Help/Tip for "business" pictures.

[martindk3]

Hi all,

A friend of mine asked if I want to take som pictures for his business website.

There are the type of pictures he wants:









Especially this one he fancies (him in front, emploies a bit blured in background):


I've got following equipment.

Canon EOS 1000D
Lenses:
Canon EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 II
Canon EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III
"Amateur lights"
Tripod
Laptop for instant view of pics.

Which settings should i go for, and which of the lenses would be best suited?

The session is wednesday next week, but please dont hesitate if you got some tips.

Thanks, in advance.

[gnownad]

I'm no pro at this or anything, so I'm not sure if I should be commenting, but it looks like you should use the largest aperture you can get from your lenses, and adjust shutter speed for the light you'll have in whatever place you're shooting in!

[Benji]

The first and last images were done in a studio with a white background, so unless you have a high key camera room forget that, which means you will need to do all of his shots in his office.

Is his office as oppulent and spacious with as many windows as the one above? If so where will the sun be when you are planning the shoot? You WILL NOT be able to have sunshine streaming through any window in the background unless you have powerful a/c powered flash units that are capable of overpowering it.

Are his employees as good looking and fit as these "employees" are? I would be willing to lay odds these are professional models hired to look like a staff at an office, and not "real" people in an office.

Is he willing and ready to pay his staff to stand around doing nothing for the time he has allotted to do this shoot? I assume both he and you expect that it will take 10 to 15 minutes maximum to get all these shots. I'm guessing it will most likely take five times that, and when it does, you will be the one blamed for time overruns, but if you rush through the job in 15 minutes and not get results at least as good as the sample images you have shown, again YOU will be blamed. A real lose lose lose situation.

Will he have additional staff on hand to handle business calls/clients while you are shooting, or is he going to hope the phone doesn't ring while you have everyone posed and ready to shoot?

Does everyone have clothing that will photograph well and with complementary colors like in the sample images?

Eyeglasses will be a huge problem. Note the only shot you have shown with eyeglasses has the woman's head turned so glare cannot be a problem.

All of these images with the exception of the third are flat lit with large soft light modifiers. In order to do similar shots you will need a hand held meter and at least two powerful flash units with light modifiers, otherwise you will need to shoot, chimp, shoot again, chimp again, shoot a third time and back and forth until you get the exposure correct and the pose correct and the lighting correct. There will be lots of wasted time doing it this way.

All I can say is good luck.

Benji

[martindk3]

Originally Posted by Benji

The first and last images were done in a studio with a white background, so unless you have a high key camera room forget that, which means you will need to do all of his shots in his office.

Is his office as oppulent and spacious with as many windows as the one above? If so where will the sun be when you are planning the shoot? You WILL NOT be able to have sunshine streaming through any window in the background unless you have powerful a/c powered flash units that are capable of overpowering it.
The session is in front at big glas front, without the sun going straight through the windows. I will though bring lights for the shoot.


Are his employees as good looking and fit as these "employees" are? I would be willing to lay odds these are professional models hired to look like a staff at an office, and not "real" people in an office.
Some are, some not - but he knows that, so that should not be a problem.

Is he willing and ready to pay his staff to stand around doing nothing for the time he has allotted to do this shoot? I assume both he and you expect that it will take 10 to 15 minutes maximum to get all these shots. I'm guessing it will most likely take five times that, and when it does, you will be the one blamed for time overruns, but if you rush through the job in 15 minutes and not get results at least as good as the sample images you have shown, again YOU will be blamed. A real lose lose lose situation.

All the people (4) have been told to reserve 1,5 hour for the shoot.

Will he have additional staff on hand to handle business calls/clients while you are shooting, or is he going to hope the phone doesn't ring while you have everyone posed and ready to shoot?
No, we will just have to go along as good as possible.

Does everyone have clothing that will photograph well and with complementary colors like in the sample images?
Everybody have been instructed to bring some a couple of jackets/suits.

Eyeglasses will be a huge problem. Note the only shot you have shown with eyeglasses has the woman's head turned so glare cannot be a problem.
No glasses.

All of these images with the exception of the third are flat lit with large soft light modifiers. In order to do similar shots you will need a hand held meter and at least two powerful flash units with light modifiers, otherwise you will need to shoot, chimp, shoot again, chimp again, shoot a third time and back and forth until you get the exposure correct and the pose correct and the lighting correct. There will be lots of wasted time doing it this way.
You might be right, but we will work it out then..

All I can say is good luck.
Thank you.

Benji

See above, answer in red.

[hibou]

Originally Posted by martindk3

Hi all,

A friend of mine asked if I want to take som pictures for his business website.

There are the type of pictures he wants:


Especially this one he fancies (him in front, emploies a bit blured in background):


I've got following equipment.

Canon EOS 1000D
Lenses:
Canon EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 II
Canon EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III
"Amateur lights"
Tripod
Laptop for instant view of pics.

Which settings should i go for, and which of the lenses would be best suited?

The session is wednesday next week, but please dont hesitate if you got some tips.

Thanks, in advance.

Buy a stock photo and paste his head on

[Sulphur]

I've no tips as I'm pretty new to shooting people in general. (Other than a metric crap ton of my twin girls!)

After reading Benji's reply, and your answers, I'd like to see how they turn out. Must say I'm jealous. While it looked challenging even before Benji pointed out possible pitfalls, it also looks like a lot of fun to me!

[martindk3]

Originally Posted by Sulphur

I've no tips as I'm pretty new to shooting people in general. (Other than a metric crap ton of my twin girls!)

After reading Benji's reply, and your answers, I'd like to see how they turn out. Must say I'm jealous. While it looked challenging even before Benji pointed out possible pitfalls, it also looks like a lot of fun to me!

I've stared working with the pictures today,guess they will be done in the weekend..

I'll be sure to post them!

But note, that had none of the above problems..

[SandeeWig]

Originally Posted by Benji

... I assume both he and you expect that it will take 10 to 15 minutes maximum to get all these shots. ...

Benji

Out of curiosity, why would you assume that?

[Benji]

Originally Posted by SandeeWig

Out of curiosity, why would you assume that?

Because most people who are amateurs and can take a "nice" snapshot in four or five seconds believe that surely a pro who knows what he is doing should be able to take a nice shot in eight or ten seconds.

Benji

[martindk3]

Originally Posted by Benji

Because most people who are amateurs and can take a "nice" snapshot in four or five seconds believe that surely a pro who knows what he is doing should be able to take a nice shot in eight or ten seconds.

Benji

We actually ended up using 2 hours, with out any of the above problems at all!