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Question: Need opinions/suggestions for pictures of my children!?
The family is way too big to go get professional picture packages for ALL of them, so I was wanting to take pictures with my digital camera and edit them, then print them out!. I planned on getting cute fabric for backgrounds, then props, etc!.!.!. Editing them with my software, burning to c!.d!. then printing them out in the store!.!.!. Any suggestions on how to make them look cute and SoMEwhat professional!? I'm working with just your basic digital camera!.!.!. I believe it's a Sanyo something or other!.!. 8!.1 megapixels!. My daughters are 3 and 6 weeks, so of course I WILL be getting professional picture for birthdays and Xmas, but just for now!.!.!.!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I think it is great that you want to DIY!. A home done portrait, made with love and care, beats a Olan Mills or WallyWorld shot any day! I think you can do a good job with a bit of thought and preparation!.
If you want to do the background thing, get a sizable piece of black velour, terrycloth, or velvet!. (Black rather than white, because black will absorb shadows and remain black!. It is hard to make white remain white!. Without studio lighting, it will go grey or dirty looking white!.) I would also advise against using a pattern on the backdrop, patterns are distracting and do not look professional!. If you are after a certain look, you could use a solid color other than black or white, but beware of clashes with wardrobe, or worse, causing a color cast on the children's skin!.
Use a window in your home with nice indirect lighting, north facing is great!. Find a way to hang the backdrop and use the nice lighting for your portraits!. Turn off the camera flash, set the ISO to 100, zoom to telephoto and back up to get the composition you want!. Have a helper with a white posterboard off camera, aiming the reflection at the children to lighten the shadows!. This method will probably work best with closer compositions!. also, depending on how much light you have, you will have to keep the kids relatively still and the camera steady!. Shooting on a tripod is better!. Try a few and check to see if they are blurry!. If they are not sharp, then use your flash, but put in minus flash compensation, like a -2 or more!. If your camera does not have flash comp, then tape a sheet of tissue over it to soften the light!. Shoot a bunch!.
You will probably get better results by shooting outdoors in the late afternoon in even shade!. Again use the telephoto end and stand a bit farther away for more pleasing results!. You may have to try a few times until you get the images you're after!. Good luck, let us know how it goes!Www@QuestionHome@Com
Try taking pictures outside at your local park!. Trees and park scenes make a good background!. The three year old will probably smile a lot and the baby can be in a stroller or a backpack carrier looking over your shoulder (if a friend takes the picture for you)!. I'v got some great ones of my young grandson out like that and at the beach, near the ocean and by a river!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
i do offer photo editing services!.!.!.
im Michael Pancito!.!. im a professional graphics artist / photo retoucher and a pro photographer for 9 years now!.!.
take their pictures and ill make it beautiful!
here are my work samples!.!.!.
http://mychael256!.multiply!.com/photos/al!.!.!.
http://mychael256!.multiply!.com/photos/al!.!.!.
more of my sample works are posted thereWww@QuestionHome@Com