More floor and some "paint!"

Yeah!!! Greg said I could have an advance on some money we're getting back from taxes! So, I went out today and got a new white "floor" and some fleece! I'm hoping to use one of them for the shoot tomorrow so I don't have to PS a background! The fleece works awesome!! Love, love, love it! The only issue is it's not very wide. I'm thinking eventually I'll get another 2.5 yards of each color and PS the seam, but for now it's okay to experiment with. The girls are wearing one "formal" Easter outfit tomorrow and then one casual outfit. I thought the white floor would be nice for Easter shots. Here's a quick peek... Kylie loved the eggs! I'm working on a composite, but it doesn't look good to me yet so I'll wait to show it.... Happy Easter!

New Floor!

Okay, not really... but I set up a "fake floor and wall" for the first time. I think it turned out pretty good! I used my white backdrop pulled taught, a baseboard and a roll of laminent (have no idea how to spell that). I was going to try plexiglass, but it's so dang expensive. This set up only cost me $28!

So, I PS'd in a blue background on the boys. I think I'm going to try to gather some sheets. The PSing just takes so much time.... I have a shoot on Friday that I'm going to use this for and I'm considering getting a sheet or two for that so I don't have to PS a whole session.

Anyway... terrible picture. This was taken last night. The boys loved the "new floor" too much and I had a **really** hard time getting any picts, but was desperate to see how the floor looked. So, the lighting is horrible and the pose even worse, but it shows the floor anyway. This is as REAL as life gets! All it needs is K in the background laying on a sofa with what I'm pretty sure is strep (we'll find out today).... then it would be "perfectly real!"

backgrounds

Well, seeing as I have very few options for backgrounds I'm trying to get creative.  Of course, there are two main commodities... time and money.  Being short on money (to buy new backgrounds), I default to time.  I had fun today experimenting with making different backgrounds in PS, however it is VERY time consuming!  I have to figure out how to mask faster! So, here's an example of what I was working on today.  The "grey" background is supposed to be white (yeah, that whole not enough lights problem)... so I replaced it with a shot of my actual gray background adding a color overlay creating a sand color background.  I think it looks okay and gives some options.  Now, proofing a session this way is not an efficient use of time, however it may be okay while I'm PBing as I have more time (believe it or not) than money!

Not the greatest shot, but fun to play with and shows the personality of these two!  Not bad focus for f5.6 either.  (I'm sad K isn't in sharp focus) I was only planning on shooting one kid at a time, but J wanted K in the shot too.  She wasn't too gung ho on that idea, so she was being silly the whole time!

The older two in studio

I'm getting used to blowing the white in PS! I tried to get my sb 600 to fire as a remote flash to use as a background light, but alas... I need the sb800 to do that. Not enough moula for that right now so.... I will not shoot on white very much and when I do I will try to have little background showing! Here are some shots from tonight. Playing with my light again. I did a few shots and didn't like the light and I actually knew what to do to fix it! Wow! So, here's the older two from tonight.... I know Jay's head blends into the black background, but I like it! The only thing I don't really like about the last one is her eye that is down is dark. Not quite sure how I could have avoided that... maybe tilt out a bit more??? One shot had just a bit of light in her eye.... not very much though.

Back to the studio...

I jumped back into the studio today after playing with my flash for a couple of days. I had a willing subject over today so she helped me out! I'm experimenting some more! I think I figured out I like using the two light set up. I have the main behind the diffusion panel and the fill bounced into an umbrella. I tried 2 of hubby's work lights on the backdrop to try and blow the white, but it didn't work (lights weren't bright enough) so I ended up having to PS the white. Not something I want to do all the time, but once in a while it's okay. I am either going to look for brighter work lights or wait and save up for another light for the background. Today I mounted my reflector on my ceiling to try to get a "hair light" for my low key lighting. I think it's an improvement. My little model was perfect today because she has dark hair and I **think** it stands out a bit from the background not making her "one" with the background! I had fun playing today. The light is coming easier to me. It feels good to accomplish something! I know I still have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm at least at the point where I can shoot other people's kids and won't feel completely embarrassed with the outcome! I got another order for additional prints from the dance today! Nice to see those coming in!

More practice

Got a good shot of the littlest one today! They are rare these days! Ive (more trouble with that apostrophe...) not had a ton of time to practice. On this shot I had him facing the patio doors and bounced the flash off the doors behind me. Not too bad I think. Oh, and I have a sitting booked for a couple weeks from now! My first "stranger" one! And, I got an order in the mail for additional prints from one of the Father Daughter clients! Its nice to know someone actually liked it enough to order more!

SB 600!

Yeah! My new speedlight came today! I haven't had too much time to practice, but did manage to get a few shots in this afternoon. I LOVE it! There is an art to mastering it though! I certainly need more practice! However, I will now not refuse to take photos indoors in low light! What a difference this flash makes! I'm learning to drag the shutter to allow more ambient light to affect the background. My settings were ISO 400, ss 40, f4 (or so, can't remember exactly). She was facing a window so the flash was basically used as fill. Something about the color is bothering me though... couldn't get it right....