D30 Easter Portraits (Any better?)

Only one problem with your portraits. Your not in them.

i just bought my D30 and I am looking forward to shooting similar shots of my family.

Could you psot some pictures of your light setup? Thanks for sharing.

Bryan Siverly said:

dobiesj said:

Nice photos. I also checked out your web site. What camera bracket
do you use with your D30/420EX? Referring to some of the photos on
your web site - not the ones here.

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I don't own a flash bracket... just use the hotshoe. However, for
many of my 420EX shots, I use the Lumiquest 80-20 bounced off a
white ceiling or the Pocket Bouncer. Most of my flash shots are
bounced... I don't like the look of direct flash.
--
Bryan
http://www.siverly.net

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--www.pbase.com/[email protected]

dobiesj said:

But how are you bouncing the flash when shooting portrait style?
Since the LumiQuest 80-20 (I have one) works best when the flash is
in a normal "upright" position.

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If I shoot portrait style, I just use the ceiling only... or many times I'll use a sidewall or lamp or something.

http://www.siverly.net/img_1180.htm

This one, for example, was bounced off a lampshade that was out of the photo.--Bryan http://www.siverly.net

Bryan not quite sure if it beats the G2 shots:^) HEHEHE

Great pics keep um coming--Steven

Karlg said:

The shots are darling, but the eyes seem kind of dark. I guess
they are brown eye'ed with makes it even tougher.

My kids have blue eyes and it is very hit or miss as to whether the
blue in the eyes comes out even if they are otherwise well exposed
with enough light.

I just wondered if there is some trick to make the eyes get that
"glass" look I see in some portriats?

Karl

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Sounds like you just need to lower the main light a bit, assuming you are using some standard lighting setup and properly exposing. With a near straight on pose and using short vs broad lighting ( just a suggestion) and the main between 30 and 60 deg. off camera axis , not set up too high , should give the effect you mention.

You will never get both color and the glassy look with straight on flash alone, FWIW. Too flat a lighting setup will kill the effect you are looking for.

David

So, you used to shoot with a G2 which is what I have right now; I am waiting for my D60. I am also chasing after a 2 and a 4 year old. How much better is the D30 compared to the G2 for running after kids, family portraits, printing out etc.?

Thanks.

Moonlighter said:

So, you used to shoot with a G2 which is what I have right now; I
am waiting for my D60. I am also chasing after a 2 and a 4 year
old. How much better is the D30 compared to the G2 for running
after kids, family portraits, printing out etc.?

Click to expand...

With the D30, I had to be more lucky than good. The shutter delay and autofocus inaccuracies made it rare to get the shot every time... many good moments passed with photo-failure. With the D30, I have total control and feel like a photographer again. There really is no comparison.--Bryan http://www.siverly.net

maybe she knew when she met you that one day you'd do beautiful photos of her children... yes, Bryan, you're the photographer, in this story... just the right photographer for her job...
)

WMC said:

Only one problem with your portraits. Your not in them.

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Hehe. I'll get to that. The prettier part of the family is already in the shots.

MChatham said:

Could you psot some pictures of your light setup? Thanks for sharing.

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No problem... here it is. You can see two britek HS1000 strobes with 44" white umbrellas. I have an additional light stand with a small slave strobe for lighting backgrounds and for hairlight (you can see it flaring out my wide-angle lens in the shot).

Also, I have a small background light stand and have my 420EX mounted on it with a slave hotshoe attachment. You can see the background held on the PVC stand with orange clips (came with the background). Finally, I bought a portable stool that folds down and is very lightweight. All this is nice and portable... I've been quite pleased.

Total invested is probably around $400-450, not counting the 420EX which I already owned.



--Bryan http://www.siverly.net

Dumb question, but I am very new at this:

How are you trigger all these strobes and the 420EX from your camera?

Moonlighter said:

Dumb question, but I am very new at this:
How are you trigger all these strobes and the 420EX from your camera?

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PC cord to the D30 from one of the strobes, and the slaves fire the rest... when the slave sees one flash, they set off the others a microsecond later. I bought a hotshoe with a little slave trigger on it that mounts on a tripod or light stand for the 420EX.--Bryan http://www.siverly.net

Bryan Siverly said:

Moonlighter said:

So, you used to shoot with a G2 which is what I have right now; I
am waiting for my D60. I am also chasing after a 2 and a 4 year
old. How much better is the D30 compared to the G2 for running
after kids, family portraits, printing out etc.?

Click to expand...

With the D30, I had to be more lucky than good. The shutter delay
and autofocus inaccuracies made it rare to get the shot every
time... many good moments passed with photo-failure.

Click to expand...

Yes, that shutter delay on the G2 is bad for taking people shots. The shot I end up capturing on the G2 is quite often not what I wanted to capture....unlessit's a posed shot. And the auto-focus isn't perfect, that's for sure.

BryanS said:

With the D30,
I have total control and feel like a photographer again. There
really is no comparison.
--
Bryan
http://www.siverly.net

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Bryan,

Is the 420EX pointing at the background? I could not tell from the photo.

This is very similar to my set up but I use white lightnings. I do not however have the hotshoe slave trigger. Which one and where did you get it?

By the way you can also use a pc stacker if you want to run the pc cords from every strobe back to the camera.

Sometimes the slaves misfire, not often but if it is a problem, then you can use the stacker and a 1" extension pc cord.--GSmithCreate an image today that will make someone's day today.

Don't know nothing about no lighting, Bryan. (VBG) But that last shot of that little blonde pug is a treasure to hang onto forever. You caught that one and better appreciate it. --Dave Lewis

Justme said:

Bryan Siverly said:

Moonlighter said:

So, you used to shoot with a G2 which is what I have right now; I
am waiting for my D60. I am also chasing after a 2 and a 4 year
old. How much better is the D30 compared to the G2 for running
after kids, family portraits, printing out etc.?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I have a G1. It's a toy. The shots from it are way too digital - too much depth of field, too flat, very unflattering with people. The D30 is a real camera. There is no noise. Anthing that would be thought of as noise in the G1 is film like grain in the D30. Lense work is the reason, I think. You can make a lens work for you with the D30. The tiny long zoom on the G1 is a pop bottle in comparison.

Files from the G1 are too minipulated. The in camera alterations are impossible to overcome. There is nothing left when they hit the computer. People wow over the clarity and crispness of the G1 shots but they don't realize the potential is gone. Files from the D30 are wonderfully full and soft and vibrant. They are almost human eye in their content. You won't be disappointed with your real camera. Keep the G2 to take along when the D60 is too bulky. You'll find you won't use it much any more.--Dave Lewis

Dave Lewis said:

Justme said:

Bryan Siverly said:

Moonlighter said:

So, you used to shoot with a G2 which is what I have right now; I
am waiting for my D60. I am also chasing after a 2 and a 4 year
old. How much better is the D30 compared to the G2 for running
after kids, family portraits, printing out etc.?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I have a G1. It's a toy.

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It's a very advanced, expensive "toy".

Member said:

The shots from it are way too digital -

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Well, it may depend on the photo taker. Like any camera, in the right hands it can take some very good pictures. I'm happy with the G2.

Member said:

too much depth of field, too flat, very unflattering with people.

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Once again, in the right hands...but obviously not the same as the D30-60.

Member said:

The D30 is a real camera. There is no noise. Anthing that would be
thought of as noise in the G1 is film like grain in the D30. Lense
work is the reason, I think. You can make a lens work for you with
the D30. The tiny long zoom on the G1 is a pop bottle in comparison.

Files from the G1 are too minipulated. The in camera alterations
are impossible to overcome.

Click to expand...

Even RAW?

Member said:

There is nothing left when they hit the
computer. People wow over the clarity and crispness of the G1 shots
but they don't realize the potential is gone. Files from the D30
are wonderfully full and soft and vibrant.

Click to expand...

The images from the D30 are indeed great. I'm a G2 owner with D30 dreams.

Member said:

They are almost human
eye in their content. You won't be disappointed with your real
camera. Keep the G2 to take along when the D60 is too bulky. You'll
find you won't use it much any more.
--
Dave Lewis

Click to expand...