Natural lighting through a window is a good idea....Or, go outside on a
porch or in the yard, with a tall stool, and hang a backdrop to keep the
background uncluttered. but definitely do it yourself. That way, if they
don't turn out the way you like, you can do it again with your improved
knowledge.......

I prefer natural light. A combination of natural light, some fill
flash to fill in shadow and add a nice twinkle to the eyes and a
decent sized reflector is a great. Using a good lens in the 85 - 135
mm range wide open makes backdrops fairly easy to chose. Pine trees
about 25' behind your subject work nicely. The reflector is a great,
albeit cheap investment that will pay for itself rather quickly. I use
mine all the time. Another nice touch is a little blurring of the
skin, sharpening of the eyes and darkening the background with PS.

Here is an example shot using everything described above.

http://www.pbase.com/that_rich/image/60258678

There are many things that can be done to improve this photo but like
you, portraiture is not one of my passions but I am improving :)

Good luck,

RP©

TheDave? wrote:

I feel daylight is one of the most beautiful sources of light available
for creating portraits. What I mean is daylight and not sunlight, which
can cause harsh shadows. Daylight is the softer light that we find
along the edge of a forest, under trees, filtered through windows and
under balconies or other structures that create open shade. You want
the light to be diffused, but still directional, flat lighting does not
look as natural.

I find the softer diffused light is best. If you have to shoot in
sunlight, than a scrim is the best thing to use.  This can be held over
or even beside the subject to diffuse the harsh sunlight.

The subject should not be facing toward the light or away from it. The
light should fall across the face creating natural highlights and
shadows, flowing across the face for the most pleasing result.
You can help the existing light by using reflectors or bounces. A
simple reflector can be made with white poster board or a car
windshield sun reflector.  I've seen some photographers use a gold foil
to give a warm effect.
Fill flash is good, but straight on light is flat, so to get the nice
directional light that best suits the face, turn your flash at an agle
to the subject and use a reflector to bounce light onto subject.
This has worked for me when I've done some portraitures.  Best of luck
to you!
Helen

Find out what the school's requirement are before you shoot.
There may be restrictions on indoor/outdoor backgrounds,
clothing, etc.  Know what standard you have to meet...

...

Do you have an optical trigger for that second flash?  Get one.

Then consider shooting outdoors on a cloudy day.  You have one
flash for fill and one for backlighting hair if you wish.  Use
some sort of diffuser... which can be as simple as taping a
letter size sheet of white paper around the flash to act as a
reflector.

With that, you can create just about any sophisticated lighting
effect that you can imagine.

You didn't say exactly what lenses you have though.  The ideal
is one with a nice smooth bokeh (but if you are good with
PhotoShop you can deal with that later), but what you really do
want is one without much depth of field.  Hence a big wide
aperture and a long focal length are nice.  Use a lense hood,
and if possible use a prime lense rather than a zoom.

Pick a background with *color*.  It should be soft and match the
subject/clothes in a pleasant way.  (I happened to dislike
staged portraits with "busy" patterns in the background, but
apparently some people like that.)  Of course another option is
to make sure the background can be manipulated in post
processing.  A common shading and color all around the subject
will make that easier to accomplish.  Then you can add whatever
background you like...

Heh, depending on what you end up doing, you might want to go buy
some "Christmas wrap" paper.  36" wide roles of colorful paper
are great to tape up on a wall or whatever for a background.  Since
you'll have it all out of focus anyway, the seams won't show and
a couple rolls is cheap enough.

...

It could be used.  Mixing different lighting might be a problem
with white balance later, but not much.  If you really are stuck
with doing this inside, you might well put such lights to work.

Oh, horrors...

Do it.

All you need is a window and a reflector.  A reflector
is just a 2x2 - 2x4 foot piece of white something.  A helper
to move the reflector around, er, helps.

Google for > portrait window reflector <

The preview for this book pretty much tells all:

  http://books.google.com/books?id=UoNyQQ4S1C8C&printsec=frontcover#PPA10,M1

Also google for > environmental portraiture <

Some nice examples:

 http://marthacasanave.com/port.html
 http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0312/an_intro.html
 http://www.ryersongallery.ca/exhibitions/exhibits/2005/place/exhibition/index.html

But if you like your portraits with a shot of saccharine then
ol' Monte's the one to see:

  http://www.montezucker.com/content-main.html?page=5

Lights and stands and backgrounds just make it easier to
balls it up.

TheDave? wrote:

When the light hits a large window and that window in turn is covered
with a large white cotton sheet, then you have a ton of light to work
with and little else is needed save a reflector board on the opposite
side (if a side lite shot)  to lighten up the shaddows a bit.

Or you can put the window (with the white sheet) behind you as a large
fill light and then key light with the flash off to the side and
higher... this requires a balancing act... you want the fill to come in
at -1 to -2 (or even -3)  v. the flash light.  You could end up
shooting at, say, f/4 1/60 to get the fill at -1.5 and then you need
the key to come in at 0 from the flash.  (an ambient/falsh meter is
useful in this case to get it right  (some meters will even do mixed
lighting ratios but you can usually figure it fill / flash seperately).
As I'm sure you know, the flash is all about aperture where the
ambient is aperture and shutter.  Keep that in maind as you set the
expsoure: IOW, meter for the ambient (whether key (0) or fill (-1 to -2
or so) and make the flash power match that aperture setting as key.

Another option is in the shade with a well lit background.  For
example, in a park under the trees, but with the background brightly
sun lit.  Throw that out of focus with the subject in a narrow DOF.
Keep some of the foreground material present (tree limbs, leaves,
bushes, etc.).  A very light pop of flash to keep the colors right (or
an 81A/B filter) as the open shade will have a blue cast to it.  In
this case if you 'burn' out the background slightly it usually doesn't
matter for the overall effect.

I do play with strobe setups with upwards of 5 lights, but usually the
most pleasing images have been with mixed ambient and flash fill.

Cheers,
Alan

TheDave? wrote:

Halogen is Tugsten based.

If you use Tungsten film (rarer and more $ these days), or digital (set
to about 3500K), then no problem.

You could also "blue" filter the lens.  (# 82 filters.  I've never
tried this myself with daylight film).

Constant lighting burns out, is hot, and uses a lot of power.  Stobes
are much easier to work with and cheaper in the long run.

Cheers,
Alan

       You've gotten a lot of good advice, so I'll just chime in with my
   recent experience.

       For outdoors shots, the light angle is low this time of year,
   meaning it will induce squinting unless it's really soft, so less
   than an hour from sunrise or sunset is much better, and the color
   temperature of the light becomes much more pleasing. You can use
   open shade but the light goes blue, so you'll need to do some
   compensation. And anything outside of the shade is likely to blow
   out.

       The fold-up silver reflectors for car windshields are available for
   a few bucks and work excellently, very good for filling and
   softening shadows. But it does mean you need someone holding them.

       The foamcoare works too, and you can use a 1/4-20 T-nut from a
   hardware store to press into the middle of a sheet and thus mount it
   to a spare tripod. Cover one side in aluminum foil (crumpled, then
   smoothed) if you need more reflective properties - I've found plain
   white foam core to be less effective with natural light and usually
   needs to be close to your subject. When using them on a tripod,
   they're very easy to blow over, so bring weight too.

       I made my own electronic shutter release extension cable, and have
   been able to both hold a reflector and snap the shot simultaneously.
   This is handy when you don't have an assistant.

       Ditto the advice about not facing the light directly - you want
   some shadows on the face to give it shape and character. Be aware of
   the old saw about not letting the point of the nose pass outside the
   cheekline, since it makes the nose prominent. In some cases it
   works, but infrequently, so try a good variety of angles.

       I've never been fond of looking into the camera, and often instruct
   my subjects (well, the human ones) to look over my shoulder, off to
   the side slightly, at some point on the horizon, et cetera. In
   morning/evening light, while shooting from a lower angle, having
   someone looking off into the distance (chin high) becomes noble,
   expectant, and optimistic.

       It pays to crouch slightly - people often look much better when
   shot from belly to chest height, especially if you're tall (this is
   why so many of the professionals like the waist-level finders on the
   medium-format rigs). Shooting slightly downward is subtly demeaning
   to the subject.

       Pay close attention to your subject and background - this is the
   trickiest part of portraiture if you haven't done it regularly. You
   may need to keep reminding your subject (will your son like being
   called your subject? Are you king of your household? ;-)) to keep
   his shoulders back, chin up, one foot forward, and so on. If there
   are physical aspects that you want to minimize, be aware of them and
   what angles/positions are necessary to draw attention away. For
   instance, a baggy shirt may make him look skinny, and won't
   accentuate his shoulders or chest. Make sure his pants are long
   enough if you're posing squatting, one leg drawn up, or anything
   like that, so you're not baring ankles, which looks awkward in
   portraits. Make sure you work a good variety of "looks," and some of
   the best come when he is just relaxing from the pose and is not
   hamming, so be ready to snap the extra frame or two.

       Undistracting, simple clothes. Anything with a logo or saying will
   automatically draw the eye right smack there.

       If you know anyone with an exotic car, motorcycle, or helicopter,
   see if you can use it for a prop, and do some "Bond James Bond"
   shots, always fun (and it's actually not hard to let the local
   general aviation airport allow you some poses at the nose of a Piper
   twin or something).

       I have known of people using halogens, but they are still a bit
   yellow in the photo, and by all means do not mix them with flash or
   natural light. You can probably correct the color cast, but expect
   some loss of range, most especially in the blues. For portraits this
   may not be much of an issue, but I'd still recommend natural light.

       Good luck! Have fun with it,

    - Al.

Shoot out of doors against foliage. Find a location where you can put
the background out of focus. One good way is to have the subject in the
shade under a tree with the background brightly lit. Expose for the
background, and use the flash to balance the exposure on the subject.

A better investment (my opinion) than a background would be some kind of
cord to move the flash off camera. Even just a little will make for a
better portrait. Get someone to hold the flash up and off to one side.

If it's a TTL flash extension cord, you're in like Flynn. Looks like the
appropriate Canon model cord is the *Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord 2*. It
only extends 2 feet, but that's better than nothing. If you search
there's a Canon message board that has a tutorial how to build an
extension cable for the OFCSC2.

FWIW, my painted backdrop is a Martha Stewart King Size flat sheet I
bought off the clearance rack at K-mart. I mixed packets of Ritt dye
(gray, blue & black - 4:3:1) and splashed the three colors on the sheet
with a paint brush. Rinsed it with cold water & then washed several
times with hot water and Clorox to make sure it wouldn't bleed out any
more.

Total investment was less than $20 USD, and I've got enough dye left to
make another - all I need is to get another sheet on clearance.

I do have several stands, but I support the backdrop on a stick of EMT
tubing (electrical conduit). Don't even need clamps. I just cut the ends
of the hem & slide the pipe through it. Drilled holes cross-ways through
the ends & it sits right on top of the stands.

But you could make reasonable stands from PVC plumbing pipe or 2x4s.

About 3200k to 3400K. Use Tungsten white balance.

Mainly it's a harsh, specular light source. Hang a white sheet in front
of the light as a diffuser. You'll need several feet clearance between
the light & sheet, for safety's sake, but you're going to want that
anyway to make a big soft light.

The best material I've found for diffusers is rip-stop dacron sail cloth
... the stuff they make sails for sailboats from. You can find it at
many large fabric shops.

Here's one on-line tutorial that addresses exactly what you have in mind.

http://www.diyphotography.net/homestudio/blz/soft-panel-frame-designed-for-hotlight

or

http://tinyurl.com/y84k2y

Another good source is the Tinker Tubes book - available as a PDF.

http://www.software-cinema.com/tinkertubes/tt-book.pdf

That'd work. Especially if it's got sheer curtains on the inside.

Use a 32x40 white matt board as a reflector on the inside for fill light.

     :
     :
     :
     : W           |
     : i      0    | Matt Board reflector
     : n     /|\   |
     : d     / \
     : o     | |
     : w   subject
     :
     :

              _^_
             |   | camera
             -----
              /|\
             / | \

The reflector is closer to the subject than the window. The ratio of
distances & size of window:reflector will control the lighting ratio.

Why not?

Go for it. If it doesn't work out, you can still hire someone else to do
the job.

You have an advantage in a digital camera: check them out as you go. First,
find a cool color background. Bushes are good. Stand him far enough away so
they're out of focus. Face him w/ back to the sun so the sun just skims one
side of the face, just a very little. That's your back/hair lite. Your main
lite is your flash thru a diffuser. A 2ft. X 2ft. flourescent diffuser is
only about $3 and held about 2 ft in front of the flash should get you about
f5.6 @ ISO 100. Draw an imaginary line from the sun thru the subject and
place the flash/diffuser on the same line just a bit on the other side of
the skim. The whole job will cost $3 and a little driving around to find a
site. Bob Hickey

Bad choice. The color tempertaure of the halogen light is going to give a
red/orange/yellow cast to the photos. Standard color film is balanced for
daylight, strobes are essentially daylight. (FYI: There are color films for
tungsten lighting.)

Diffuse window light is a good option, be it basement or any other room.

As a working pro who earns about a third of his living on senior portraits,
my response would be an emotional appeal to the fact that your son is only a
senior one time, and this is not the occasion to pinch pennies. Another
consideration is the family relationship: your son may be a different person
around his father than he would be around a stranger photographer.
That said, a typical senior session 'round these parts is about one-third
formal, and two-thirds casual. The formals are the toughest for the
inexperienced (sorry!) photographer. Why not "just suck it up" for the
formals, and do a casual/outdoor session yourself.