![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Camera-on-Tripod-227x300.jpg\" "\\"Camera")
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OK, so you\u2019ve found a room to shoot your Christmas card<\/a> portrait in, you dug out some decorations to help give a festive feel and everyone has outfits selected.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s time to figure out what to do with the photographic equipment you\u2019ve also rounded up.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve been following along since the beginning of this series you know that you need, obviously, a camera as well as a tripod, at least two additional flashes and some white poster board.\u00a0 You may look at this odd pile of things and know what to do with it or you may look at it and say \u201chuh?\u201d\u00a0 Either way; follow along and see how you\u2019ll make use of everything.<\/p>\n Your Camera<\/strong><\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with your camera first since you likely already had it and are somewhat familiar with it.\u00a0\u00a0 While saying this as a photographer makes me cringe to some degree, it\u2019s best for a \u201cmake do\u201d situation with so many variables; you\u2019ll want to use an automated setting on your camera and let it do a lot of the thinking.\u00a0 If your camera has a \u201cProgram\u201d or \u201cP\u201d setting, use it because it should allow for some tweaking during the shoot.\u00a0 If it doesn\u2019t have that setting, look for \u201cAuto,\u201d a \u201cgreen\u201d setting, \u201cEasy\u201d or a \u201cPortrait\u201d scene mode.\u00a0 With that done, the rest is fairly straightforward:<\/p>\n See?\u00a0 Not so bad so far!<\/p>\n Your Extra Lighting<\/strong><\/p>\n As suggested at the very beginning of this series, you\u2019ll need at least two inexpensive slave flashes that trigger from the camera\u2019s flash or two flashguns of nearly any type with inexpensive slave trigger attachments to get a little closer to portrait lighting than your camera\u2019s flash can do.<\/p>\n If you are using the inexpensive, simple slave flashes, chances are all you need to do is put batteries in them and turn them on.\u00a0 Most don\u2019t have any settings, but read the instructions that came with them.<\/p>\n If you are using random flashguns with slave triggers attached you may have settings to deal with.\u00a0 Don\u2019t choose anything with \u201cTTL\u201d in it as that relies on the camera the flash was intended for.\u00a0 \u201cAuto\u201d generally uses a built-in meter to set the power for the flash.\u00a0 Manual or fractional power settings will work too.\u00a0 Start with full power and you can always work down to lower powers if you\u2019re overexposing.<\/p>\n Once you figure out the flashes you\u2019re working with, it\u2019s time to place them:<\/p>\n Your White Poster Board \u2013 The Mystery Item<\/strong><\/p>\n The white poster board will help to light the darker side \u2013 the one opposite of flash two \u2013 of the shot to reduce shadows by reflecting light that scatters back at the scene.\u00a0 White poster board is our friend in the 123Print<\/a> photo studio.<\/p>\n\n
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