Tips required: How to shoot people

440Hz

lol! I still smile everytime I type that but yeah... shooting people...

Been asked by a mate to take some promo shots for website and possibly album cover and I have NO idea where to start. I said no, but they asked a second time and now that my new 50mm just arrived I think Im changing my mind about giving it a go.

But Im not good at shooting people... I never do it. Any tips? How can I get a result that wont look too posed for example? Any bog standard setup that I should follow etc etc?

Cheers for any advice in advance!

abelard

Um, I can't really help you with physical tips etc as I'm not much of a photographer myself, but I'd imagine you'll need to give some more info for the people around here to be able to help?
For example, it seems your friend is a singer or in a band, so what type of music does he/she/they play, and what kind of image do they want? This will probaly dictate if your pictures will be indoor/outdor, bright/dark, group photo/single figure etc., and allow people to give better advice.
Anyway sorry if I'm just being no help at all and best of luck whatever you do.

Zillah

How posed it will looked will depend on two things: How posed it is and how good at acting the subject is

Off the top of my head, the best advice I can think of is to use a nice wide aperture for shallow depth of field, it'll bring the subject into prominence nicely. Either way, fiddle around, you can't waste digital

EDIT: And best thread title, ever.

bp_me

http://www.photo.net/learn/portraits/intro

?...maybe...

elven

I know exactly what you mean. The first thing that springs to mind is Fajitas gig poster from a few months back, it was very industrial and rugged and looked great - they just looked like they were being themselves. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fajitasgtr/169534165/in/set-72157594192912327/)

My point is generally about the setting giving a particular look to the shots overall - obviously it needs to be matched to the person/people for it to work. But if you're uncomfortable about trying to direct them, is there some kind of prop you could use that's relevant to them, so that their attention can be directed at that and they don't need to be so conscious about looking at the camera and smiling? Or, if they are a singer(s), could you shoot them on stage somewhere, not unlike Valentias recent pics?

It'll do you good though, to try something different. Look forward to seeing how you get on

mervifwdc

Ask them (a few in the band?) to each show you 3 album colvers they like and would like to try as poses / settings. That should give you a start.

Merv.

slumped

Load (your film)
Aim (focus)
Shoot (capture)

B0rG

50mm is not really good for shooting groups though...

but anyways to the point. Studio with lighting could be good. Or some well lit area. Let them do something (rehearse, put up the equipment, instrument tuning shots work well too) and shoot them doing it (couple of 100 pics should do), then let them pose together - another 100 pics or so

Go to website of the band you like and take a not of the locations, actions. Try to do something similar. I think it was Travis clip and photo campain done somewhere in the coutry - they a walking the fields, picking up things, doing something - it could look good.

PM me if you want a company I'd like to do something like that

440Hz

B0rG wrote:

50mm is not really good for shooting groups though...

Tis just one guy, thats why using this lens specifically!

Valentia

Get your friend to do whatever he does best. He will be concentrating on the performance so the shots will look natural. Find unusual lighting situations and experiment. Take loads. When you are finished don't judge them immediately, leave them for a day or two. Go mad in PS and you will be amazed what you will find. You have the latent ability, I bet, just let loose and don't worry about mistakes. You will get some shots that you never realised you had in you! Well that's my philosophy. It doesn't always work but you can always go back with a clearer perspective from the first experience.

B0rG

440Hz wrote:

Tis just one guy, thats why using this lens specifically!

Ah, ok :-) silly me. all people related words were plural, so I sort of assumed there are a couple of people.

You can do portraits with it reasonably good, it gives nice bokeh and stuff... Problem is my ef 50 1.4 is just way too sharp for people faces, so a lot of photoshop is required.
Bring some wide angle tele in case you wanna do some pose shooting. 50 gives small dop.