The FCDCC Portrait SIG met on 2011-11-06. We discussed many interesting topics, and I enjoyed the meeting. I have included a suggested agenda for our next meeting to help guide our meetings. As I am not the king of the SIG, this is only a suggested agenda, and we can do something else at the next meeting if we want to. I have compiled the most important information into an "executive summary", and included all the information that I wrote down from the meeting in the "raw notes" section.

************************* EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ******************************

Our next meeting will be Sunday 12/4 at 1pm at Mike's house.
Our photographic challenge is to take 1 portrait using 1 light and any modifiers available.
The topic for our next meeting is "1 Light Portraits".

AGENDA for the 12/4 meeting

- PREPARATION FOR NEXT MEETING: 15 minutes
choose a photographic challenge for the next meeting (maybe not related to the next meeting's topic)
BRIEFLY discuss techniques and equipment for next photographic challenge
assign tasks if necessary ( IE someone to bring a model, special equipment, props... )
choose a topic for the next meeting
choose a location for the next meeting

- CRITIQUE: 45 minutes
either bring an 8x10 print or upload your portrait to the club's Flickr account or both
critique each other's photographic challenge images
consider using the complement-critique-complement technique

- MAIN TOPIC: 3 hours (or less)
everyone will discuss how to take a 1 light portrait (I think we should have discussed this briefly at the last meeting)
everyone will practice taking portraits using 1 light (bring your cameras, flashes and modifiers)

FUTURE TASKS We need to choose a photographic topic, organize an outing, and make a club presentation for 2 club meetings in 2012 (May and December). We still have plenty of time.

POSSIBLE TOPICS
(We can add to this list, I just wanted to have something to start with when we choose the topic for the next meeting or the topic for the photographic challenge.)
Different Styles
- beautiful portraits that customers will love because they look better than reality
- dramatic portraits that show emotion
- documentary portraits that show the subject in their environment ( staged or not )
- creative portraits that use lots of digital manipulation
- formal portraits ( with professional models and amature models )
- fashion portraits with sets and props
- beauty portraits that emphasize clothing or makeup
- glamour portraits that emphasize the person
Different Subjects
- child portraits
- animal portraits
- family portraits
- portraits of disabled subjects
- professional models
- semi-pro models (Model Mayhem)
- volunteer models
- men
- women
- groups
- self portraits
Different Shots
- headshots
- upper body shots
- 3/4 shots with backgrounds
- full body shots with backgrounds and props
Different Poses
- standing
- sitting
- laying down
- moving
Different Lighting
- natural light portraits
- 1 light portraits
- 2 light portraits
- 3 light portraits
- studio light portraits
- portable flash portraits
- continuous lighting
- lighting modifiers
Different Techniques
- post processing
- black & white
Different Venues
- studio
- Old Town
- nature
Different Lenses
- wide angle
- mid-range
- telephoto
Clothing & Props
- costumes
- different style, color, pattern clothing
- different backgrounds or backdrops
Legal Issues
Psychology of Portraiture

*********** RAW NOTES FROM THE 2011-11-06 MEETING ****************

Question: What types of portraits do you want to take? ================================
- beautiful portraits that customers will love because they look better than reality - dramatic portaits that show emotion - documentary portraits that show the subject in their environment ( staged or not ) - creative portraits that use lots of digital manipulation - child portraits - animal portraits - formal portraits ( with professional models and amature models ) - headshots / 3/4 shots with backgrounds / full body shots with backgrounds and props - minimal equipment portraits - fashion portraits with sets and props - family portraits - beauty portraits that emphasize clothing or makeup - glamour portraits that emphasize the person - lots of digital manipulation to no digital manipulation - color / black & white - disabled models

What do you want from the Portrait SIG?
=============================
- Fun - Learn how to photograph different skin tones - Monthly photographic challenge assignment - Critiques - Develop our own styles ( subjects, posing, props, lighting, processing... ) - Learn about portrait photography - Build my portfolio - How to take better portraits with MY equipment - Learn about other equipment - Learn about photographic legalities - Experience shooting, posing, lighting... - We should create a "Portrait Recipe" book explaining how to take good portraits - Learn technical and people skills - Learn Photoshop or other digital manipulation tools - Learn how to deal with extraneous light sources

Where do you want to meet?
=====================
- We will meet at Mike's house again for the next meeting

How often do you want to meet?
=======================
- 1x per month? ( in addition to the regular FCDCC club meeting )

When do you want to meet?
====================
Sunday afternoons work best for everyone. We will meet the 1st Sunday afternoon of the month at 1pm. 12/4 is next meeting

Who is a member of Model Mayhem? and who wants to join Model Mayhem? ========================================================
Model Mayhem is a good source of models and makeup artists
Jason and Tony are already members

Should we all join Flickr?
==================
We can post images that everyone else can see.
If we are all members then we can get email notifications when someone posts a new picture. We can comment on images. Steve will create a Flickr account for us all to share, or a group that we can all join

Do you want to have your work critiqued?
==============================
Yes

THINGS WE SHOULD DO
We should start arranging 2 outings for the general FCDCC membership ====================================================
- May 2012 model shoot May club meeting will be 2012-05-08
- December 2012 Homeless Prevention Initiative December club meeting will be 2012-12-11

We should start arranging 2 presentations for the general FCDCC membership =========================================================
These can be multiple short presentations or one long presentation per meeting
- May 8, 2012 - December 11, 20112

We should choose 2 Special Topics for the general FCDCC membership
=====================================================
(should the special topics be for June and Jan?) - May 8, 2012 - December 11, 2012 OTHER INFO CSU students in fashion design might want to have us photograph a portfolio Portrait

Photography Topics
====================
- equipment: lighting, camera, lens - setups: placements of backgrounds, lights, subject, camera, distance - models: volunteers, semi-pro, pro, Model Mayhem, men, women, groups - costumes: zombies, Halloween, themes... - clothing: colors, patterns, styles - posing - backgrounds, set, environment - psychology of portrait photography - local portrait photography resources: Northern Colorado Professional Photographers Model Shootout, meetups... - post processing - venues: studio, nature, town...

Types of Portraits
=============
- head shots - upper body shots - full body shots - multiple subject shots

Equipment Setups
=============
camera and natural light, reflector, diffuser with a natural background camera with portable flashes (1, 2, 3...) with a natural background or a backdrop camera with studio strobes (1, 2, 3... ) with a backdrop camera with continuous lighting with a backdrop

Critique Suggestions
===============
Be honest, but not cruel Say something nice, then say something critical, and finally something nice

Equipment Suggestion
=================
Jason has found a good quality MANUAL flash that is low cost. He highly recommends it for portrait work. Yongnuo YN-560 Flash Speedlite Unit for different camera models Canon & Nikon compatible versions available for $60-$70 from Amazon Sony compatible versions are available for $81 from Yongnuo in Hong Kong