Evening light

Evening light, originally uploaded by joel9778.

Out for a sunset family shoot yesterday. No matter how many pictures you take, it's usually near the end of the shoot where things start to dial in really well. After all the kids are gone and mom and dad are left, peace reigns and great pictures are there for the taking....

Strobist: SB900 Camera left in a 51" umbrella, 1/4 power. Slight LR3 tweaks.

Family Portrait on the Lake

Family Portrait on the Lake, originally uploaded by joel9778.

It was a cool night on the lake this past weekend as we towed and rowed the swim platform into place. My assistant (and lovely wife) held the SB900 and umbrella on a stand just out of view on camera right. I had an SB800 on a stand, bare, camera left for a little rim lighting. The overall effect is to get the folks on the platform to 'pop' just a little.

It certainly is interesting how all the lighting notes and camera settings get lost along the wayside when the picture itself grabs your attention. I've had numerous comments and observations made by all kinds of people, who appreciate a little different thinking when it comes to the family picture.

The funny thing is I didn't pose them for this shot. They were all milling about as the platform floated closer to the dock. I saw them all standing in a bit of a set-up and waited for the platform to rotate around and present them in an evenly distributed pattern. There you are. Click.