Senior girl with her horse

erson83 · August 20, 2008

I did my very first senior shoot yesterday. Would love some CC please. Thanks guys (and gals!)

Scott_Quier · August 20, 2008

This is good in so many ways

Horse eye is in focus
Girls eyes are in focus
Catchlights in all the eyes
Nice interaction between girl and her horse
Nice color and great lights
It looks like you controlled the highlights well - no blown areas I can see
Background is nicely dark, allowing her to really pop out of the image

What would I change?

Trees growing out of her head
Why are you on one side of the fence and her on the other?
Loose the fence rail at the bottom.
She's a bit centered in the photo, maybe cropping some from the top and from the right side of the image?
Maybe shoot from further to the right. As shot, lens perspective makes the horse's head sooooo much larger than her's. Yes, I know a horse's head is going to be quite a bit larger than a young lady's, but I think your shooting perspective has magnified this a bit too much.

Darren Troy C · August 20, 2008

Outstanding image...Love your post-prod. work w/ the vignette and saturation!

I too, would only change the perspective so the trees were positioned a little to one side of her head and would crop the fence rail out entirely....one thought would be to include it...more of it, as part of the subject matter...or not at all. The way it is now makes you wonder whether you were supposed to be with them or if you were required to keep the fence between you two. The fence has a nice weathered patina and could add to an already great image, just not enough of it is included here.

jeffreaux2 · August 20, 2008

I had an opportunity to do some senior photos last school year with a senior boy and his horse, so I know that trying to capture a great looking portrait, and including a large animal can be a challenge. I agree with much of what Scott has said, so I won't repeat. I think a tighter crop would work better...losing the fence rail...and also....next time definately watch for the trees that seem to grow from her head.

The processing/ treatment is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

jayegirl · August 20, 2008

I absolutely love the treatment. Agree with above. As much as I love it, it leaves me wanting to see the rest of her leg/foot. The client will love this one.

erson83 · August 20, 2008

I thank you ll for your comments. It's funny how when you get to shooting you get lost in the view finder and forget about things like mysterious growing trees! I do agree on that front. And yea, that darn horse was far from a perfect client! Allow me to post one more from the shoot that may be a bit better.

jeffreaux2 · August 20, 2008

The second could use some straightening, and you have large areas in shadow with zero detail(plugged blacks). Nice shot though!

Scott_Quier · August 20, 2008

jeffreaux2 wrote:

The second could use some straightening, and you have large areas in shadow with zero detail(plugged blacks). Nice shot though!

And a completly blown sky - huge amounts of nothing but white! Could be "saved" with a crop on the right and on the top, then fill the white with some sky from another shot.

erson83 · August 20, 2008

I was using the reflector for the first time. I was happy with the gold side and the effect it had on her face for example. I didn't even care about the blown sky and shadows!

Qarik · August 20, 2008

outstanding..lots of pop! Her skin looks a bit to red to me but just slightly.

DECinNC · September 12, 2008

In the first I see a horse with a girl on her rather than a girl on a horse - I think it is the perspective. Other than that I like the picture very much. In the second I see a girl with a horse behind her but I don't care for all the dark and the blown sky.

Little T · September 12, 2008

IMO - not like its worth alot

but that second photo i think would look even better (although its already a great shot) if you maybe did some burning around the edges to leave a nice oval around her and the horse's head really bright to bring even more focus to them.

erson83 · September 12, 2008

Little T wrote:

IMO - not like its worth alot but that second photo i think would look even better (although its already a great shot) if you maybe did some burning around the edges to leave a nice oval around her and the horse's head really bright to bring even more focus to them.

worth a shot...I'll give it a go. I'm so much worried about the blown out parts as I am happy with the way the rider and horse are captured by the light. Leaves a bit of mystery