People My first ever paid shoot

My first ever paid shoot · 08:10 PM

On Saturday (yesterday) I did my first ever paid shoot. My boss has been at our company for 30 years already and she is retiring in two days. What they did is threw her a party and all the coworkers and a bunch of her friends all came. They didn't give me a choice as to where or what I was going to do. They simply set up a 'photo booth' with exactly zero input from me. The lighting in that corner of the church event center was pretty bad.

For a lot of it I had to manually focus just to be on the safe side.

What I am tasked with is creating a scrap book of sorts...I might (or might not) get to do the prints...All I know is they asked me to do the shooting... and as of right now I am going through these one at a time doing the post processing... That part is the hard part to be honest.

Anyway I thought I would share a few of the shots. I am not done with the project by any means but here is a little taste. I shot the whole thing with a 31mm and a yongnu flash.

It's not at all meant to be perfect. The boss in fact told me "Do NOT let anyone do church poses!"... it was supposed to be fun... so hence the little flaws in the photos are acceptable. (Although for me it was an important learning tool so I am still trying to be a perfectionist)

---------- Post added 06-29-14 at 10:14 PM ----------

If I do end up doing all the prints, anyone who has any experience at all with prints... this is the general flavor of things... so ANY INPUT...anything at all would be a massive help. What kind of paper (etc etc) any ideas for better post processing, anything would be very much appreciated. I have yet to ever print an image. So I am completely at a loss in that regards.

GeoJerry · 06-29-2014, 08:49 PM

fun!

**Schraubstock** · 06-29-2014, 10:23 PM

Hi

Printing requires careful colour matching between monitor and printer. You need monitor calibration and you need to create a matching printer profile which will take into account the type of printer, paper and ink you will be using. I would probably use Ilford smooth pearl, it is also kind on finger print marks.

As a general observation, please bear in mind that images on screen always look brighter than what they will look when printed. With this in mind, the samples you posted are all too dark for printing and you need to rectify the colour cast as well. Since the type of pictures you are taking are like to be mostly of people it will be important to get the skin toning right, so do most of your colour corrections based on that. A possible challenge will also be the very bright coloured backdrop as printing those will probably be a little bit beyond many of the printer's capability. (Particularly CMYK offset printing won't get them right) But as I said, correct skin colours will be more important.

I wish you well

alamo5000 · 06-30-2014, 04:51 AM

Originally posted by Schraubstock

As a general observation, please bear in mind that images on screen always look brighter than what they will look when printed. With this in mind, the samples you posted are all too dark for printing and you need to rectify the colour cast as well. Since the type of pictures you are taking are like to be mostly of people it will be important to get the skin toning right, so do most of your colour corrections based on that. A possible challenge will also be the very bright coloured backdrop as printing those will probably be a little bit beyond many of the printer's capability. (Particularly CMYK offset printing won't get them right) But as I said, correct skin colours will be more important.

Thanks for the reply!!!! Seriously! Question: What is 'color cast'? I seriously have no idea what that means.

I don't own a printer and I do all my computer stuff on a laptop so I have no idea how to calibrate anything...

As for being 'dark'... i did post on a few photos (I have a bunch) and then I let them sit for a day or so and went back and looked with fresh eyes and I thought they were a bit 'dark' too... so I redid a bunch of them. The problem I have is I don't know what exactly (or even kind of) would be the right look for printing. I really don't know what they should look like so I can model all of them after it.

ruben · 07-03-2014, 02:24 AM

If you pretend to do more paid jobs, you should get into colour management, which can be a complex.

But to make it easy: A first step would be getting a hardware calibrator and a grey card to calibrate the colour of your screen and to have a reference for white balance and contrast.
By the same suggestion from a friend I started with the Spyder3Pro and a SpyderCube. You'll find a lot of tutorials on Youtube on how to use them.

Even if commercial, this eBook they offer is not bad for a first knowledge on Color Management:
Free Color Management Ebook - Support - Imaging - Datacolor - Datacolor Imaging Solutions

**Schraubstock** · 07-03-2014, 04:02 AM

Originally posted by alamo5000

What is 'color cast'? I seriously have no idea what that means.

Hi

Rather than me writing a lengthy essay, I refer you to Wiki: Colour cast - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I have made up three samples of your image with rather severe colour casts, green, blue and yellow. This should give you an idea. Wrong white balance causes colour casts.

Your images are all presenting with a rather heavy yellow cast, but it can be easily removed particularly if you shoot RAW. Your colours are all a bit over saturated as well, you must bear in mind that most printers can't really handle this very well.

The problem is; Your screen and printer handle colour in a different way and the message your screen passes on to the printer how to print colours is not understood by the printer unless precise instructions are established by way of a printer colour profile which will enable both screen and printer to sing from the same song book, so to say.

I have no experience in this so I don't know if laptops are good enough these days to be calibrated. Some others my be able to chime in. As the work I am doing requires accurate colour management I run a professional NEC monitor which is calibrated every 6 to eight weeks to correct subtle colour changes which can go unnoticed.

My calibrated monitor gets me into trouble in this forum from time to time though when I correct images as some can't see colours the way I see them on my screen.

Here is roughly what I would aiming for and again the very strong hot pink would probably cause a bit of grieve for the printer, I would have to experiment.

Greetings

daacon · 07-03-2014, 07:58 AM

Well done under pressure !

Michael Piziak · 07-03-2014, 01:09 PM

nice job !

alamo5000 · 07-04-2014, 06:40 AM

Originally posted by Michael Piziak

nice job !

Thank you!

Originally posted by daacon

Well done under pressure !

Thank you! It was a bit of pressure... it wasn't anything at all that was formal... but our company CEO and one Director are the ones that offered to pay me to take pictures. I think I was there, they knew I liked photography so 2+2=4. I was going to do it for free because the lady that was my direct boss was super nice (she would bring us lunch and was just outright super nice for the whole time she was my boss). None the less I did it really cheap.

The challenging part was that
1. The lighting just sucked.
2. I didn't care for that background or that 'style' of stuff, or how they had it set up (dark corner partially lit by a far away window and some other types of light bulbs, but it was mainly shadows (I got a crash course in flash photography--thank goodness I took my flash, but I learned previously from trying to shoot indoors that flash is a good thing in that situation).
3. My K-5 auto focus wasn't up to the low light and/or the crappy mixed light. I was manual focusing a lot.
4. I am not used to shooting so many people all back to back to back like that. I have like 40 or 50 shots and I only had like a minute or two with each person... I had no real artistic input...
5. They have no idea how long post processing takes!

Post processing is by far a big weak spot of mine...

**robgski** · 07-04-2014, 02:17 PM

Overall, the colors look festive and vibrant, I think that will fit nicely to the occasion, good use of props, and the backdrop is good, more like a carnival booth than a church.

Even though I don't know those folks, the photos make me want to look at the details in the picture to learn more about them, and wonder why are they posed that way?, Their faces are captured well, portraits, yet not stoic or rigid.

alamo5000 · 07-04-2014, 06:25 PM

Originally posted by robgski

Overall, the colors look festive and vibrant, I think that will fit nicely to the occasion, good use of props, and the backdrop is good, more like a carnival booth than a church.

Even though I don't know those folks, the photos make me want to look at the details in the picture to learn more about them, and wonder why are they posed that way?, Their faces are captured well, portraits, yet not stoic or rigid.

Thank you! You should see the clarity on the large sizes... that 31mm is something else!

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07-03-2014, 04:02 AM	#6
Schraubstock Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Melbourne Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,386	Originally posted by alamo5000 What is 'color cast'? I seriously have no idea what that means. Hi Rather than me writing a lengthy essay, I refer you to Wiki: Colour cast - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I have made up three samples of your image with rather severe colour casts, green, blue and yellow. This should give you an idea. Wrong white balance causes colour casts. Your images are all presenting with a rather heavy yellow cast, but it can be easily removed particularly if you shoot RAW. Your colours are all a bit over saturated as well, you must bear in mind that most printers can't really handle this very well. The problem is; Your screen and printer handle colour in a different way and the message your screen passes on to the printer how to print colours is not understood by the printer unless precise instructions are established by way of a printer colour profile which will enable both screen and printer to sing from the same song book, so to say. I have no experience in this so I don't know if laptops are good enough these days to be calibrated. Some others my be able to chime in. As the work I am doing requires accurate colour management I run a professional NEC monitor which is calibrated every 6 to eight weeks to correct subtle colour changes which can go unnoticed. My calibrated monitor gets me into trouble in this forum from time to time though when I correct images as some can't see colours the way I see them on my screen. Here is roughly what I would aiming for and again the very strong hot pink would probably cause a bit of grieve for the printer, I would have to experiment. Greetings Last edited by Schraubstock; 11-01-2014 at 04:24 PM.

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06-29-2014, 08:49 PM	#2
GeoJerry Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Santa Barbara, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,158	fun!

06-29-2014, 10:23 PM	#3
Schraubstock Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Melbourne Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,386	Hi Printing requires careful colour matching between monitor and printer. You need monitor calibration and you need to create a matching printer profile which will take into account the type of printer, paper and ink you will be using. I would probably use Ilford smooth pearl, it is also kind on finger print marks. As a general observation, please bear in mind that images on screen always look brighter than what they will look when printed. With this in mind, the samples you posted are all too dark for printing and you need to rectify the colour cast as well. Since the type of pictures you are taking are like to be mostly of people it will be important to get the skin toning right, so do most of your colour corrections based on that. A possible challenge will also be the very bright coloured backdrop as printing those will probably be a little bit beyond many of the printer's capability. (Particularly CMYK offset printing won't get them right) But as I said, correct skin colours will be more important. I wish you well

06-30-2014, 04:51 AM	#4
alamo5000 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 2,962 Original Poster	Originally posted by Schraubstock As a general observation, please bear in mind that images on screen always look brighter than what they will look when printed. With this in mind, the samples you posted are all too dark for printing and you need to rectify the colour cast as well. Since the type of pictures you are taking are like to be mostly of people it will be important to get the skin toning right, so do most of your colour corrections based on that. A possible challenge will also be the very bright coloured backdrop as printing those will probably be a little bit beyond many of the printer's capability. (Particularly CMYK offset printing won't get them right) But as I said, correct skin colours will be more important. Thanks for the reply!!!! Seriously! Question: What is 'color cast'? I seriously have no idea what that means. I don't own a printer and I do all my computer stuff on a laptop so I have no idea how to calibrate anything... As for being 'dark'... i did post on a few photos (I have a bunch) and then I let them sit for a day or so and went back and looked with fresh eyes and I thought they were a bit 'dark' too... so I redid a bunch of them. The problem I have is I don't know what exactly (or even kind of) would be the right look for printing. I really don't know what they should look like so I can model all of them after it.

07-03-2014, 02:24 AM	#5
ruben Inactive Account Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 21	If you pretend to do more paid jobs, you should get into colour management, which can be a complex. But to make it easy: A first step would be getting a hardware calibrator and a grey card to calibrate the colour of your screen and to have a reference for white balance and contrast. By the same suggestion from a friend I started with the Spyder3Pro and a SpyderCube. You'll find a lot of tutorials on Youtube on how to use them. Even if commercial, this eBook they offer is not bad for a first knowledge on Color Management: Free Color Management Ebook - Support - Imaging - Datacolor - Datacolor Imaging Solutions

07-03-2014, 07:58 AM	#7
daacon Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Alberta,Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 20,914	Well done under pressure !

07-03-2014, 01:09 PM	#8
Michael Piziak Closed Account Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,815	nice job !

07-04-2014, 06:40 AM	#9
alamo5000 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 2,962 Original Poster	Originally posted by Michael Piziak nice job ! Thank you! Originally posted by daacon Well done under pressure ! Thank you! It was a bit of pressure... it wasn't anything at all that was formal... but our company CEO and one Director are the ones that offered to pay me to take pictures. I think I was there, they knew I liked photography so 2+2=4. I was going to do it for free because the lady that was my direct boss was super nice (she would bring us lunch and was just outright super nice for the whole time she was my boss). None the less I did it really cheap. The challenging part was that 1. The lighting just sucked. 2. I didn't care for that background or that 'style' of stuff, or how they had it set up (dark corner partially lit by a far away window and some other types of light bulbs, but it was mainly shadows (I got a crash course in flash photography--thank goodness I took my flash, but I learned previously from trying to shoot indoors that flash is a good thing in that situation). 3. My K-5 auto focus wasn't up to the low light and/or the crappy mixed light. I was manual focusing a lot. 4. I am not used to shooting so many people all back to back to back like that. I have like 40 or 50 shots and I only had like a minute or two with each person... I had no real artistic input... 5. They have no idea how long post processing takes! Post processing is by far a big weak spot of mine...

07-04-2014, 02:17 PM	#10
robgski Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,796	Overall, the colors look festive and vibrant, I think that will fit nicely to the occasion, good use of props, and the backdrop is good, more like a carnival booth than a church. Even though I don't know those folks, the photos make me want to look at the details in the picture to learn more about them, and wonder why are they posed that way?, Their faces are captured well, portraits, yet not stoic or rigid.

07-04-2014, 06:25 PM	#11
alamo5000 Pentaxian Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 2,962 Original Poster	Originally posted by robgski Overall, the colors look festive and vibrant, I think that will fit nicely to the occasion, good use of props, and the backdrop is good, more like a carnival booth than a church. Even though I don't know those folks, the photos make me want to look at the details in the picture to learn more about them, and wonder why are they posed that way?, Their faces are captured well, portraits, yet not stoic or rigid. Thank you! You should see the clarity on the large sizes... that 31mm is something else!