Senior Shot

[smoke665]

It's kind of a moral boost when your kids and grand kids want you to do their senior portraits. It's also a little scary hoping to live up to their expectations. This of the first of two grandsons graduating this year. Did a series of studio and location shots at an old house, got a lot of good choices. One I liked early on from studio.
Fall Shoot-601.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I don't know why, but my eyes keep going back to those creases in the gray undershirt...

 

[Winona]

Nice!

 

[smoke665]

I don't know why, but my eyes keep going back to those creases in the gray undershirt...

Meh, I would have smoothed it some had I caught it, but considering the posing challenges with a slightly uncomfortable subject I'm not going to worry to much. I'm surprised DW (assistant) didn't catch it as she's usually pretty good on things like that, but Grandson, parents and grandparents were happy so all was good.

@Winona thank you!

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I actually thought he looked very comfortable in the pose. That's the hardest part of portraiture, imo, to make the pose look natural and comfortable.

 

[smoke665]

I actually thought he looked very comfortable in the pose. That's the hardest part of portraiture, imo, to make the pose look natural and comfortable.

He had just started to relax a little by this time.

 

[Designer]

One I liked early on from studio.
Fall Shoot-601.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

Ignore the folds. Not a big deal.

I'm more concerned by the chin-on-fist pose. His head is too far forward to be "naturally relaxed", so for me, the pose is not optimum.

 

[SquarePeg]

I like it. The pose, the lighting, the eye contact - all great. The blacks are lost but that could be my monitor.

 

[CherylL]

I like the pose and the light. His face looks very good exposure. The stool front leg is distracting. Maybe darken some?

 

[smoke665]

@Designer Thanks for commenting. The stool wasn't ideal for him, which likely threw him a little further forward than I would have liked, but the other option was way to short. Been awhile since I shot adult size subjects

@SquarePeg thanks for commenting. The pants were new (unwashed), and black as coal. On my monitor they're still there deep, but prior to printing will need to revisit that during soft proofing.

@CherylL Thank you. The stool will get some more treatment, just not sure what yet.

 

[adamhiram]

Very nice! My only feedback is that it looks like the light falls off pretty quickly as it gets to the bottom of the frame. My preference would to see some of the texture of the dark pants as @SquarePeg pointed out, and even out the exposure so the right hand (camera left) isn't so much darker - pretty easy adjustment with an exposure gradient. Then again, I'm guessing that falloff was personal preference. Very nice portrait!

 

[smoke665]

Very nice! My only feedback is that it looks like the light falls off pretty quickly as it gets to the bottom of the frame. My preference would to see some of the texture of the dark pants as @SquarePeg pointed out, and even out the exposure so the right hand (camera left) isn't so much darker - pretty easy adjustment with an exposure gradient. Then again, I'm guessing that falloff was personal preference. Very nice portrait!

Thanks Adam. I did intend to have some falloff, though not as much as I ended up with, also didn't know up front the pants were that black. There's definately lot more coverage required on a 6' tall young man than a 5yr old. I had a large white reflector down low to bounce light back up, but in retrospect I'd probably switch the key to a beauty dish and add a 4th softbox low to even up the light.

 

[jcdeboever]

Nice, like it all.

 

[Space Face]

Fine looking portrait. It's a genre I wish I could do more often and better.