Shooting family portraits for friends, first shoot ever... Advice welcome!

[TheKingInYellow]

I'll get this out of the way right now: I am not charging for the time, they are very, very good friends, they have volunteered to be my guinea pigs, and they know that I am new at this. I don't have aspirations to turn my hobby into a job, but I want to be able to have some portrait experience should the need arise.

My friends (family of four including two young teenagers) have reasonable and tempered expectations, but I would really like to blow them away with some at-least-passable shots.

Here is what I have for gear to bring to the shoot, which will be at their home:

EOS 450D w/ Manfrotto 055 tripod and wireless shutter release
EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro
EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM (rented)
Pocket Wizards Plus II Transceivers (2)
580EX II w/ stand and reflective umbrella
Small 32 Ws fill light, optical slave w/ stand and reflective umbrella

So I have a primary light, a small fill light and a way to diffuse them off camera. It's not *ideal* but until I can buy more lighting, this I what I have.

The family has a very nice bright red couch against a pale sea-green wall that will probably end up being our primary shooting location, and I can pull it a few feet away from the wall to help kill any strong shadows. I have the DPS portrait eBook and I'll be reading and re-reading it until the day of the shoot. I have two weeks to prepare.

Things I know to do: Light from above at roughly 45 degrees to the camera with the main light. The father wears glasses, angle his head a bit to prevent glare. Get them in solid colours and long sleeves, ideally matching colours across the whole family. Get the couch 4-6 feet away from the wall. Relax and be confident during the shoot. Look at a number of family-on-couch pictures for posing ideas in advance.

What else can I do to prepare? I am worried about not having a light to illuminate the wall behind them, but it is a low-ish white ceilinged room, so hopefully there will be some decent reflection from it. I have a small budget if I need to add gear, like maybe adding a third small optical slave light to illuminate the background.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

[natek313]

I probably wouldn't even bother taking the 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens. I've used the 24-70mm f/2.8L USM for portraits, and it is fantastic. It gives a nice range, especially on a cropped sensor. Although, at times, I've thought that the lens is too sharp for portraits at times.

It seems like you are pretty much set, though. I think the only thing you could do now is psych yourself out, which you obviously don't want to do. It's good that they're good friends and are willing to let you work with them. That should help ease your nerves a bit.

If you do want to get a strobe for lighting the background, you may want to look into something like a LumoPro LP120. It doesn't have a built-in optical slave, though. Regardless, I've heard good things about that unit.

[TheKingInYellow]

Just looking at the LP120 and it does appear to have an optical slave... That's a reasonable looking kit for someone that doesn't necessarily want to branch out into studio light, and wants to go strobist...

Hmm... Might have to dig through the couch for loose change

[x_eternity_x]

If you can afford it a light on the background really will help--especially with that 45 degree lighting scheme. This also depends on how high the ceilings are...if you are lighting from above you may not need the full 4-6 feet, which would allow you to do with less light on the background. The key there is distance ratios. However, if you do light the background, make sure you take a look at the spread from the light--I once did a shoot where I had all the lights I needed, but I didn't take the time to make sure the light covered the background properly and didn't realize it until after the shoot. It was close enough that I could salvage it, but it was a lot of extra work in PS. And never underestimate the value of reflectors--with one main light they can work wonders. Since you're photographing a whole family, you probably won't have to worry so much about catchlight shapes, and therefore could get away with one of my old favorites--get some cheap white foamboard from Walmart or the dollar store (seriously, don't spend more than 2 bucks on it--it comes in 2ftx3ft sheets or larger) and prop them as reflectors. They work great and can be lifesavers when it comes to eliminating hard shadows or filling difficult places using the setup you're describing.