Latest Portraits: Kailynn and Jack

oldnavy170 · Oct 3, 2007

NJ, you really have become an AWESOME photographer!!!!! I think you did exactly what the mother wanted when she asked for "Senior" looking portraits without making her look older. These are so natural but glamorous at the same time!!!!

Oh, and my favorite is definitly number #7!!!!!

NJMAN · Oct 3, 2007

JimmyJaceyMom said:
2 and 8 for me! Good job.

Thanks Kathi! Always appreciate it!

stellar_gal said:
Great work NJMAN. The colors and eyes are awesome as always. Something we have come to 'expect' in your work, haha. I love #7 the most. The girl is tack sharp and the background is perfectly seasonal for fall. I can't wait to get those colors here.

Thank you so much stellar_gal. Oh no, now you have expectations from me! I dont know if I can handle that kind of pressure. ;-) Just kidding. You are very kind.

oldnavy170 said:
NJ, you really have become an AWESOME photographer!!!!! I think you did exactly what the mother wanted when she asked for "Senior" looking portraits without making her look older. These are so natural but glamorous at the same time!!!!

Oh, and my favorite is definitly number #7!!!!!

I so appreciate that. Thank you oldnavy. Your nice comments mean a lot to me!

heip · Oct 4, 2007

Nice work NJ. The only nit pick would be... a little hot on the hair light for # 3 & #8 but doesn't really take much away from the shots. Great posing, use of DOF & PP.

PS...I like the edit on the engagement shot.

NJMAN · Oct 5, 2007

heip said:
Nice work NJ. The only nit pick would be... a little hot on the hair light for # 3 & #8 but doesn't really take much away from the shots. Great posing, use of DOF & PP.

PS...I like the edit on the engagement shot.

Thanks for the critique heip! That helps me improve.

And thanks for the opportunity to edit your engagement shot!

NJ

zendianah · Oct 5, 2007

NJ I love your posing ability. The kids look very relaxed and natural. How do you do that? Stungun..

jk.

NJMAN · Oct 5, 2007

zendianah said:
NJ I love your posing ability. The kids look very relaxed and natural. How do you do that? Stungun.. jk.

I bribe them with cookies and ice cream. And if that doesnt work, I strap a large piece of extra strength double-sided tape to their backside, so they cant get up while Im shooting.

Thanks for the nice words! These kids were really great to work with, so I didnt need to resort to any extreme measures....this time....

layball:

Leo · Oct 12, 2007

Wow NJ, nice work as always.

roxysmom · Oct 15, 2007

Your pictures are wonderful! I'm new to portraits so can you tell me how you did this outside? Natural light is hard to get to look so soft.

NJMAN · Oct 16, 2007

Leo said:
Wow NJ, nice work as always.

Thanks Leo! I really appreciate it.

roxysmom said:
Your pictures are wonderful! I'm new to portraits so can you tell me how you did this outside? Natural light is hard to get to look so soft.

Thank you for the very kind words roxysmom. How did I do this? Well, I guess that would kind of difficult to sum up in a few sentences. But I can mention some things I have picked up on along the way.

I try to shoot either on bright sunny days or bright overcast days.

If its a bright day with lots of sunlight, I always look for a shady spot. More often than not, I can find shade that has some nice soft ambient light spilling in from the brightness of the sun. I then position my subjects so that the soft ambient gives their face contour and dimension. I try to use highlights and shadows to their advantage as much as possible. But you also need to be careful that you dont put them in front of a busy or distracting (or too bright) background.

If its a bright overcast day, thats a bonus all around. You can pretty much sit them anywhere and make sure the light falls on their face enough so that they dont have dark eyes. Again, the background needs to be non distracting, which means very out of focus, or if its close to the subject, it should be something that doesnt distract, such as water, a tree trunk, a wooden fence, or something natural like that.

On occasion, I use a large white reflector or fill flash to throw some needed light onto the face, or I use a black covering on the reflector to block harsh light (subtractive lighting, which Pete and JubbaKing taught me

).

Hope this helps.