I’m left few Hershey Kisses and a pot of hot chocolate, but the Family Christmas Photos I talked about in this previous post are done – or at least the shooting is done, and now I’m left with about 15 shots to edit and submit to the printers by Friday, to try and ensure that the prints arrive to the clients before Christmas.

The reality of this shoot turned out to be much like the theory; it was a three-light setup, with the main and fill lights set to a 2:1 ratio. For the BG light (light C), I added a +1/3 FEC. This washed out the color a bit more than I would have liked, but it made the BG pop. I kept light C zoomed to 14mm with the diffuser panel down for as much spread as possible.

The overall turnout was about what the school and I had hoped for, and the folks who did come seemed excited, and I had good time myself. In retrospect, having more room between myself and the BG would have been better; my A & B lights spilled onto the BG more than I would have liked. A greater distance between the two lighting areas (A+B and C) would keep them from intermingling, which is something I’ll keep in mind for next time.

I’m also fascinated by the portable, popup backgrounds I’m seeing other photogs use. I’ll have to investigate them, as they appear to be just the right size for a single person, or small group, to fit on, and they are apparently very portable. That could end up working better for the next time around, since it would let me pull C light away from the BG and use it instead as a hair light.

At the end of the day we didn’t get rich, but we made enough so that after the split, there’s a good chunk ready to be donated in the school’s name to a family Christmas charity. And that’s the part that really counts – the school’s families got to make a memory, and in the process help other area families during the holidays.