help, sorta...

[jacob]

Well a friend asked me to take some pics of him for his website and possibly his media kit (up and coming performer)...I haven't shot in awhile and still learning how to use my D70 properly.
Mainly I shoot in Aperture priority.
My question is, if we're going to be shooting outdoors with very minimal shade if not any at all, as well as having a car or two for his background.
How would you take pics in the open?
(any links to proper exposure for outdoor portraiture? thanks)
I mean, it's gonna be pretty harsh and very contrasted lighting with the sun out in full force and i don't have a large diffuser or any extra helping hands for that matter.
Just me and the subject.
Can't go early in the day, too busy where I plan to shoot, plus im working.
Later in the day is possible i suppose, but the sun will be a bit warmer in color and that's something i don't really want too much of.
Help...

[sirhc55]

Welcome to the forum jacob and enjoy.

To answer your question simply, and given the same situation when I am shooting, I bracket the shots, use different apertures et al. Being that the D70 is digital you can check the histogram for each shot - try and get a peak in the middle of the histogram with both ends being low - just shoot and shoot but I would use RAW for PP work.

[MHD]

low sun is GOOD!
You put the sun over your sholder and get great light... If you shoot raw you can ballance the warmth out...

What you will do will depend on the effect you want to achieve... generally it is better to shoot portaits at normal to telephoto focal lengths and fairly wide to give good isolation from the back ground (note that I say generally!)

Also a little flash to remove some shadows and put catchlights in the eyes is a good thing too...

[jacob]

Welcome to the forum jacob and enjoy.

To answer your question simply, and given the same situation when I am shooting, I bracket the shots, use different apertures et al. Being that the D70 is digital you can check the histogram for each shot - try and get a peak in the middle of the histogram with both ends being low - just shoot and shoot but I would use RAW for PP work.

hi sirhc, thanks for the welcome, forgot to introduce myself, but im just a lil hyped about this job, considering it's a friend of mine and i dont wanna mess things up.

as for bracketing, would you suggest ½stops or full?
as well, what do you mean with the acronym, PP?
and yes, i definitely will be using that historgram lol
as for flash, i dont have a secondary flash unit head, i only have the one that came with the camera on the body.
im considering using my 80-200 f/2.8 lens, so i can really blow things out in the background if i wanted to, however, id have to be a fair ways back just to shoot at 80mm, which i'd rather not to for portrait shots, but i may have to.

[jacob]

low sun is GOOD!
You put the sun over your sholder and get great light... If you shoot raw you can ballance the warmth out...

What you will do will depend on the effect you want to achieve... generally it is better to shoot portaits at normal to telephoto focal lengths and fairly wide to give good isolation from the back ground (note that I say generally!)

Also a little flash to remove some shadows and put catchlights in the eyes is a good thing too...

hi MHD, i thought i was replying to your flash question already as seen above, but i was wrong in who mentioned it.
regardless, as i said before, the only flash i have, is the on-board one on the D70.

the thing im going to try to achieve is, somewhat cliche, stereotypical CD cover pictures.
a rap artist with 2-3 of his crew.
so you can gauge what look and style of pics im going to go for.
was almost tempted to get a fisheye lens to really exaggerate in some shots my friend and his crew and give it that convex feel to the pic.
keep in mind i may also have some exotic cars in the background.
thanks MHD.

[sirhc55]

Welcome to the forum jacob and enjoy.

To answer your question simply, and given the same situation when I am shooting, I bracket the shots, use different apertures et al. Being that the D70 is digital you can check the histogram for each shot - try and get a peak in the middle of the histogram with both ends being low - just shoot and shoot but I would use RAW for PP work.

hi sirhc, thanks for the welcome, forgot to introduce myself, but im just a lil hyped about this job, considering it's a friend of mine and i dont wanna mess things up.

as for bracketing, would you suggest ½stops or full?
as well, what do you mean with the acronym, PP?
and yes, i definitely will be using that historgram lol
as for flash, i dont have a secondary flash unit head, i only have the one that came with the camera on the body.
im considering using my 80-200 f/2.8 lens, so i can really blow things out in the background if i wanted to, however, id have to be a fair ways back just to shoot at 80mm, which i'd rather not to for portrait shots, but i may have to.

Jacob - I would recommend half stops. 80mm is not too bad for portraits, really depends how much you want in the shot, plus you can move to accommodate. PP is post processing - this is where you can do some really funky stuff like posterisation, change colours what ever, or just get the white balance correct and levels etc if shooting RAW.

I always find that if I have a hard job to do I practice before hand so that I get a feel on the day - BTW good luck

[gstark]

Jacob,

Welcome to the forums, but please put your location into your profile.

Given that you mention that you'll be wanting to put your friend's two cars in the background of the pix, that's almost suggestive to me that 80mm will already be too long a focal length (how far back from your subject matter do you want to be?), and you may be better off with the kit lens for this job.

That said, if you're shooting outdoors and in the sun, while 2.8 might be useful, even at ISO200, you're probably looking at a shutter speed of around 1/2000 or faster. While that, in and of itself isn't going to be an issue, the primary problem you're going to be fighting is that of your contrast range.

I'd probably be taking a meter reading for the gerneral background, and then set out to underexpose that by about a half stop, pulling the person in closer and using diffused flash + that half stop to correctly expose him or her.

USe that as a startiing point, and as Chris says, bracket your heart away; I'd probably be bracketing in 2/3 stop increments, 2 exposures either side.

And as long as you keep your subject in close to the camera, the built-in strobe should be up to the task, but do try to diffuse it if you can. Even something as simple as lens tissue should be fine.

Have fun, and good luck.