Brady- Sr Portraits

heatherfeather

I just finished processing a few and thought I would share. I have been busy this past week with all the Seniors who just realized that the Sr portrait deadline for the yearbook is the first of Oct.... that and winter is rapidly approaching and we are loosing our beautiful leaves.

I really like this whole set, but haven't processed them all, so in the words of my 7 year old: "You get what you get and don't throw a fit!"

Brady is a good looking fellow, and so willing to work hard for some great shots. The shots were easy to get, it is just the processing that is kicking my heiny. I had to do A LOT of skin processing on these. He has by far the hardest skin condition to clean up that I have encountered to date. Please be sure to critique me on the skin. Remember the goal is to make him look like himself on his best day- and not a Ken doll with plastic skin.


1. I'll post them big so you can get a good up close look at his face.


2.



3. This one was the hardest with the skin touch ups. With the light coming across his face the way it was, the acne was overwhelming the photo.


C & C not only appreciated, but requested.

Scott_Quier

Skin processing - looks good to me. FWIW, I think you kept the skin real.

First, let me say I really like the first 2 photos. But I think you wasted your time on #3. His pose/posture and expression is probably not one the client will buy.

digismile

I'm not sure if I see a problem with the skin or not! Kind of a self fulling prophecy ... you tell me to look for something and I find it!

Well, not really ..:D . Even at this size it's going to be hard to tell. I think the skin is just fine for screen presentation. It's when printing that you'll really know how well you've done your job. My only advice is to watch your sharpening. Test print it and see if you still like it.

I really like the first 2 images. #3, not so much. It's not the processing, the composition just doesn't grab me. I find the doorway distracting and it seems cropped a little tight. So unless Brady is really in love with this one, I wouldn't sweat the processing ...

Swartzy

I would agree on both counts Fred . The one crazy thing is what a client will or will not pick. I think you did a great job on the skin and a print test will of course, reveal. Would be fun to see some more . Like the 2nd of these 3 best.

heatherfeather

Scott_Quier wrote:

Skin processing - looks good to me. FWIW, I think you kept the skin real.

First, let me say I really like the first 2 photos. But I think you wasted your time on #3. His pose/posture and expression is probably not one the client will buy.

Thanks Scott. I did have difficulties remembering how to pose a guy. For some reason, it is way harder for me to pose a guy than a girl. Could be because I happen to be a girl.... But I got to get it down quick because I have a bunch of them lined up for Sr. Pictures!

In #3 I just was in love with the lighting in there.

Other question... how do you guys keep the models hands out of the pockets? I told him at least... 15 times to take his hands out of the pockets, but they always ended up there. I guess it was a comfort thing.

Glad you liked the first 2

heatherfeather

digismile wrote:

I'm not sure if I see a problem with the skin or not! Kind of a self fulling prophecy ... you tell me to look for something and I find it!

Well, not really ..:D . Even at this size it's going to be hard to tell. I think the skin is just fine for screen presentation. It's when printing that you'll really know how well you've done your job. My only advice is to watch your sharpening. Test print it and see if you still like it.

I really like the first 2 images. #3, not so much. It's not the processing, the composition just doesn't grab me. I find the doorway distracting and it seems cropped a little tight. So unless Brady is really in love with this one, I wouldn't sweat the processing ...

Where are you seeing the issues with sharpening? I only did the eyes, and then just barely. #3 is pretty tack sharp where it needs to be sooc. It was cropped close because I needed to straighten it about 1/16th turn. I hear you about the composition. It was in a dugout, which to a baseball player it all is part of the story. Thank you for your comment, and I hope to hear from you soon!

heatherfeather

Swartzy wrote:

I would agree on both counts Fred . The one crazy thing is what a client will or will not pick. I think you did a great job on the skin and a print test will of course, reveal. Would be fun to see some more . Like the 2nd of these 3 best.

Ha ha! I thought, "who is Fred?" and looked at all the comments...and then finally figured it out. Duh!
As to seeing some more, I am considering posting the others to the gallery without the skin touch ups, since it takes around 30 minutes to do one photo properly. And then I'd let them know that I will do touchups on any purchased prints. But I never know if they are going to buy the disk, and then what do I do if they do...(?) I'll think about the processing, but will be sure to post some more as I get them finished. Thanks Steve

Scott_Quier

heatherfeather wrote:

Other question... how do you guys keep the models hands out of the pockets? I told him at least... 15 times to take his hands out of the pockets, but they always ended up there. I guess it was a comfort thing.

Glad you liked the first 2

It's basic psychology - I use the same technique with my models/clients/subjects that I used when raising my son. Telling what you want them to do leaves no room for them having to guess what you want them to do - which is where you leave someone when you tell them what not to do.

Working with models and telling them what you want them to do when you are making photographs, of course, puts more of the burden on you - where it belongs.

By analogy, haven't you been in a position where you are attempting to get the formal portraits of the bridal party (or some other group) and been confronted by the question, "Where do you want us?" Same thing - they (your models/clients/subjects) are expecting you to know what you are doing. In my case, that's a huge stretch sometimes but, so far, I have them fooled!

HTH

Qarik

The skin looks good in 1 and 2. The skin looks the slightest bit plasticy in the chin area in 3 and that only because I looked very closely. I would like to see a before shot though

heatherfeather

Qarik wrote:

The skin looks good in 1 and 2. The skin looks the slightest bit plasticy in the chin area in 3 and that only because I looked very closely. I would like to see a before shot though

Here they are SOOC. You can see that I did a couple color adjustments, straightening and then the skin processing as well as a bit of burning here and there.

heatherfeather

Scott_Quier wrote:

It's basic psychology - I use the same technique with my models/clients/subjects that I used when raising my son. Telling what you want them to do leaves no room for them having to guess what you want them to do - which is where you leave someone when you tell them what not to do.

Working with models and telling them what you want them to do when you are making photographs, of course, puts more of the burden on you - where it belongs.

By analogy, haven't you been in a position where you are attempting to get the formal portraits of the bridal party (or some other group) and been confronted by the question, "Where do you want us?" Same thing - they (your models/clients/subjects) are expecting you to know what you are doing. In my case, that's a huge stretch sometimes but, so far, I have them fooled!

HTH

You are smart, Scott. Bossy is better in this case! ! (I should get my 5 year old into photography! She would be awesome at that part!)

digismile

heatherfeather wrote:

Where are you seeing the issues with sharpening? I only did the eyes, and then just barely. #3 is pretty tack sharp where it needs to be sooc. It was cropped close because I needed to straighten it about 1/16th turn. I hear you about the composition. It was in a dugout, which to a baseball player it all is part of the story. Thank you for your comment, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Sorry, I didn't communicate very well! No issue with sharpening right now .

You were asking about whether the skin looked OK. What I was really trying to say, is that I often sharpen differently for print than for web and that for images where I had to do more skin touchups, regular sharpening could make the retouching more visible. But this was before the magic of the healing brush!

So again, my only advice was, if you're worried about the skin retouching, test print it. And watch your final sharpening ...:D

jeffreaux2

Oh Heather these are horrible!!!!


...not...


Actually these are very good. I like the handling of the skin. We see WAY too many of these with the blurry pudding look and always hear....that the kid had acne. Wake-up....most teens do. There are better ways to handle that than just running some kind of glamour action...as you have well demonstrated. I like the lighting and poses....the color is good. I agree that he looks uncomfortable in #3. Stiff/unatural....a lot like I would look on that end of a camera I guess.

I wrote a senior portrait article for another website, but it hasn't been published yet. In it I wrote about the fact that the boys usually wouldn't even take sr pics if not for their mothers, yet they are usually very compliant and open to your suggestions. The girls of course have it all planned out in their heads before they arrive. Hands and feet require special attention in any portrait.

heatherfeather

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Oh Heather these are horrible!!!!


...not...


Actually these are very good. I like the handling of the skin. We see WAY too many of these with the blurry pudding look and always hear....that the kid had acne. Wake-up....most teens do. There are better ways to handle that than just running some kind of glamour action...as you have well demonstrated. I like the lighting and poses....the color is good. I agree that he looks uncomfortable in #3. Stiff/unatural....a lot like I would look on that end of a camera I guess.

I wrote a senior portrait article for another website, but it hasn't been published yet. In it I wrote about the fact that the boys usually wouldn't even take sr pics if not for their mothers, yet they are usually very compliant and open to your suggestions. The girls of course have it all planned out in their heads before they arrive. Hands and feet require special attention in any portrait.

And I am thankful to those mothers since I don't have one Senior Girl shoot and a whole passel of Senior Guy shoots lined up... Funny how that works that way sometimes. Perhaps I just needed more practice with guys and somebody upstairs worked it out for me. I do have to say that I looove Sr. shoots. Talk about lack of pressure! I get to have as long as I want to set up lighting for each shot and then even get the luxury of adjusting as needed afterwards! What a treat after weddings, let me tell ya!

So, checklist for me:
Double check the hands and feet during posing
Bring a joke book, (since I can never remember punch lines) and get him relaxed and happy.
Don't let my DH cook breakfast because it always includes garlic in some way... (just kidding on the last one, but it still might apply some days!)


Jeff, let us know when you are published- we would love to see it!

jeffreaux2

heatherfeather wrote:

And I am thankful to those mothers since I don't have one Senior Girl shoot and a whole passel of Senior Guy shoots lined up... Funny how that works that way sometimes. Perhaps I just needed more practice with guys and somebody upstairs worked it out for me. I do have to say that I looove Sr. shoots. Talk about lack of pressure! I get to have as long as I want to set up lighting for each shot and then even get the luxury of adjusting as needed afterwards! What a treat after weddings, let me tell ya!

So, checklist for me:
Double check the hands and feet during posing
Bring a joke book, (since I can never remember punch lines) and get him relaxed and happy.
Don't let my DH cook breakfast because it always includes garlic in some way... (just kidding on the last one, but it still might apply some days!)


Jeff, let us know when you are published- we would love to see it!

It is mostly general observations....I am thinking I should paste it into a Smugmug journal gallery and give a link here..... ...

Qarik

after looking at the before shots...very nice skin processing. bravo

JulieLawsonPhotography

I love the first one! I love the way the light and color looks. I think you did a good job on his skin.