If so, what set ups are you using when going to shoot in someone else’s house?

I’ve been asked to take some portraits of some family and friends children. I’m happy to give it a go but haven’t done much of this sort of photography before (I usually shoot wildlife and candid both with natural lighting).

Grateful for any advice.

BB

you should be aiming for something like this, I think;

three point light is probably your starting point.

Depends what they’re expecting but what Klunk posted is the classic thing. You can get away with using one key light and using natural light as the fill a lot of the time though (and not bothering with the back light).

Do you have a flash you can use off camera, and a soft box or umbrella? If not then natural light somewhere outdoors (bright but shaded) would be better IMO. They might be wanting those horrible high-key Venture style portraits with the white background that lots of people seem to love. If so tell then to piss off. 🙂

105mm + lenses. Neutral backdrop. Tripod. Remote release. good quality lighting from various angles. Digital SLR with either preview or a laptop connected. Duck tape for all the cables.
But most importantly, a shed load of patience and balls to work with kids; not to mention noisy toys to get their attention.

105mm + lenses.

If their house is big enough. 😉

I had to Google candid photography, my initial interpretation was way off the mark.

That’s true grum. I did this type of photography once, never again. All the Damn kid wanted to do was press the buttons. The parents were ineffectual retards and drove me potty.
Charged them £200 for all the pictures and decided never again.

105mm + lenses.

And you recommend that without knowing what format/sensor size the OP is using? 😯

Duck tape

It’s ‘duct’ tape. But regardless, you want gaffer tape anyway, it doesn’t leave a residue like duct tape does.

And yes, I know there is now a brand of duct tape called Duck Tape.

I don’t like doing formal posed stuff with families/kids either really pudd.

To the OP, if you feel more comfortable doing candid stuff why not suggest going for a family walk at a local beauty spot and get some shots of them naturally messing about etc as a family? Woods are usually good for nice light/backgrounds.

I’ve done a few like that that worked well and you can always do some more posed stuff there as well.

And you recommend that without knowing what format/sensor size the OP is using?

Even on FF, 105 would be pushing it in most UK houses, IMHO. So I think it’s good advice.

It’s ‘duct’ tape

Ahh…a smartarse.

In fact lodious can (hopefully) vouch for the fact that my suggestion is a good one, as I did one for him. 🙂

It is duck tape. It even says DUCK on the packaging and has a little picture of a duck with his role of DUCK tape. Silly confused sausage.

Thanks guys. I have a 100mm f2 prime and a 50mm f1.4 prime so ok for lenses. And I have a 580ex that I can fire off camera. Just not sure if I need backdrops, backlights, brollies and soft boxes?

I quite like the idea of candid tyle walking in the woods or playing on the park shots. The problemis when it is peeing it down and the only option is indoors.

The 100mm will be more flattering if you have the room to use it. Remember that to get the whole family in focus you will probably need to be stopped down a fair bit from f1.4 or f2.

Re backdrops: depends what they want/expect really (and how nice their house is 🙂 ). There might be a suitable backdrop there but if it’s a small/messy house you might be struggling to find something uncluttered.

While bare flash can be ok It’s pretty cheap/easy to get a shoot through brolly and light stand (and makes you look more pro 😉 ), or a small-ish soft box – try ebay.

I wouldn’t worry about a back light personally but are you happy balancing your flash with the ambient light used as fill? You can work wonders with one flash if so IMO.

Thanks Grum. That’s really useful. I have bought a small soft box off eBay and will probably buy a Brollie and stand too. I would be much more comfortable doing shots outside but as they are a fair way away I have to set a date and stick with it, so I’m looking at a fall back plan in case the weather is awful.

I would prefer to use the 100 but they live in an old house with small rooms so that might not be an option.

No worries. BTW butterfly lighting is a reasonably foolproof one-light setup for portraits. Never tried it with a whole family though.

I shall pop over to Google to find out what Butterfly lighting is! Back in a bit.

BB

I just shot some portraits (cherie Blair and a few other ‘celebs’) and used elinchrom ranger quadras as we had to be mobile and work fast, they are tiny and all the kit fits in my roller case and a tripod bag. I used a small soft box and a ring flash that I hired. I’m using the same kit for a furniture shoot and with a silver/ white brolly as a direct main I get the coverage of a big soft box and use a shoot through as a fill, I still get f 11 covering large furniture objects and not quite at full power. These lights have changed the way I work and mean I don’t have to lug loads of kit around. Way better than ‘strobist’ flash guns and more portable than mains powered flash.

Edit: these were all shot in offices/ meeting rooms with busy people who only give you a few minutes so not an ideal studio setup, I did take a black velvet drape as a background and use a head through diffusion as a key light.