B&W Senior Portrait

[Luna]

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[SpeedTrap]

to me it looks like the tree in the foreground is in focus and the subject is not, as well It seems a bit odd that you have him cut at the wrist and waist.

 

[Jmad]

agreed, cropping is needed as well imo

 

[Heck]

Hi luna, Welcome to the forum. Let me start by saying I am no pro but to me this is not a good shot at all. here are some reasons why.

1. The guy is not in focus and is looking down too much you cant see his face.
2. The tree takes up too much of the photo and needs to be crop out and theres too much empty space on the top half of the shot.
3. The river Im guessing is blown out.

I know that may not be such a great welcome but the good news is your here and there are people willing to help.

 

[Sweetsomedays]

I agree with everyone else, but there is also motion blur. I think cropping will make the blur more noticable.

 

[Sweetsomedays]

I have a 3 year old son, refuses to look at the camera.
My tips since I think your subject is a little bit to old for the "Do you see a lollypop on Mommy's camera" trick

Get him in an invironment he enjoys. Interact while your behind the camera. It's how I catch the best expressions.

Have your settings ready. I use manual focus, it's just easier and I like the images better.

Use some of your presets on the camera till you are comfortable with it

 

[Heck]

If he did not want to be there and gave you a hard time then it's not your fault. You can't make something out of nothing. If you want good photos of him then try and show him some examples of senior photos and tell him he can use them for things like myspace to pick up girls. Maybe then he will get with the program.

 

[Universal Polymath]

He really could have cared less about the photos. He was only doing it for his mom. I didn't have much time to get creative either because about a half hour after we got there he asked how many more photos I was going to take. I told him a few hundred and he said he has to get home so only a few more minutes.

Yeah, I've been there before - It's horrible! Knowing that they don't want to be there makes me feel uncomfortable, and then of course I don't wanna be there either.

So I start rushing through things, in an attempt to get done faster. No longer think as clearly, I start making stupid mistakes, missing things that I would normally catch, etc. The model's attitude certainly has a direct effect on the work.

Well, hope your next shoot goes well!