Last Senior Portrait session

ARS.photography.MS · Apr 3, 2013

I am new and have done several family sessions as well as senior portrait sessions. I have been learning to shoot in raw. i am still very new and a little unsure of this process. I am going to post a couple of pictures from my session on Friday, March 28. the first pic will be the original with light post editing and the second is the same pic with "extra's" in the editing....

please feel free to offer any and all c & c!!!!

jwbryson1 · Apr 3, 2013

What kind of lighting are you using? The poses in the second and particularly the third photo seem VERY feminine to me....more of a pose that is appropriate for a woman than a man.

tirediron · Apr 3, 2013

Agree; the poses and clothing do not present the masculine view that I would expect for a male senior. Try and avoid placing the subject in the centre, and shoot at least a few images where his eyes are visible. In all of these he appears to be squinting. FWIW, adding a vignette doesn't actually constitute another pose!

TimothyJinx · Apr 3, 2013

Ditto what everyone else said. One positive is you have potentially really nice backgrounds/settings to make some interesting photos.

kundalini · Apr 3, 2013

#1 - I'm guessing the interlocking CA insignia has importance for the school. That should have some weight in the photo, but the advertisers are insignificant.

#2 - Nice doorway, but I feel it is under utilized. I'm not sure the wall deserves 1/3 of the frame.

#3 - Very cool background, but as mentioned, a very feminine pose. I can envision a shot from the bottom of the ramp with him having his right foot resting on the bench in a butch manner. Classic leading lines missed unfortunately.

tirediron said:
FWIW, adding a vignette doesn't actually constitute another pose!

Quote of the month..... and it's only the 3rd!

(not intended toward the OP, just in general)

myko5 · Apr 3, 2013

tirediron said:
FWIW, adding a vignette doesn't actually constitute another pose!

Maybe I am the one misreading the original thread, but the OP stated that they were posting the original with the next one having some light editing. I didn't get the impression that they were trying to pass it off as another pose. But then again, my wife always tells me I am wrong, so I guess it shouldn't be any different here.

The_Traveler · Apr 3, 2013

These are OOF - or at least the one I DLed is. Instead of pulling his head back, get him to extend his head forward a bit so that double chin goes away.

DO NOT shoot at f16, you don't need that enormous depth of field (with that lens at focal length of 30 mm and @f16 and about 10 feet away it is in focus from 5 ft to infinity) and almost certainly, it's not that len's best aperture.
There's no need to shoot at focal length of 30 when 70 would give you a great portrait length.
You have lots of room, don't get his feet so close to the bottom and so much room at the top.

tirediron · Apr 3, 2013

myko5 said:
tirediron said:

FWIW, adding a vignette doesn't actually constitute another pose!

Click to expand...

Maybe I am the one misreading the original thread, but the OP stated that they were posting the original with the next one having some light editing. I didn't get the impression that they were trying to pass it off as another pose. But then again, my wife always tells me I am wrong, so I guess it shouldn't be any different here.

I didn't mean to suggest the OP was trying to "pull" anything (hence the use of the "

" emoticon)... just a general comment.

tirediron · Apr 3, 2013

Actually Lew, is that OOF, or is it just badly pixelated/noisy?

LouR · Apr 3, 2013

I've seen my boss lady pose boys like that so they don't seem out of place to me, but his forced smile does. That and pulling his chin back like that tell me he was uncomfortable. When shooting in something like interesting doorways, the space under his feet should have been at least half a head's measurement to keep it from looking chopped. Also, the door's edge is slanted. If I were you, I'd offer to redo the shoot. Befriend the kid to make him comfortable; engage him in conversation to try and get more natural looks. Shoot continuous if you have to in order to capture a natural smile before it fades into fake.

Tee · Apr 3, 2013

Go easy on your vignetting. White vignetting is very outdated and a darker vignette should be subtle. Using the dodge and burn tool, you can select the level and paint the edges. 10% works well enough to darken edges without making it so obvious.

ARS.photography.MS · Apr 4, 2013

Omg! You guys are great! I needed this.....
As for his smile.....it was that or none! His mom kept saying smile and show your teeth....I shot everytine he giggled or when we were laughing and talking....his clothes were his choice lol ....
And at this point in the photo session I had moved a sign that bounced and cut my eye open. I stopped the bleeding and then covered to.finish...there were about 10-15 shots after the accident(no excuse for any of my work)

This was my 5th session to do! And I've been reading everything I can on this forum and other resources on any and everything to do with taking better pictures and getting a better understanding of it all. I can't get enough!

I have several family sessions and a wedding and a couple of childrens sessions coming up between April and July....

I'm going to read and reread your suggestions and put them into action. My two sons will be saying "awwwww mama more practice?!!" Lol

HughGuessWho · Apr 4, 2013

Here is some recommended reading for you;

HELP! Bad Photo Shoot/Gig: How to deal with the aftermath

ARS.photography.MS · Apr 4, 2013

jwbryson1 said:
What kind of lighting are you using? The poses in the second and particularly the third photo seem VERY feminine to me....more of a pose that is appropriate for a woman than a man.

The only lighting I used was natural light....no flash....poses noted for guys!