Team Portrait

[rick020200]

This is a team portrait for my daughter's volleyball team. There is an extensive back story that you probably won't find interesting, but ultimately, it led to the team not being in uniform. That was completely beyond my control. As a parent, it bugs me greatly. As a photographer, I have to let it go.
This is my first ever team portrait. My self-critique is below. If you think I missed something in the self-critique, please let me know.

Camera: Nikon D60
Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 22 mm
Focal Length: 21.8 mm
ISO Speed: 400

First comes the excuse-making:

• Team time in front of the camera: 4 minutes. The team wasn't even in the room until I had less than 10 minutes before they had to head toward their buses.
• Though the coach and I had planned on me having 30 minutes with the team, they showed up with only 10 minutes to shoot, and the coach took the first 3-4 minutes reminiscing.

Now the lessons learned:

• In my initial test shots, I noticed specular highlights on the wall that was to be the background. That was because the brick was glazed and shiny. I hoped it would be absorbed by the team, but I was wrong. I suspect it might have been alleviated with umbrellas, but I only had one (more on that below) and chose in the last minutes to not use it.
• Prior to the shoot, I suspected that I needed additional lighting gear, but I didn't want to borrow my friends gear yet again, and I didn't feel like renting gear for a shot where I wasn't getting paid. That probably isn't the best attitude on my part--if I ever want to get paid (maybe, I'm still not sure) I need to treat every shoot as if I were getting paid. My unwillingness to use anything but my own gear resulted in a lower quality shot.
• I had flashes far camera left and far camera right. I think the flash on the left is under-powered compared with the one on the right, and it was my LumoPro LP120, set at 1/4 power. It would have taken 10 seconds to walk over to it and change it to 1/2 power. That would have reduced the shadows on the right side of the team.
• I don't like the haphazardness of the first row: arms and legs all over the place, and my daughter looks 6 inches shorter than the rest because she is slouching. I needed to take more care with their poses.
• A couple of the kneeling folks in the middle row are slouching or leaning forward too far. I corrected one of them in a later shot, but by then the young women in the front row were starting to goof off. This is a better over-all shot despite the slouchers.
• The shot is a little fuzzier than I would like. That could have been helped by a) faster shutter, b) smaller aperture, or c) tripod. My tripod was being used as a light stand (see above about not borrowing gear), and changes in shutter and aperture would have reduced the ambient, accentuating the shadows. Not good for this kind of shot.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[toddybear]

There are only two things I would critique.
1)the uniforms: I think that you know why
2) the background: I think that a volleyball bg would have been better

The overall result is ok.

[RLucas]

The background is a little too busy for my taste. The line that the bottom of the windows create is cutting right through some of the girl's heads on the back row. The third girl from camera right is especially distracting for me, as it looks like she has bricks growing out of her ear.

[rick020200]

Originally Posted by toddybear

There are only two things I would critique.
1)the uniforms: I think that you know why
2) the background: I think that a volleyball bg would have been better

The overall result is ok.

The lack of uniforms really kills me. There's no way to tell why this group of people are together. Regarding the background--that is a valid point. Had I taken my preparation for the shoot a bit more seriously I might have been able to get the custodian to set up the net.

Originally Posted by RLucas

The background is a little too busy for my taste. The line that the bottom of the windows create is cutting right through some of the girl's heads on the back row. The third girl from camera right is especially distracting for me, as it looks like she has bricks growing out of her ear.

This is a valid point. I didn't like having the windows in the frame, but my only other option was to compete with the basketball team in the gymnasium. Perhaps with some more imaginative posing, I could have had everyone crouching down so that the windows could be cropped out.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[Daytonj6]

Girl in the Back stage right. (left of pic, wearing red toque) has a shadow on her face,

Try bringing the lights A LOT closer to you. to
one reduce time walking to the. ten seconds is a load of bs...
and
two, reduces the shadow..

the light would be shooting more directly to them instead of giving you edge/side lighting.
Common sense.

lf so, if you have room, switch places with them, you go close to the wall if you have to and have then farther form the wall, this will soften up the shadow and reduce them behind them, so it doesn't show up against the wall as much.
and then reduces the highlights


Try this next time
Dayton

[rick020200]

Originally Posted by Daytonj6

Girl in the Back stage right. (left of pic, wearing red toque) has a shadow on her face,

Try bringing the lights A LOT closer to you. to
one reduce time walking to the. ten seconds is a load of bs...
and
two, reduces the shadow..

the light would be shooting more directly to them instead of giving you edge/side lighting.
Common sense.

lf so, if you have room, switch places with them, you go close to the wall if you have to and have then farther form the wall, this will soften up the shadow and reduce them behind them, so it doesn't show up against the wall as much.
and then reduces the highlights


Try this next time
Dayton

If I understand you correctly, your two points are 1) flashes should have been closer to camera axis, and 2) team should have been further from the wall.

I originally had the flashes about 6 feet away from me on either side, but the specular highlights on the wall were huge. I pushed them wide to hope to get them out of the frame. Ultimately, had I been more prepared, I would have either chosen a different location, or rigged some sort of back drop.

Pulling the group away from the wall probably would have helped. They were already 6 feet from the wall, but it could have been 12. Thanks for the tip.

Rick

[Daytonj6]

no worries. it is just stuff to consider


but you were prepared, they were not...!

[willisbretz]

I think having the girls step farther away from the wall so it was out of focus would have helped the background not be so distracting. With them farther from the wall and the proper aperture, your depth of field would have taken care of the wall and blurred it out.

...just and idea.

[Jack Fussell]

The uniform thing can't be fixed...no worries. I agree with the comments above...the background is a little distracting....Even if you couldn't have had the net put up maybe shooting with a larger space behind them would have brought in some dof and the team would stand out more. I can't really speak to the lighting as I shoot natural light...but overall I think you did good with what they gave you.

[rick020200]

Originally Posted by willisbretz

I think having the girls step farther away from the wall so it was out of focus would have helped the background not be so distracting. With them farther from the wall and the proper aperture, your depth of field would have taken care of the wall and blurred it out.

...just and idea.

Originally Posted by Jack Fussell

The uniform thing can't be fixed...no worries. I agree with the comments above...the background is a little distracting....Even if you couldn't have had the net put up maybe shooting with a larger space behind them would have brought in some dof and the team would stand out more. I can't really speak to the lighting as I shoot natural light...but overall I think you did good with what they gave you.

You both mention DOF, and I was actually a little bit worried about it being too narrow. I went f/7.1 so that kids in the front and back rows would have been in focus. But I don't think I ever changed aperture to see the effect. So, lessons: further away from the wall, and play with aperture.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I appreciate it.