Looking for good family portrait ideas can be difficult, but here are a few that can be done in the comfort of your own home with just a few flash heads and two paper backdrops. Recently I photographed a couple and their baby who’s wedding I photographed last year. Rachel, Robert and Frayer were photographed at their home in Hertfordshire using a few studio lights and a white and black backdrop. I used just a simple set up to shoot mainly high key photos with the white backdrop and a few low key photos with the black backdrop. The whole shoot took less than an hour including set up and dismantlement of my equipment, which was great for baby Frayer as she soon began to get fed up with us all trying to make her smile and sit still. I charge just £75 for this service which also includes a 10×8 print of your choice and all the photos in low resolution on CD. However, you don’t have to go for studio type settings as I love environmental portraiture shot in the countryside or even urban settings. Anyway here are a few photos from this session, please feel free to leave your comments at the bottom of the page:
This was the chosen 10x8
Recently I was asked by one of my brides for next year if I did commercial photography and the answer was, yes I do. Admittedly it is not something I do a lot of but I am always up for a challenge no matter what the subject. This job was relatively easy, apart from getting into and out of London, that aside the task was to photograph all the staff and bosses of a new start up company at their headquarters in Tottenham Court Road for profile pictures on their web site. They also required a few photographs of their office block from the street, also for inclusion on the web site to help potential clients find them in this busy part of London. I would normally travel into London by train but I wasn’t quite sure what gear I would need for this job as the client was a little vague about where the shoot would take place and what back drop they wanted. So I decided to drive and take all the equipment I thought I would need to cover every eventuality. As often turns out this proved to be far more gear than I actually required, but far better to have too much than spoil a job for a few pieces of kit. The client wanted several portraits of each member of staff in both portrait and landscape orientation with space on the landscape shot for text to be inserted explaining who the person was and their role within the company. Although I took several backdrops with me a quick look at the conference room had me thinking that I could use the venetian blinds by the window overlooking the street as a ready-made backdrop and a few test shots also had the client convinced this was a good solution.
I always take my laptop with me on such commissions and shoot tethered from my camera so that I can show the client or subject their pictures as I take them. This I find helps to relax people, especially those that do not like being photographed as they can see there and then how their images look. As previously mentioned I am not a full blown commercial photographer but I am well versed at taking portraits of people whether in the studio or on location so I see an office space or street scene as just another extension of that. Everyone seemed pleased with my efforts and I’m confident that I did a good job considering the space and facilities available. I have inserted a few images from the shoot for you to judge. Despite the journey I really enjoyed my trip into London and hope to do more of this kind of thing in the future as for me it’s just photography, and I just love taking pictures!
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