Family
“I have learned that to be with those I like is enough” ― Walt Whitman
Getting all 6 of our kids in our yearly portrait was impossible. Our 2...
Read more
“I have learned that to be with those I like is enough” ― Walt Whitman
Getting all 6 of our kids in our yearly portrait was impossible. Our 2 older kids are in college, with very different schedules... So I did the only thing I could do: I created a composite of our family.
Read less
Getting all 6 of our kids in our yearly portrait was impossible. Our 2 older kids are in college, with very different schedules... So I did the only thing I could do: I created a composite of our family.
Read less
Feb, 2016Views
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Awards
Member Selection Award
People's Choice in Creative Groups Photo Challenge
Spring Selection Award
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
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Behind The Lens
Location
I photographed the kids in my studio. The background is city hall in Louisville, KY.Time
City Hall was photographed in the morning. The kids pictures were taken in the studio and lit with speedlights on different days and at different times. I had to photograph them separately since my studio is not big enough and I just couldn't get all 6 of them in the same place at the same time (due to college schedules etc)Lighting
All the kids were lit in the same way: 3 speedlites inside a 7' parabolic umbrella (white) with a diffuser over it as the main light and 1 speedlite inside a Apollo strip with egg crate as hair light. I used a big white board on the opposite side of the main light to fill in some shadows.Equipment
I used a Canon 5dMkIII with the sigma art 50mm 1.4 lens to shoot the kids. The speedlites were yongnuo yn-568ex II. City hall was photographed with a Canon 40D and a canon 50mm 1.4 lens (natural light).Inspiration
I take pictures of our 6 kids together every year. Last year it was impossible to get all 6 together at the same time due to their schedules (2 of them are in college out of state with pretty busy social lives). So I had to get creative. I knew I could shoot them in separate groups and then composite them in together. I also knew I wanted it to be reminiscent of many of the great painters of the past. So I dressed them up rather formally and I asked them to remain serious (you can't even imagine the amount of laughter there was in between shots) while looking off into the distance.Editing
Oh yes! This is truly a composite. The kids were shot against a black seemless paper in 3 different groups. I stitched them together by enlarging the canvas of one of them and then adding the others while blending in the background paper. I then made sure I had a nice selection of all 6 so that I could add city hall to the background. I used 2 pictures of city hall, a street in downtown Louisville and one of a lamp from a park in Louisville. The map (used as texture) and books were stock images from fotolia. The images were all blended in using a series of masking and blending techniques. I also made sure I matched color (using curves), saturation and lightness so that the images blended in well. Once that was done I added overall color (with a gradient map), darkened the picture down, retouched the kids (to remove blemishes) and added a light source to the lamp.In my camera bag
I have a Canon 5DMkIII with a variety of lenses: canon 85mm 1.8, 100 macro 2.8, 135mm 2.0, 200mm 2.8, sigma art 24mm 1.4, 50mm 1.4 and sigma fisheye 15 2.8. If I'm shooting on location I will carry my rapid boxes with speedlites. If shooting in studio I like my Apollo octabox with 3 speedlites.Feedback
Learn to see and recreate light. It takes time, patience and is a never ending learning process. When compositing learn to see colors, lightness and saturation so you can match everything. Shadows are so hard to recreate so learning that also takes time and patience. There are a bunch of pro tutorials out there by composite pros. Watch as many as you can. There will be invaluable tips on how to use photoshop tools to cut and mask subjects. Be patient with yourself as you learn. Take breaks from the screen as you composite. You will see details you missed before. Ask people if the scene looks believable. Use your imagination. And have lots of fun.
