shooting 3 kids

[kell]

I will be shooting my daughter and her 2 cousins- 5,13,15 and struggling on poses. The goal is to get a nice portrait for my mother in-law for x-mas. They will be wearing jeans and black zip up cotton jackets and I will be doing it outside. I am starting at a barn, so that should give me a clean background. There is one boy who is very introverted, so this will be a challenge to get him looking good. I may have to go the "dont smile" route...

There is height difference, so I figure most of my poses will be sitting or leaning. I have read to use the triangle, so I will keep that in mind when moving them around. I plan on using my 50mm 1.8, but I think I will have to use at least an 8 aperture to keep everyone in focus. I also have a 55-250 and the 18-55mm, so I will play with those as well. I have written down some ideas, so I dont get a brain freeze on location. I plan on taking a chair and a blanket to give me some more options. For some reason 3 seems hard to process on poses. Any pointers would be great..

Kell
Canon T2i

[wulf]

Could you get them to bring some props that indicate their interests? For example, a reader might bring a book or a sporty person some games kit. It might capture more about their personalities and also help them relax by giving them something to "hide behind".

Wulf

[carlyfan]

I usually draw a blank as far as poses, but a few ideas just popped into my head, so here goes.
You could have the three kids laying on their stomachs in a line, sort of propped up on their elbows. Shoot facing them with their faces on the same plane to help keep them all in focus.

The other is a little harder to explain and probably to execute as well. Have the youngest one in the same position as before. Then have the older two sit on either side of him/her, leaning in filling the gap between them, either with their backs up against each other, or sitting with their legs on one side so their shoulders meet in the middle above the younger one. I don't know if this would even work, but it's just an idea. Feel free to disregard this.

Sorry that was so confusing. I hope it helps a little.

Lisa

[NgaiHill]

I recently did a shoot for a friend of her three kids. I had them form a pyramid (hands and knees) although that didn't work so well, but I did get some great fun shots of them falling down. If the day is not too bright have them lie on the ground with their heads together (like a star) then get above them and shoot straight down. Having them all draped over an old wooden gate worked well too, also lying on the ground looking through the bottom of the gate - get down on the ground to shoot. The kids (10 yr old boy, & girls 6 &4) are very close and get on very well together so I got a few of them hugging each other and with their heads together to show their closeness. Depending on how big the kids are try stacking them on the ground, lying down, one on top of the other - a kid sandwich!
Try not to have them always arranged in age or size order as it will make all the photos look the same.
One technique I used to get them to all be looking at the camera at the same time was to make them all look at the ground and then have them all look up on the count of 3. Use the continuous shoot mode to catch all the action.
And sometimes it pays to make Mum go away (nicely) as I found that while my friend was trying to be helpful by directing the kids - especially the youngest - I ended up with a lot of shots where the kids are looking at her, away behind my left shoulder, instead of at the camera.
Finally, let them rest a bit between poses and mix up the group shots with the individual poses to give them a bit of a break.

[kell]

Well, the shoot went okay. My sister in-law is happy, but I feel the pictures could be better. I did learn a lot which is what I need to do. I was so focused on posing and props (I brought a stool, chair, blanket) that I didnt realize I had my camera on jpeg instead of raw half way through. I did do my customer white balance, so that is a plus. I am still getting used to my 50mm 1.8 that I only used it on a few in the beginning, but after looking I should of stayed with it. I went to my 55-250 which I am more comfortable with. For some reason, I had many pictures that were not clear. More than normal, so not sure if my shutter was low or just me moving around too much. They were all outside.

I need to pay attention to peoples clothes. One shot would of been okay, but a shirt was bunched making the person look like they had a tennis ball in it. ugg.. I should of combed my daughter hair halfway-things like that, etc. I have heard it over and over "pay attention to your background"!!! Well, I am on the ground and getting some decent shots after getting them into position and was almost done with that pose and realized the barn was only covering 3/4 of frame- crap!!! So, I made them move the blanket, etc which at the time was a chore...The kids tried their best, but it was cold and they thought we were just going to take a few, so had a little struggle keeping them in the moment.

I was so worried about getting in and out quickly that I was making myself feel rushed and therefore, did not focuse on every detail...

I took about 140 shots and ended up with 12 that I think are usable. Many were blurry, so need to work on that..

This was my very first shot with my 50mm which I think is one of the best. Wish I would of kept using it..




This was the one after shooting a ton I realized the background was off...

[Zachariahbroune]

This photos of three children are really nice and I like it so much and all looks very cute and best way you click this photo.

[kristenh]

i think they came out great! like the second one especially.

i have a guess as to why the focus problem- when you are shooting with a wide open aperture like that, your DOF can be very shallow indeed. so if one of the kids is on a different plane (relative to your camera) than the others, all 3 will not be in focus.

here's an example from my collection of boneheaded shots:



if you'll overlook the boogers and the lighting- see how his left eye is in great focus and his right eye is already out of focus? that's how shallow the DOF was- i was shooting at 1,8 and only a few inches from him. there are DOF calculators out there, b/c it'll vary with how close you are and so forth, but this particular shot was a real eye opener to me