting his ah I'm not your dad where did he go he's over there what? Thank you hi say hi to the camera say hi hi camera see these air these air the unpredictable natures of of what you're going to deal with I like doing these wide angles will he sit with you as you read him a book or just play and see what see what happens so now that I'm shooting wider I'm bringing in a little bit more light um you know, two, three five and I dropped to four thousand I just want to get these I love these wide shots trying to get my angle straight so everything I'm looking at here I'm looking at the background I'm looking at the sofa I'm looking at the the lines on the wall but I'm also making sure the subject is where I want them to be so this is interesting so he's not wanting to be there but that works I like this and these may feel good in black and white um I want to switch off the twenty four to seventy I don't have any problem switching lenses and by the way I'm breaking the rules because my camera still on because of the tether so I really shouldn't be doing that but I still do it anyway just for you guys get off me don't touch me oh does that does that taste good it looks good on this that's you what is that whoa oh there we go way focus I'm going to continue because it's not locking in but I know it's in see I like the background here like the stairs in the background that's cool oh and I got that how good or shots like this I'm not talking a lot because we've already focused on getting our settings right and that's why I can focus on just figuring out what's going on in the situation to shoot and what we're gonna do after this is we're going to analyze those images but I'm really like what's going on in here and this is pretty low light there we go chewing on the court many rock singers do that you guys feel it is you'll really like just watching the shoot and hearing a little bit of the process because there's not much else to figure I mean look uh I missed it because I went back to single and I'm also at a lower angle because that one one of things to remember you're photographing kids a lower angle is going to be much better see I like boobs also I noticed something here I want to try to get the whole carpet in there because I don't like the way that that looks would you stand right there for me exactly the carpet I don't like the way that the that that I see some of that would that's that's on me but I'm seeing that in the froth bad he just like talk tossing it over so that the exposure looks good there's less light when he's looking this way but more like this way because I guess we've got some things happening over here obviously we have a little bit of studio light, but we've kept it down but I'm not going to tell you well he's not gonna listen to me anyway, so I'm not gonna tell him which way to go hopefully it's not nap time though I have some ideas there we go actually going to switch I want to focus on some tighter, tighter shots but if we if we go back nico, let me grab a couple of pictures here there's one I want to show um pick thirty nine o eight for me, please, right there, I mean is that the type of shot that any parent is going to love and kind of cherish for quite a long time? Because it's you are you're loving it aren't you? She already loves it it could be yours on flex pay three easy hammond's but it's that reaction when she sees the pictures I think we should probably keep the parents in the room when I'm editing just to see or know let's force them not to see it and then I reveal it to them and then get their feeling on how the images worked out this is the type of thing you just have to you just have to let it happen this is you can't force shots like this this is more of the observing and capturing as it as it's happening and that's really it and I want to get those wide angle shots I want to get those tighter shots but I also want to get that seventy two, two hundred went when he gets tired and he's going to sit with his mom and she reads a book that's gonna look good I also ok all right, so that's gonna happen? I'm gonna switch lunges you've been how our levels there did we peek just kidding it may not work that's fine let him he khun I'm sure at some point he'll want to come back over there maxwell where's your silver hammer this's a shoot it really is it's just spent being a fly on the wall because the settings air basically right we're tweaking just a little bit here and there that's why I'm not there's really not much else to say other than now it's time to focus in on the composition so many people focusing on worrying about the setting but once you lock those in because you're confident about it you're not worrying about the ice so you're not an aperture priority motor and auto mode because in auto motor aperture priority you're always gonna sure what you're going to get that's a backwards crawl that is an army crawl going backwards I don't know how those air your feet that's one foot that's a split I can't even do that that's good are you a ninja eternal oh now that I don't think I can get out there we go right there right there see I think we may have gotten something but now I have to back up because I have this lens on their nico did that pop up lighting wise well that's good tv and try not to leave your gear sitting on the floor this was part of partly why I left it in the bag here is that he's not going to trip over it or college a uh or call it a a toy god bless you even though it's not a sneeze high I can do that too uh oh climbing so maybe maybe it's me so maybe I'll find a a different angle on maybe I'll sit over here on the and switch it up and it's also brighter over there and now it's rocking so I have to work on the continuous focus it's also a little brighter but it is sharp I do like it no, I don't know what that is but watch this watch is now he decides so it's not a good shot from back here I would probably move around or that works this's probably better to get that wide angle lens out but I want to focus on this for the time being watched this single focus I don't like the light here so much myself but go who are all these people back to continue and I'm not motor driving that's one thing you'll notice hey for a quick moment can I ask you a couple questions were quick okay oh thank you you're so kind well first of all I would we would actually lived in a lot of people are asking how old is maxwell? Fourteen months that's something somebody actually guess that so good work uh he's adorable and just everyone loves what he's doing because they're like this is a really dollars shoot this is what happens but question from raw images do you expose for the brighter, darker or is close to gray as possible uh I exposed for the proper exposure that's what I'm focused on I don't use an eighteen percent great card that's not anything that I've ever personally done I look at each scene individually and then and that's what I'm looking at s o that's what I'm capturing here so basically when I started what I based it on was just what was in the scene like I've talked about getting the shot right in threes three shots or less what I did as I started with one setting that I guess I knew that we're in a little darker situation so I'll be at thirty two hundred s so just as a starting point maybe two hundredth of a second because I'll know be using a little bit longer lens or I just want to have that just in case he moves or laughs or swings his arms or does something and then three to two three five with some where I wanted to be just because I want a little more leeway with my focus so that's why I went with that that's the thought process of getting it yeah, what else we have one from william of who when we're talking about kids like this or other small moving objects rapidly moving objects is it possible to freeze the action of something like a scarf? Or I would say a child without using flash when they are rapidly flailing about uh yes, it was it wasn't say it one more time is it possible to freeze the action of something like a scarf or I would add like small moving arms without a flash? Well yeah, I mean it all depends on how much light you have and also how far you want to bump the ice so well we we've taken the fear out of it hopefully at this point I would raise the if you really want to get a faster shutters being you bumped the eye so you can open up your aperture just a little bit but that's you really can make it happen just by um just by not wearing about theis so too much if that's what you want to freeze, I think we'll be able to freeze him spending a little bit around to fiftieth or three twentieth of a second but that's all dependent upon what situation we're actually in so that's what I'm actually trying to do here and what we're going to do for us is that when we're done shooting here after a little small break, we will take it to the computer and I'm going to run through that whole process of how we, uh at least my gears in short it's all good that's what that's an important thing to remember is ensure your gear that's why I'm not worried about it I'm not worried about you I'm not worried about you. What are you saying? I don't even know so I'm not worried about it but we will go to analyze these images that one I'm worried more about but but we will we will go into the computer and critique these images that good to shoot you keep going and we are going to get all right you guys enjoying just the whole process all right uh are those they're not oreos hi he's over there and it doesn't just because he was that close when we talked about that with the constant shoot I think the light wasn't good so I wasn't going to shoot it and it was that simple oh oh I want to use this lens put the slobber all over it that that's okay, I could give him the kit lens because he can play with that one that I wouldn't worry about oh back to this lens touch god not the ones lands but you can touch the hood see that's what there you go I don't want that anymore I want cannon I want something what do I have in here that you could play with? I have to have something about a lens cap with that work the all right to eat this I don't know but this is you just have to feel it out and not rush anything but I will start directing in a second stop eating if you're coughing has nowhere to go how do we do how does that look that's not a winning shot that's a little better can we try sitting on the sofa at this point and maybe we'll uh we'll drink and hang out and talk and they don't talk yet at least I don't think so yeah that didn't last long thank you switching the single focus from continuous I want to try and do something it's not working for me because of the light right there I'm using his hands in the book to naturally frame them to get me that shot all right we're creating the dimension that we don't have because it's two d let's get back to the fourteen it's a little tougher to shoot with because we have to get closer but I think it's going to be pretty cool I love stories like that showcases really well I also now see the wires over here staking out that caught my eye so I'm gonna work on not getting that in my friend all right, I'm looking now you gotta switch back to the other ones let's try the twenty four to seventy you guys don't get me calm very often but you have to be common situations I don't want to sit here anymore now stand continuous high just in case I'm not trying to take two pictures that's a ten percent more sensitive than most cameras a torch lamps even legal anymore now one thing I have to watch out for is the torch light in the back coming out of the top of their heads I want to be careful with that so simply I'm just going to rotate myself this way he is active right now was there anything in particular that you are looking for sarah or is just just like what you see so far you want to bring dad over would that make him differently so we have no I have no problem all right so I see some things I'm going to start with wide here but then I'm gonna move in you can join them over there if you want no no no no that was new kids on the block you almost did it we don't have the license for and that is right all right, so we've done enough of that I want to get a little more wider I also should put them more into the middle but I don't want to get the chair in the way that's why they're sort of in that rule of thirds aspect I'm focusing on the child but now switch to the parents okay, I've had enough of that switching hey what's over here what's over there that's a camera guy all right, let me try to see if we'll climb up on that or not go behind there but I want to get some tighter some tighter shots I say tighter shots as I have fourteen to twenty four on you know it's just always going through do you think you'll uh so I mean let me while they're doing that I'll sit here and review a little yes we'll do it on the self is good so now when I do this I like all the toys on the floor because he doesn't sit still long enough are we looking over there good so drop your hands a little for me thanks willie willie willie grab your finger and hold on to oh almost almost that's like a microphone in the mouth shot we don't do him as much but maybe it's different cause I'm looking at that looking at the eyes right now hopefully we got the eye right there because it could be a little different done with what but I did get his eye by the way dad what's your name again robin rob let's see if you can grab your fingers just saving grab both your fingers while sitting between you guys he's almost had enough which is fine I would like to get some details I did try to shoot his feet earlier that's all right that's okay tire mountain outlets kitson cost twenty one dollars to go up there twenty six dollars normally to take a ride on an elevator all right so I have to do this that works point to the point of the picture again so he gets his attention up sarah robb yeah I just need to rob the bulls maxwell I need to move myself because of the background maxwell maxwell hey rob will you come behind me so you can take a look over my hair and see if he will he'll still point up there and then take a look at me rob get down a little over for me please okay let's see if you'll love he wants to come over here right so let's try to get attention up here distracting for one second if it works let's see if I got it I think I got that house that look to you I not perfect but I want to do one other thing let's see if we can do this and then we'll move on to that next segment or actual we'll take some questions and then moved back on but I was looking for a certain thing and I could I could work with that robbie won't give me a call what we'll call it a day well let's see where he goes we'll see if you jump all thanks well anybody so oh yeah well all right let's see if he gets that it is it's all right all right okay this is officially low light situation time gonna be almost impossible to focus let's just take a look I wish I had a different lens on hey, I'm trevor grabbing my twenty four to seventy, please, because I'm really grab that from me. Thank you, let's. See if we get him to crawl back towards up. Okay. That's. Good in your bag. That's. Good that's. Well, hey, buddy, I also that perfect sarah s if he comes back, I think we're good. We're gonna call it a day could jump. That is called downward dog. Downward dog that's. Very good. You did better than I would have done. I don't want you to fall and hit your head on the right. You got him because we got this wire sticking out. See, I have those paternal skills that everybody doesn't think exist. Ok, russ, we were just thrown a curveball by the little guy and that's. What? We, uh we really went toe low, light and that's. Why we switched and we did this and his foot's in there. Yea, that's. That's cool, right? That we didn't. We couldn't plan that they the producers didn't come up with that one. So we're gonna call that. Is that all right? I love it, I think that's. Great. Thank you, guys. Uh, let's say thank you very much, tio family here, I think we're gonna get everything okay, oh, I think maxwell's got a future on stage on screen or maybe just behind the camera it seemed like you love the gym so let's just take a couple questions and then move over the other side absolutely will go into the editing part first question from katie why not keep this shoot in continuous auto focus when the subject is moving so much? I did a little bit of both good guys cross crossing, crossing it's a good question the reason I want to get into single focus is because I know that if the child is sitting still for any certain amount of time with his mother when he's having the drink and something like that that I can lock in right on the eye with the continuous and with when he is moving fast I will switch to continuous which is where I ended up most of the time for this shoot because he didn't sit still long enough and I think at the beginning was when I tried to do the single and then I kind of just ignored it more so at the end but that is definitely a good question it's just sometimes I know that in the low light here the continuous had trouble sorry the single focus had trouble locking in the in the shadow area even though though the exposure was right the the focus wasn't locking so yeah, I did switch to continuous for the most of that fantastic michael a tl how do you throw feel about using in camera noise reduction for high I so well when we're shooting rockets all off anyway mostly with raw file it's off and if you want to put it on anything I would not put on anything other than normal just leave things mostly normal because anything that you go beyond the normal is is is starting to introduce other other issues and then one from stephanie one more before we move over for higher I so I find that I have some camera shake would a mano pod work with children we didn't talk about mono pods or anything like that at all this this workshop so far yeah well I don't think you should be you shouldn't really be adding more camera shake with hirai so that would actually give you more light more sensitivity to allow you to freeze motion might have meant the opposite was intended so if you're dropping the shows me and then you have to bump it well in terms of mono pods I don't use them the only time I'll break them out is with the three hundred to eight or bigger lens that I can't hand hold uh I don't I'm not a fan of mine apart because they slow me down with a kid moving around as much as he was maxwell was moving around here it wasn't it's not something that you can sit here and get on amount of pot raise it up lowered up I want to move around I want to lay on my stomach which I didn't do here but I just want to move around quicker so I personally if you have a seventy two, two hundred or less I don't think a mano pot is necessary I actually think it's I think it's inhibiting your shooting when you're using a mano pod with a seventeen to two hundred or less right well that was that was really cool to be able to see real life situations so many people were commenting yet that's exactly how my toddler shoots are yeah I mean that's but you know, for everybody watching at home you think of doing something like this did you see her face sarah's face light up when she looked over at the insult a picture of her with maxwell that's what it's about and and and though I want everything to be tax sharp tax sharp tax, sharp tax sharp, there are times that sometimes the clients not ever going to know the difference if you miss just slightly they're going to love it no matter what and this is something that I learned with wedding photography when I was doing weddings is that there I was being so critical on everything in my own photos that I wouldn't deliver certain ones but then I started to realize that when I did deliver those ones that I didn't think were the best of the best. They may be the ones that they love the most and there's. No reason not to give it to them, because because I think that there's a bogey in the background, that that's my thing, this is their wedding. Let them choose what they're going to like. This is their child photo shoot that's, the stuff you just have, teo. You just have to get past your own ego or your own ethical standard. Not the ethical standards, but my own standards, to how I would do it if it was just for me. But when it's for other people, you may become more lenient with certain things.