Examples and ideas: Portraits of parents

[Sitron]

Hi all, I seek your advice and example-photos!

I am home for Christmas and want to take a picture of my parents, together. But I am not sure how and what to do. I do have a tripod and a off-camera flash. But I have to take the photo indoors, where there are lot of background "noise" if you know what I mean. And there is Christmas all over the place, and I do not want to take a Christmas-picture.

What are some simple advice and tricks you can give a newbie? And do you have some example shots? I did search both on Google and Flickr, but to find the good ones....

[Benji]

If you want a non-Christmas image have them wear something that is not Christmassy and use a plainer background like a living room wall or something. As far as posing, they are your parents, and most parents want something simple and traditional. I have posted my favorite below. While this looks quite simple, it is more difficult than it looks.


Benji

[Sitron]

I liked that picture and was exactly what I was looking for. But can you describe how you took it? I assume a off-camera flash on the right hand side (of you) and low exposure-time to get the background dark? But what else is to tell about the photograph?

[Benji]

Originally Posted by Sitron

I liked that picture and was exactly what I was looking for. But can you describe how you took it? I assume a off-camera flash on the right hand side (of you) and low exposure-time to get the background dark? But what else is to tell about the photograph?

Sitron,

My exact lighting diagram is below. I didn't use a background light so I could keep the background dark. This makes the subjects stand out from it. The hair light keeps them from blending in with it but since they both have white hair the hair light was about three stops under the fill light power. They were both seated on bar stools, Since they are about the same height I use a stool that is several inches taller for him to sit on so their faces would not be side by side. They are both at a 45 degree angle to the camera but facing opposite one another. The 45 degree angle slenderizes the torso.

Benji

[Mike367]

Not nearly as good as Benji's, but here's a setup I've used employing only a single on camera flash and improvised reflectors. The white reflector is just a large sheet of styrofoam I salvaged from some packaging. the silver reflector is a piece of mylar (space blanket) stretched out with some 1/2" pvc sprinkler pipe. I got this idea off of a website, but have since lost the link. The black background is an inexpensive shower curtain, the cloth decorative part that hangs outside of the tub.

The flash was bounced off of the styrofoam providing the main light, the silver reflector provided the fill. Small changes in the bounce angle have major effects on the lighting ratio and intensity; it would probably be better to take the flash off the camera and position it in front of the reflector until you get the lighting you want. I set a custom white balance using a neutral grey target made by Lastolite. God only knows what color light is really coming off of these reflectors, the custom white balance seems to have averaged it out just fine.

If the background is far enough away, you won't get any light spilled on it. If you do get a little light spill, it's easy to select the background in Photoshop and increase the black level until it disappears.