First assignment; Senior pics for my own class.

[riickye]

This year I'm graduating from high school, and of course, while some didn't take the senior pics too seriously, mine was all I could think about.
Still, I took this opportunity to offer my services to the senior class, and to my surprise, about 20 of them came to me. That's pretty good considering the class is of about 90 people.

So, I wanted to share some of the pictures I liked the most, and these are just the first ones, I have many more but I'm sorta busy right now so I'll upload the rest later.
And yes, you may notice my logo changed a lot, well, I finally did find the one I would be using and it is non of these.

So, c&c away, please.
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Keep in mind these are my first, I consider the other ones to be better

 

[riickye]

hmm, seems that if you're a newbie you don't get any comments. Nice.

 

[JaimeGibb]

Dont let it get to you. Things are so up and down around here.

These are amazing for someone who's so new to this stuff. The first five seem grainy or off focus...Im not sure why, maybe the system they are uploaded into.

In number 4, I would leave the space to his right, not his left. If you do an off-center crop usuallu you should leave open space in the direction the subject is looking. 12 has some harsh shadows on her face.

But like I said before, these are awesome. You have a great eye!!

 

[stsinner]

hmm, seems that if you're a newbie you don't get any comments. Nice.

Be patient and not childish.. Gets much better results.. Sometimes threads 2-weeks old get bumped to the top with a response.. Your pictures are nice, but please be patient for the pros to respond.. Immaturity will get you nowhere..

 

[eravedesigns]

I was on my schools yearbook and a problem i see with all of these is you shot them all on an angle so when u see all of them like that in a book together to me it may look a bit odd. I do like the photos though, but through in some variety.

 

[twocolor]

The first 5 and #8 do seem grainy. ISO?? something happening in post?? That being said, I love your posing. Very "senior" appropriate styling. I agree with the tilt on the idea of them going into the yearbook, but the seniors I shoot LOVE the tilt, it gives them something different than their mom and dad had.

I would up your contrast on a few of these, it will make them pop a bit more!

What gear you using??

 

[rufus5150]

Not digging all of the angled shots. Used sparingly, they can accentuate, but in series like this and so frequent, it seems they appear too often.

The first 5 or so have some serious focus issues. Subject needs to be sharper.

Be weary of cutting off limbs at joints. When possible, leave the entire limb in frame or cut it off in between joints. Cutting it off at joints often looks more 'amputee' than 'artistic framing'.

hmm, seems that if you're a newbie you don't get any comments. Nice.

Posts with fewer images tend to get more comments. People get overwhelmed trying to respond to a dozen photos. Patience, as noted, is also a virtue. Not getting comments is by no means limited to being a newbie. You're contending with lots of great photos (as well as lots of worse ones, both easy to comment on) as well it being the holidays and the forum has been rather slow lately.

 

[riickye]

I wasn't being childish nor immature, but anyway, thanks for the critiques.
The first 5 look out of focus because I got them off facebook, the originals are on a separate hard drive and I was to busy to be bothered to look for them.
Also, about the angles, senior pictures are different down here than they are in the US, people rarely use straight forward pictures, let alone cheesy stamped backdrops or anything like that, at least in my school, its more of a, "let's pretend we are models" thing. I know I had fun posing.. haha.

Anyway, I will try and be more patient and upload less pictures at a time.

 

[Big Mike]

Where you host the photos or where you get them from, shouldn't affect the focus. Compression might be affecting the sharpness, but a good sharp and in focus shot should still look sharp.

One thing that noticed, was that in many of them, the faces were too dark. In a couple of them, the eyes are just dark shadows. In a portrait, the model's face should be the focal point of the shot, which should draw the viewers eye. It often helps if the face is the brightest area if the photo. Look at #11 and #12 for example. In #11, our eye is drawn to her face...but in #12, her face is a lot darker and our eye is more drawn to her shirt.

They could all use some catchlights as well, to give their eyes some sparkle.

 

[Lyncca]

I wasn't being childish nor immature, but anyway, thanks for the critiques.
The first 5 look out of focus because I got them off facebook, the originals are on a separate hard drive and I was to busy to be bothered to look for them.
Also, about the angles, senior pictures are different down here than they are in the US, people rarely use straight forward pictures, let alone cheesy stamped backdrops or anything like that, at least in my school, its more of a, "let's pretend we are models" thing. I know I had fun posing.. haha.

Anyway, I will try and be more patient and upload less pictures at a time.

There are all types of angles besides turning the camera 45 degrees Try getting over or below your model, shoot them turned in a variety of angles as well. Scrolling down this thread of pictures, you did overuse the tilt, but overall the pics are pretty decent. I agree with everything BigMike said about catchlights, soft focus, etc.

And by the way, if you are can't be bothered to post a good version of a picture, don't be upset if people don't bother to reply....

 

[rufus5150]

Also, about the angles, senior pictures are different down here than they are in the US, people rarely use straight forward pictures, let alone cheesy stamped backdrops or anything like that, at least in my school, its more of a, "let's pretend we are models" thing.

It's a common misconception that models are frequently standing at a 45 degree angle. Though relatively rare to find them upright in the wild, they tend to do so when on runways and in studios.

 

[riickye]

Facebook really does compress the pictures badly, the originals are in focus just fine.
Thanks for the suggestions on the lighting, I did notice that, I need to get myself a flash if I plan to pursue this hobby.
But overall, I don't think I understand what you mean with the angles, or 45 degrees or any of that, I just basically told them how to pose and moved around them. Of course I have a very large space for improvement, but overall, I was pretty happy with the results.