newbie w/Panasonic G7 doing first portraits has questions!

robfilms · May 28, 2017

my first post on dpreview though a long time reader/lurker.

i am not a pro but a guy with a panasonic g7.

i got roped into shooting website portraits for a local community organization.

all interior shots in a large room with 20' high south facing windows which i intend to use as my key light

(10am shoot time and with the big windows the room is usually nicely bright...if it is a sunny day!).

two heads of the organizations.

then their significant others and each couple has two children under the age of three= four adults+four very young children. each adult will be holding a child.

these shots are for the organization's website.

my questions:

what panasonic color profile?

and should that color profile be tweaked?

(i have read several web postings suggesting the NR be dialed to -5)

should i bother with face detect?

with babies fidgeting, i figure my shutter speed should be 1/250th, or should it be even higher?

i have the 14-45 II kit lens along with the lumix 25/f1.7.

(a friend has the lumix 20mm and i was wondering if that would be useful)

auto iso is on with a limit of 6400.

i am a lightroom lightweight.

i was going to shoot raw+jpeg.

i have been told that i have 30min with the families and 30min with the two execs.

any and all thoughts are appreciated.

thank you in advance.

be well.

rob

The Mad Kiwi · May 28, 2017

Why not just jump in the deep end.

Your biggest problem is going to be getting enough light.

I'd just shoot it at iso 1600, aperture priority, fastest lens you've got wide open. Stop the lens down if you need to to give you more DOF.

Auto white balance, shutter speed should be good down to 1/100 with the kids, it's not like they're running around.

What you really need is a big flash to bounce off the ceiling to give you more light.

Ideally you'd underexpose the whole scene by 2-3 stops and fill it with bounced flash.

robfilms · May 29, 2017

The Mad Kiwi said:
Why not just jump in the deep end.

Your biggest problem is going to be getting enough light.

I'd just shoot it at iso 1600, aperture priority, fastest lens you've got wide open. Stop the lens down if you need to to give you more DOF.

Auto white balance, shutter speed should be good down to 1/100 with the kids, it's not like they're running around.

What you really need is a big flash to bounce off the ceiling to give you more light.

Ideally you'd underexpose the whole scene by 2-3 stops and fill it with bounced flash.

Norm Bates · May 29, 2017

Have you tried out your techniques on friends and family first? I like to shoot RAW + JPEG )natursl

Just in case.

Good luck. Report how your portrait shoot went.

Regards,
Hung

jalywol · May 29, 2017

robfilms said:
The Mad Kiwi said:

Why not just jump in the deep end.

Your biggest problem is going to be getting enough light.

I'd just shoot it at iso 1600, aperture priority, fastest lens you've got wide open. Stop the lens down if you need to to give you more DOF.

Auto white balance, shutter speed should be good down to 1/100 with the kids, it's not like they're running around.

What you really need is a big flash to bounce off the ceiling to give you more light.

Ideally you'd underexpose the whole scene by 2-3 stops and fill it with bounced flash.

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Click to expand...

mad kiwi-

thanks for the sharing.

i wonder how far back i need to be so my lumix 25/1.7 works with a four adult wide group shot.

I would definitely borrow the 20mm. It's also a nicer lens than the 25mm f1.7, so you would get that as a bonus.

robfilms said:
you would cap the ISO at 1600?

I would absolutely. If it were me, I'd stay under 800, as the output can be a bit noisy (or mushy if you are using a lot of NR) as you go up.

Also definitely turn the NR to -5. I like the Standard profile, myself, so I would use that.

robfilms said:
is the noise any higher say 2000 or even 3200 that disturbing?

Yes, I find it intrusive on faces, myself. You may not, but I don't think it looks particularly nice.

robfilms said:
i'm not a flash person and the ceilings are 20' high so i was hoping to use a flexi disc reflector to bounce that lovely window light.

If it works, go for it. See if you can set things up and try them out in advance to ascertain if you have enough light before you seat the subjects. If not, you will have to find some sort of additional lighting ( bounced flash, or stand lights) to get what you need.

robfilms said:
lastly, can i live with any color profile and stay with jpegs?

Maybe, but Panasonic RAWs give you more leeway if you need it. Just shoot RAW + JPG as you were planning, and if the JPGs aren't good enough, you can process the RAWs instead.

robfilms said:
thanks in advance for any and all thoughts.

I would also not even think of using the kit lens. It's just too slow for you to get what you need.

Good luck!

-J

Paulmorgan · May 29, 2017

robfilms said:
my first post on dpreview though a long time reader/lurker.

i am not a pro but a guy with a panasonic g7.

i got roped into shooting website portraits for a local community organization.

all interior shots in a large room with 20' high south facing windows which i intend to use as my key light

(10am shoot time and with the big windows the room is usually nicely bright...if it is a sunny day!).

What are you going to do if the light is crap on that morning or there is not enough of it, get yourself a flash.

robfilms said:
two heads of the organizations.

then their significant others and each couple has two children under the age of three= four adults+four very young children. each adult will be holding a child.

these shots are for the organization's website.

my questions:

what panasonic color profile?

What ever suits best.

robfilms said:
and should that color profile be tweaked?

No.

robfilms said:
(i have read several web postings suggesting the NR be dialed to -5)

should i bother with face detect?

with babies fidgeting, i figure my shutter speed should be 1/250th, or should it be even higher?

i have the 14-45 II kit lens along with the lumix 25/f1.7.

Should be fine, if you get the lighting levels right.

robfilms said:
(a friend has the lumix 20mm and i was wondering if that would be useful)

auto iso is on with a limit of 6400.

I would avoid auto ISO.

robfilms said:
i am a lightroom lightweight.

i was going to shoot raw+jpeg.

i have been told that i have 30min with the families and 30min with the two execs.

any and all thoughts are appreciated.

thank you in advance.

be well.

rob

JosephScha · May 29, 2017

Re: what panasonic color profile?

My opinion: wrong question. Shoot RAW for maximum control over the image in post.

The Mad Kiwi · May 29, 2017

robfilms said:
The Mad Kiwi said:

Why not just jump in the deep end.

Your biggest problem is going to be getting enough light.

I'd just shoot it at iso 1600, aperture priority, fastest lens you've got wide open. Stop the lens down if you need to to give you more DOF.

Auto white balance, shutter speed should be good down to 1/100 with the kids, it's not like they're running around.

What you really need is a big flash to bounce off the ceiling to give you more light.

Ideally you'd underexpose the whole scene by 2-3 stops and fill it with bounced flash.

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newbie w/Panasonic G7 doing first portraits has questions!

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