first senior session - not happy

[Ajay]

I've been staring at and working on these for so long that I don't know if I'm being over critical of myself or if I really did screw them up. I don't feel like I am staying consistent enough in my processing.

Does her skin tone look too different from image to image? These were taken over a 4 hour period so I would expect there be some differences just because of the way the light changed...

I know I've got some problems with my posing and positioning as far as shadows/highlights go.

I'd really appreciate some totally honest critique on these so I can get it right. Thanks.


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[SpeedTrap]

They look good for the most part, They might be a little over saturated. They are looking a bit orange in the last few. You sould watch your highlights and try a few different crops.

 

[Antarctican]

I find the pose in #4 the most natural and flattering (just my opinion). She has a beautiful smile

 

[Mesoam]

i think these are better senior shots than some others, at least you are outside and she looks like she is smiling not being forced to smile

 

[Allsmiles7282]

I dont think your problem is in the photography aspect, I think it is in your pp. Can you post a SOOC image?

 

[Christie Photo]

Yeah... they ALL look over processed to me. But I think clothing, lighting, posing and backgrounds (in that order) are of greater concern. I would be happy to elaborate on one or two.

Pretty girl, with nice, natural expressions.

-Pete

 

[ztekneq]

#4 is great.

 

[Ajay]

Yeah... they ALL look over processed to me. But I think clothing, lighting, posing and backgrounds (in that order) are of greater concern. I would be happy to elaborate on one or two.

Pretty girl, with nice, natural expressions.

-Pete

I would love for you to elaborate. A few things I am aware of - the color of her shirt reflecting off her face, arm showing that draws attention away from her face, not smoothing out wrinkles. I'm having a hard time managing the natural light. I had a reflector with me, but I think I'm using it wrong because it never seemed to make much difference - need more practice with that. Posing outdoors was much harder than I thought it would be.

On a side note, her natural smile only showed up in about 20 out of a 100 pictures. It was fairly forced most of the time.

I dont think your problem is in the photography aspect, I think it is in your pp. Can you post a SOOC image?

I have definitely fallen victim to over-processing. I haven't managed to find the balance that looks right. Here are a few SOOC.

Thanks to everyone else who has commented.

 

[Allsmiles7282]

We are all constantly struggling with PP, I know I am!

So your 50/50 on photography and pp. They are underexposed a bit but here is my edit. Now granted, I push my skin tones to almost the verge of being blown because that is my style. All I did was a curves adjustment...so you could do it to your taste. Good luck and dont get discouraged!

 

[JubbaKing]

Your post-work is too much. You are trying to achieve a lot of pop so you are making these too contrasty and oversaturated. Good lighting is the main ingredient that will give you pop.

 

[Ajay]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I went back through and did a more natural edit on them - mainly just adjusting levels/curves and little bit of work on her eyes. I think her hot pink shirt threw off the color balance on her face in some of them. I had a hard time with that. Definitely going to add hot pink anything to the list of things to advise people not to wear.

I showed them to the girl and her mom this evening and they also like #4 the most. My reworked versions only included one example of retouching and they were so happy with the way that one looked that they asked me to do it to all the ones she liked. I am feeling a little better about the whole thing - just want to get out there and practice some more. Thanks again.

 

[JimmyJaceyMom]

I really like the poses and I was going to agree with Allsmiles about the processing. I had a play too though a quick one. The first is more traditional but I thought you seem to like the wilder bolder so I ran a cross process action at about 30 percent opacity on the second one.
Since the size of the SOOC was so small I couldnt really do much as far as a defog but if it was full size to work with I either would have sone an unsharp mask at 14,40,0 or maybe about 30,50,1 - and the second one I would have dodged the eyes at 10 percent before runnign the Xprecess.

 

[keith204]

I like #4 too. Also, #2 is good, and good work JimmyJaceyMom on that crop / coloring.

Posing - it seems like she has attachment issues . She's always attached to something (wall, tree, etc)...how about some poses where it's just her...not holding onto anything?

 

[Ajay]

Posing - it seems like she has attachment issues . She's always attached to something (wall, tree, etc)...how about some poses where it's just her...not holding onto anything?

Lol! I never noticed that before. We are going out again when it gets a bit prettier and warmer around here to shoot some more, so I will definitely have to remember that. She did definitely seem a lot more comfortable when she was leaning on or touching something - a bit shy in front of the camera. I'm not kidding when I say out of 100 or more shots only 20 of them had a good natural smile.

Thanks for all the re-edits guys. I love seeing other ways to process my pictures.

The family is so nice. It is actually one of my sister-in-laws family and I begged them to pay me only by word of mouth (except for print costs, of course) but they refused and literally shoved $50 in my hand. Oh well.

 

[NJMAN]

The family is so nice. It is actually one of my sister-in-laws family and I begged them to pay me only by word of mouth (except for print costs, of course) but they refused and literally shoved $50 in my hand. Oh well.

You gotta love it when they shove money in your hand. Don't be so modest, accept the money willingly. You can always apply it towards equipment and supplies.

Keep up the good work!

NJ