Backyard Portraiture

Over the Labor Day weekend I got a request from my sister-in-law to come by and shoot some new pictures of their girls for she and my brother.  Payment would come off the grill and in the form of golden liquids so I couldn't hardly turn the offer down.  Since acquiring my Olympus Pen a month ago I haven't touched my Canon equipment but for portrait work nothing beats my 50mm f/1.4 "normal" lens attached to my 40D.

Having taken plenty of classes on lighting and portrait work, I've acquired my share of lights, backdrops, standards, etc.  Sometimes all that stuff is just overkill.  Sometimes it's just about going out and getting good shots.  That's what seemed like fun last weekend.  About the only accessory I brought along was a large 5-in-1 reflector/diffuser and my wife who will often play assistant.  We headed out back at about 5 PM as the light was getting a bit soft and just let the girls sit, stand and climb on the benches and chairs and also do a little posing next to the "Halloween Tree" (a big dead tree waiting to be taken down).  All the shots were taken with the lens wide open in aperture priority mode to get a really nice blur in the background, paying close attention to what was showing in the background.  The girls can both be quite shy at times and it took a little while to warm them up but, as I've found works well with kids, I let them both take pictures of each other with my camera and then showed them the instant results.  This got them smiling and soon the poses (and outfit changing) began.

I really enjoy taking kid pics and going simple with natural sunlight and a single lens choice made it all the more fun.  Here are a few more samples from the shoot.

Enjoy!
Tom Laux
September 9, 2009