First round of senior pics

Johnboy2978 · Apr 25, 2007

Hello all. I had my first session of senior portraits this past weekend, and I have a few edited that I would like some comments on please. The male is the senior that I contracted to do these for, however, I also took some of his sister at mom's request. Mom had already taken him to a professional who did mainly indoor studio shots, but mom felt that they were too posed and didn't order any from him. She wanted a more natural, candid, less posed style.
I have another session w/ another client this weekend which will include indoor shots and probably a bit more posed.
Any thoughts, comments, etc are appreciated.

Johnboy2978 · Apr 26, 2007

So a bunch of views, but no comments. Not sure how to take that. Does that mean (1) they really suck and are so bad I just don't know where to start with a comment (2) Meh...mediocre at best or (3) I am totally speechless - nothing I could offer to improve these.

Don't want to beg for comments, so I won't bump anymore.
Thanks

rp1600 · Apr 26, 2007

Much better than my first sessions sometime back,.

Here's a few comments.
Does the guys smile at all. His expression in each pic is almost exactly the same. Looks like he was a bit nervous. The first two pictures also appear to be a bit muted with no pop to them.
Pics 3 and 4 (with blue shirt) would have been so much nicer with a better expression on his face.
I do like the shots of the girl, particularly the first one. In the second one (B&W) it almost appears as though she's about to fall backwards out ofhte pic. Have her lean a bit forward from the waist.

overall though good job on first time out.

Kipper · Apr 26, 2007

Johnboy2978 said:
So a bunch of views, but no comments. Not sure how to take that. Does that mean (1) they really suck and are so bad I just don't know where to start with a comment (2) Meh...mediocre at best or (3) I am totally speechless - nothing I could offer to improve these.

Don't want to beg for comments, so I won't bump anymore.
Thanks

Hi,

I am just working my way up the learning curve, so please take my comments as that of a rambling idiot.

The guy pics look awkwardly and overly posed, maybe this is just how the guy is. The wardrobe as well is a little characature - maybe this is how he is, and how he wants to be remembered (80's braces, and golf outfit...).

The girl poses are better, but the colour one might benefit from being off centre?

Anyways, that is my 2eurocents worth, hope it helps!

Garbz · Apr 26, 2007

I am not sure if you were in charge of the cloths as well, but #2 is a big NO on the golf course. Long pants only!

Johnboy2978 · Apr 26, 2007

Garbz said:
I am not sure if you were in charge of the cloths as well, but #2 is a big NO on the golf course. Long pants only!

Nope, told them to pick their own clothes as it was their photographs. He is on the golf team at school and I believe he was offered a scholarship as well.

RP - He is a pretty serious guy and the smiles are few and faint when present. Mom showed me some from the pro that she took him to first which I thought were quite nice. There were several smiles, but she said that just wasn't him. I 'think' she was rather pleased with these. I feel okay about them. I would've liked to have done a little better, but this was first time trying senior portraits and was a little intimidated honestly after seeing the professional shots that were turned down.

NJMAN · Apr 27, 2007

Johnboy, you say this was your first senior portrait session? I think you did a very nice job overall. Although I have to agree with Kipper, the guy does look a bit stiff and uncomfortable, but maybe thats just the way he is in portraits. Sometimes, you just have subjects that dont know how to look relaxed no matter how you coach them. The girl looked more comfortable, and her pics were a little brighter. I like the first one of her a lot. The pose suggestions from rp1600 were good. Good job, and keep trying!

rp1600 · Apr 27, 2007

Johnboy i looked at the black and white of the girl again and had to comment on this because it's the same problem i come across in lots of my photos. Looks like the point of focus is more on her jacket (chest area), leaving her face a bit soft. In my first few shoots i had EXACTLY the same issue. I then started selective focusing on eyes and holding the focus while recomposing the pic.

Johnboy2978 · Apr 27, 2007

Thanks for the continued feedback on these. I think he is generally pretty serious, is a little stiff, and doesn't smile a lot in general. Plus, this was the first time we had met, I was a little nervous as was he which didn't help either of us.

His sister was a lot more comfortable and I probably took more of her than I should've b/c she seemed to really enjoy it. I asked mom while they were changing if they were dreading this or whether they were into it, and apparently they were both looking forward to it. The soft focus w/ her I think was due to my 70-200 2.8 lens. The shot was on 2.8 and towards the end of the focal range which tends to be a little soft. I do make a habit however, of first having a center spot focus, locking that on the eyes then recomposing from there. I think with the lens, f/4 is about where it becomes sharp, but I also wanted shallow DOF.

rp1600 · Apr 27, 2007

Regarding the soft focus, you're right. same problem I had. At first I thought I was just missing the focus (was using a 50mm, 1.4) then realized that the depth of field is so shallow that even less than an inch is thrown off.

again, great job for first time doing seniors. I also looked at your site. nice work.