Thanks for watching and commenting! When its a family I haven't met I try to ask the kids any new shows they've been watching to try to relate with them. Kids love to see themselves on the LCD screen and that really helps them get even more into the shoot so I aways give them a peak to get excited at the start. When families are posing I love yell out "who is the funniest of the family or silliest or messiest to get the kids to interact with Mom and Dad and bring natural smiles out. Couples, I always ask how they met or who kissed who first to already get some laughs or lovey smiles out of them before we even start shooting.
Maybe a dumb question, but you mention avoiding bright sun especially with wide apertures. While I get that overhead light makes ugly shadows, wouldn't a variable ND solve the brightness issue super easily? Especially with mid-telephoto focal lengths, you would have no issues with some VND weirdness you get on ultra-wides.
Thanks for watching and commenting! Personally I find ND’s especially variable ND’s to have a color shift that I’m not fond of so when there is bright sun I try to use a diffuser or find shade first BUT I always have an ND in my bag just in case I really need to use it.
For portraits, I look for subdued natural light, talk to the person in a calm and cozy way to get them relaxed. I only use prime Lenses like 55mm, 65mm, 85,, 110mm and 135mm Lenses, never shorter than 55mm for portraits and never zoom !!! I use two cameras with 61 megapixels.
