Beach Senior Shoot: Please Critique!

[JackRabbit]

I did my first senior portrait shoot and my first shoot with my Canon 24-70L (I just have to say the whole thing ) today and man it was a blast! We had a ton of fun and that lens turned out GREAT results. I can't be more pleased. I am also realizing how great of a sister I have after she went around with us and held my softbox in place and allowed me to boss her ass around all day without saying hardly a word.

Anyways, here are the best of the photos from the day. All were taken with the 24-70L and most with just a one light set-up (Canon 430EZ through softbox). Let me know what you guys think.

Oh, p.s. there are a ton more from this set on my flickr. Check em out if you have a minute! Flickr: jackstrutz's Photostream

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[Christie Photo]

Please Critique!

Which one?

-Pete

 

[JackRabbit]

All, any... It doesn't matter to me

 

[LaFoto]

Well, from the point of view of someone who hasn't learned to really work with light as yet, I must say: well lit.
But things that spring to mind immediately here are things also I learned through TPF: NEVER let the frame cut through anyone's joints, that's what I learned on here. And the one of the frame cutting right through the blond girl's knee HURTS me when I only look at it. Also the nicely tanned, dark haired girl has the frame cutting her legs off at her knee in the photo where she's sitting.
Just two very spontaneous observations on my part.

 

[JackRabbit]

Yeah well usually the crops are a result of the location that we are shooting at. The one with the dark haired girl was shot at a location that did not have a very pretty background (it is Pacific Coast Highway in Oceanside... Not the nicest neighborhood and a very busy street) so I just had to work with the lake out in front of the library and try to keep the street out of the frame. As for the ones of the blonde girl, I've got no excuse. I'll try to watch that next time.

Anyone else? This is my first time doing senior portraits so I'd really like to know what you guys have to say!

However, please give me critiques as if I'd been shooting seniors for years. It's hard to learn when people give you critiques like, "well, for your first time, this is really good," you know?

 

[K8-90]

Good, I'd just do some additional PP before handing them over. Could you number the images- it would make it easier to critique...

 

[JackRabbit]

These haven't gone through post process... Only a little bit of settings adjustments in RAW. What would you do in addition?

 

[YoMoe]

I am a total noob but I think it might be a bit more flattering not to shoot the girls head on. When the person is square to the camera it just doesn't do them justice and it seems more like a snapshot than a portrait. The lighting looks great, I think that is the hardest part. I like to run my portraits through Photoshop, Unsharp Mask it really sharpens the eyes / eyelashes.

 

[JackRabbit]

Yeah the key there is to avoid the football linebacker look, you know? And yeah, my posing skills are mediocre and I definitely don't pay enough attention to it during a shoot. Once I train my sister to do the lighting without me having to boss her around to much I will definitely start giving much more attention to my posing.

 

[YoMoe]

I'm not good at it either. There is so much to thing about when you are new I just can't keep it all straight. I keep a page of poses on file and try to do something similar but I'm terrible at posing people, I'm hoping the more I keep looking at good poses the more second nature it will become.

 

[JackRabbit]

Yeah I've put together a "book," so to speak, of pages that I've taken out of magazines over the past few months. My sister (I love her!) also has a decent eye for posing girls and is a pretty abrasive, in-your-face person who will get you in the position that she wants you to be in.

 

[K8-90]

Haha, I'll need some tips on how to train my sister...

AS for pp, just the basics...

Remove stray hairs on 1, 2, 3 & 8. Particularily the ones in the mouth
Skin touch-ups, first girl around the chin.
I would brighten the eyes, adding a selective unsharp mask, maybe some curves.

 

[K8-90]

Took a look at your flicker, and you have quite a nice bunch! Maybe give them a contact sheet so they can choose which ones to pp...

I'm also jealous of your new lens. I'm trying for a f/2.8, and it is between the 24-70 and the EF-S 17-55...

 

[JackRabbit]

Go with the 24-70! You won't regret it. If you're going to put out $1000 for a lens, it might as well be L quality. Save up the extra cash and get the 24-70. You will be glad you went with it. Plus, EVERYONE, and I do mean EVERYONE stares at you when you show up with that lens. Its almost like you are immediately given more respect because of the lens.

 

[transformed]

Jack,

For your first model...

I think picture 2 is the best. The rest of them her smile looks uncomfortable to me- almost pursed. I think I have seen you post previously that you are not focused a lot on PP at this point. My only comment regarding senior portraits is that if there was ever a group of subjects who would be concerned about portrait touch-up, it would be teenage girls.

Here is my list of things I would be looking at for picture 2. I did a quick pass edit which I'll post just to illustrate, but it's far from perfect.

-greenish/gray tinge to her skin tone
-teeth two separate tones
-slight dark circles/shadows under eyes
-discoloration and blotches on skin
-lense flare of her right shoulder?
-strange discoloration above her upper lip
-tiny hotspots on nose
-round out the catchlights in eyes
-slightly brighten the whites in the eyes
-stray hairs on her face
-upped the exposure just slightly to brighten her face
-lumpy rolls in her sweater- would really take a while to fix this properly- i just did a quick pass.
-bumped saturation just slightly in her necklace and some of the background.
-distracting bright white up near the top of the right side of her head- this is another thing that would take a long time to do well, i just did a quick pass.