I have a tough time with seniors! Shred it to pieces people! :D

CorrieMichael · Sep 10, 2013

So I have a tough time with seniors......I find I always have them looking awkward...I dunno. C&C needed!

runnah · Sep 10, 2013

Under exposed and the eyes are overly processed. The shadow under the chin makes her look fatter than she probably is. The vignetting is distracting.

tirediron · Sep 10, 2013

Is this for her passport? Agree with runnah's comments; she's posed square to the camera, her pupils look like pin-pricks... I have to ask Corrie, what was your goal with this particular image?

SoulfulRecover · Sep 10, 2013

get her to give a little more angle, accentuate the jaw line a little, look into the camera and give a smile! Pretty girl with beautiful eyes

kathyt · Sep 10, 2013

You have to create a connection with your seniors to really get something out of them. I always start from shooting below, or at a lower level then them. That gives them a sense of power and control, and then for some reason they will loosen up. Knowing your poses inside and out beforehand will give you the confidence you need to guide the session. If they sense that your not sure of what your doing they will tense right back up. Get to know your seniors hobbies before the session so you can create small talk during your session. If they are bored or uncomfortable; it shows!

CorrieMichael · Sep 10, 2013

Perfect! Thanks everyone!

pixmedic · Sep 10, 2013

With some better exposure, and a little better posing, i actually like this shot.
Maybe a slight tilt on her head and the lighting a little off center (or higher possibly)

Honestly, with a bit of a smile, this shot would be fine. The exposure is not off so far that it cannot be corrected in post. Its the posing that hurts it more.

If you want to see the BEST way to break the ice and lighten the mood for a cheerful shoot, watch the Austin Powers movie scenes where he is a photographer.

Ilovemycam · Sep 10, 2013

I like it. Nice bright eye.

Always ask the client. The client may love of hate the processing etc.

One guy said the grain was bad for his 2 cents. Another said HDR was bad. I talked with a person that liked grain and asked for it. Give the client what they want. If no one pays you do what you like.

If you get a client that wants hyper real HDR what you going to say...HDR is crap? The pro should be diversified and can many things, unless they want to specialize in one small niche.

DiskoJoe · Sep 10, 2013

One piece of advice. By the way you pose your question it shows that you are not comfortable in this area. If you are not comfortable your client will also not be comfortable. This shows through here. This looks like deer in the headlights. Try to make things relaxed and natural and all will be well. Thats my secret at least.

Pretty girls should have pretty smiles and not blank stares.

Caitlin - 100 Strangers: 3/100 by DiskoJoe, on Flickr

This was taken literally minutes after I met her. You were probably with your client for at least an hour.

frommrstomommy · Sep 10, 2013

I agree with a lot of the others comments.. shoot portrait, ease up on the eyes.. chin out, etc.

CorrieMichael · Sep 10, 2013

okay so first off I asked her to be serious.......I will show you how this progressed

and this is my 3rd senior/grad session that has been a portfolio building session, so she didn't pay so no one has to worry about that

1.The light was straight on her in this image that is the reason for the small pupils.
2. I did not sharpen the eyes at all outside of my regular all over sharpening but I did add blue........I think that my facebook sharpen and resize (I got it from my last mentoring session. The photographer gave me her action for that when I did the course) does make them look overdone but the high res doesn't look nearly as sharp in the eyes.
We were at a parking garage and I looked out and thought that the toll booth was a neat colour and decided to venture out that way.

haven't had time to edit them all but wanted to answer tirediron's comment about my goal....so my goal was back in the parking garage....lol....but ventured out here....
We started out here and I didn't like the air conditioner and wasn't sure if I could crop properly
SOOC

So then went from there to here to avoid the air conditioner (edited)

Then I thought hmmmm.....try the lighting at the very end of the booth and thought it was a cool colour for a backdrop so that led me to here
SOOC NO EDIT

and THEN...... I did orientation change and asked for a serious look

which brought me to this....and in editing I just LOVED and thought I would see what you all thought

I also have just bought a new monitor so am worried is it is looking brighter than what I usually edit to because I rarely under expose.....lol......if anything I am the opposite.....I have addressed the exposure here and let me know if this looks okay to you now for exposure just so I can get an idea on this monitor.

I have to say looking at this now I wonder if the eyes don't look like that because of the light and if so....what can I do not in post to fix it so they don't have such an overdone look to them.......notice her pupils.......it was because the light was really bright on this side....not direct but bright!

So there you have it.....this is how I got to this picture....wasn't trying to achieve one thing other than practice

and making use of surroundings and giving some variation in the photos

Rwsphotos · Sep 10, 2013

looking at your progression I prefer the first two in the set. Like #3 three over your original but the smudge on the toll both grabs my attention more than she does though it does follow the side of her head lol

your original which is four in your series just does not grab me I'm not getting serious from her not getting much in facial expression at all. personally don't like the horizontal crop but that's just me. That kind of composition always left me feeling like the subjects head is just floating in the frame with no body. Exposure looks better in the re edit at least on my end.