Need help and advice on shooting a portrait

[Gatepc]

Hello everyone hope your all doing great. well anyway tomorrow i want to go out shooting and for a photo contest my school is hosting. I want to go to the fire dept and do some portraits with some of the firefighters i have my model release forms ready and set but what are some tips you can give me i am not that great at portraits.

its in the city so i dont have trees or anything to do a bokah behind them i wanted to try and get something with them standing next to a fire truck. all i have is a 18-70mm 3.5-5.8 lens. i heard a sorten time of day is good? any tips you can give are greatly appreciated thanks

[EJC]

Hi Gatepc

I would get them to pose infront of recognisable firefighter gear, trucks, ladders, hoses or a fire hydrant. You could ask them to pose infront of the station so you can include it's name to get a sense of place. Have them handle some tools or thier specialized clothing. I hope this helps.
cheers
EJC

[tirediron]

Hi Gatepc

I would get them to pose infront of recognisable firefighter gear, trucks, ladders, hoses or a fire hydrant. You could ask them to pose infront of the station so you can include it's name to get a sense of place. Have them handle some tools or thier specialized clothing. I hope this helps.
cheers
EJC

Excellent advice; agree completely. With respect to your questions about a certain time of day, the times when the sun is lower in the sky are better. That is, before 10.00am and after 4.00pm (approximately). Figure out which way the station faces, and where the sun will be at what time of day, and plan the outdoor portion of your shoot accordingly.

You could also try some more off-the-wall things such as a time-lapse of fire-fighters sliding down the pole (assuming their station still has one), or donning their turnout gear.

[Gatepc]

thanks for the advice i will keep you posted

[Marko]

Make sure you don't shoot into light sources. It's much easier to have the light source behind you.