My sister and BIL want some pictures Sunday.  She wanted to have an actual photographer come out, but some expenses came up, so she asked if I could get some shots instead.  



equipment:



Nikon D3100

18-55 kit lens

55-300 lens

58mm red, PL, and some ND filters with an adapter for the 52mm lens

55mm red and green filter with an adapter for 52mm

52mm "deep red" filter

Tripod and remote release.



Conditions look to be sunny with no clouds, but I haven't checked the forecast myself.  Outdoor with various blossoming trees, rhodadendrons (sp?), plants, woods, etc.



I plan on using the flash for a little front lighting, larger aperture for that 'depth' look, and the deep red for some cool black and white shots.  If there's no clouds and we're not next to running water, I don't see much use for the ND filters, unless someone else knows something.



I want to use my deep red with my modded Sony point and shoot for a false-color IR picture too, but for now I don't have a modded DSLR, so I'm limited there.



Anyway, any recommendations for some good settings or tricks to get a really good shot?

I've never had good success shooting IR-type photos of people.  The black eyes tend to make people look evil.  If you shoot them like that, they're best to be looking away. I'm sure you probably know this though if you've been using those filters.  

If you're next to a white building, you could try to bounce the flash for some added depth.  Try taking a white sheet and placing it on the ground in front of them if you're in full sunlight.  Experiment.  Share what you get!

Thanks for the tips.



Will be sometime in the afternoon.  Hadn't thought about that, but direct overhead sun pictures do seem harsh now that I think about it.  Was planning on using the 55-300 as much as possible.  Weather is overcast at the moment, and I'm not sure how much it will clear up by then.



Sister is about 7.5 months pregnant, and I'm getting over a cold, but have an annoying sinus infection, so I don't think we'll be getting to wild with this.  



I will be shooting in RAW.  I have some basic software for processing them.  If I have a good one that I can't get the results I want I'll let someone have a go at it.

Here's a few of what I got.  Pretty much posing by a tree in the backyard and then went for a walk, snapping some pics along the way.   I just left the 55-300 on the whole time.





If anyone wants to take a crack at the lighting in this one, I can send the RAW file.  It could be balanced out I'm sure, the darks are a bit too dark and the lights are a bit too light.  Could be improved in some way I guess.  I'm still messing with it.








Wants to go for a drive.




























 

Nice set. You caught some good moments. Some criticisms if I may.

White balance is off on all. I wouldn't worry too much about it, though. WB is easily corrected in post.

1. Good composition. Could be made a little bit stronger by making it slightly tighter or slightly wider. Even out the negative space on either side of the family. It also looks like it is a little soft (missed focus/camera shake/motion blur/combination?). Faster shutter speed to stop the motion blur on the dandelion seeds. As you found out, watch out for the light rays through trees. Lighting can be improved in post, but probably can't completely save it. Good subject/background separation and clean background.

2. Cute photo. Will probably mean a lot to the family, but to outsiders looking in, it looks like a snapshot with no focus. Rule of thirds would probably improve it a little bit. I would like to see a shot from on top of the tractor looking down at the subject to capture facial expressions.

3. IMHO, the strongest photo. Good composition. Family could be centered on the trail, but I know how hard it is to keep kids/families in line. Very nice framing with the greenery and good leading line of the trail behind them. I see a little bit of motion blur on the dad's leg, so try to get that shutter speed up. Subjects could use a little bit of "brightening" up in post.

4. Very nice portrait. Can we see a tighter crop? Hand positioning and posing is a preference/personal thing, but I would try placing the parent's right hand's together. Also, I would also try to place both of their left arms and hands somewhere visible. It kind of looks like they are missing their left arms and hands.

5. Happy dad. Again, can we see a little tighter crop? This would be a really good square print. Watch out for cutting off extremities (dad's right foot). Good rim light provided by the sun.

6. Very cute. I would like to see this in a vertical shot. Again, watch out for cutting off feet/hands, but in this case I don't mind it very much.

Photography is art and we all have personal preferences and opinions. I'm sure that your sister and her family will be very happy with your photos.

Thanks.  I need to tweak the WB in all of them it seems.  I need to double check how it's set on the camera (first dslr and I'm still learning it's in and outs).  I've messed with the WB in a few as they usually seem a tad on the bluish side.  Don't recall which of the pics I posted I messed with.  Sister and BIL were more than happy with the photos though, and they've only seen a handful I converted and posted to their FB page.  



They all seem fuzzy, and it's something I'm doing when I upload them.  Photobucket was terrible with that as they all posted at 300xwhatever pixels.  I switched to postimg.org and everything showed up nice and crisp in the last photo contest we had.  Later I posted a pic of my mountain bike, and suddenly it was fuzzy again.  They look sharper on my computer.



BIL has a Nikon d3000 with the standard 18-55 lens.  He was impressed with the 55-300 but commented that it probably cost a lot.  I could see the gears turning though when I told him what I got mine for used.  I also told him to get the picture editor software from the Nikon site at least so he could edit the RAW images from his own camera a little bit and to set his camera to shoot in RAW+JPEG (he has always just shot in jpeg).  I'm going to show them how to use some of the features too (what I know anyway).



I took around 150 pictures and only shot in RAW while I should have done raw+jpeg (oops).  I converted several to jpeg after messing with them, but my computer is rather sluggish with these things, so the other reason I had for him to download the software was to view the remaining pictures.  Filled up 3 cds burning them.

Well, the first photo has motion blur for sure. Send me some of your RAWs and I'll take a look at them.