I just figured out I am getting old... (Senior Pics)

heatherfeather

I got a call this week from a long time friend that I haven't seen in quite a while. He asked me to do his son's senior pictures. Last time I saw his son was when I was babysitting him when he was in kindergarten.:huh I just couldn't get over how grown up he was.

1. This is Jacob... Jacob wins the prize for the coolest eyes. This is the one they chose for the yearbook. I got a couple of him with out his glasses and they are my favorites because of his really neat eyes.


2. The rest of these are SOOC, so have mercy on me for the little nits. Jacob is on the X Country ski team and I have been told is pretty good. When his dad told me he wanted to pose with his skis, my brain was scrambling on how to pose someone with skis when there is no snow... yet. So we went to my new favorite culvert and didn't even have to pretend it was cold out. I was thankful I had some dexterious gloves to wear.


3. We did find a little patch of snow- though it was 20 miles away and quite a bit above us. I was pretty happy with my lighting on this one- since it was bright mid day sunlight. I really had to crank the flash to compensate. Not too keen on his leg placement, though.


4. His dad just loved this one because of the long porch. I was a little
dissatisfied because I have used this location when the dappled light doesn't take over quite so badly. But the long porch is rather cool.



5. This is another of my favorites. It reminds me of the way he looked when he was 5. LOL!



C & C are always welcome! (I always want to improve!)

Travis

Once again another impressive series. Everything from lighting to poses to composition is great. His smile looks a bit forced in #2 but thats the only the only thing that i can nitpick. You are right about the eyes - very cool!

Swartzy

Nice job Heather. It's totally up to you but I think the first and #4 could use color balance and make them stand out a bit more....very yellow cast throughout. The cast is taking away from those cool eyes. I do like the light and comps.....well done.

gregneil

These are great. Number one is my favorite, his expression is great. I love the light in number 2, it gives a lot of depth to his features, but I agree his smile is a bit forced. The harsh light and shadow in the porch shot background kind of kills it for me (I just find it distracting), but if the customer likes it, that's all that matters! The last one is a great shot, but he's got one of those smiles where it's half teeth and half gum-line. I had a groom like that at a wedding a few weeks ago... every smile was huge, and showed more gum than teeth! I wasn't sure how to handle it, it looks kinda weird to me, but maybe that's just normal for some people? I don't see it in any of the other shots, though.

ShepsMom

These are wonderful Heather. I really like surroundings on all of them.

heatherfeather

Swartzy wrote:

Nice job Heather. It's totally up to you but I think the first and #4 could use color balance and make them stand out a bit more....very yellow cast throughout. The cast is taking away from those cool eyes. I do like the light and comps.....well done.

I was wondering about that myself. I used the WB dropper, and I couldn't seem to get it any better without going the other direction (magenta) Then I lightened up the yellow as far as I dared. Are you measuring the yellow tones? or is it just by your eye? It is hard to tell with the butterscotch paint color behind him.

heatherfeather

Travis wrote:

Once again another impressive series. Everything from lighting to poses to composition is great. His smile looks a bit forced in #2 but thats the only the only thing that i can nitpick. You are right about the eyes - very cool!

Thanks Travis! You can definately see how he warmed up toward the end of the shoot. #2 was about 5 minutes into the shoot, so a forced smile is to be expected. I should show you the difference between his expression in the first shot to the last, and you'll see what I mean! This is proof that taking your time with clients is really important.

First shot: (How about that fake smile!?)



last shot: (just about to burst out laughing)

heatherfeather

gregneil wrote:

These are great. Number one is my favorite, his expression is great. I love the light in number 2, it gives a lot of depth to his features, but I agree his smile is a bit forced. The harsh light and shadow in the porch shot background kind of kills it for me (I just find it distracting), but if the customer likes it, that's all that matters! The last one is a great shot, but he's got one of those smiles where it's half teeth and half gum-line. I had a groom like that at a wedding a few weeks ago... every smile was huge, and showed more gum than teeth! I wasn't sure how to handle it, it looks kinda weird to me, but maybe that's just normal for some people? I don't see it in any of the other shots, though.

I am with you on the harsh light on the porch one... We only stayed at that spot for a total of 5 pictures before I moved us, even though it is one of my favorite places to shoot!

Oh, and I'm personally rather fond of gummers, as half of the people in my family are have that trait. (I was missed, thank God) I just think that it is "them" so make sure to get some real smiles even with the gums.

But if you are going for more of a perfect/ model look, have them do a slight smile, or smile without teeth.

heatherfeather

ShepsMom wrote:

These are wonderful Heather. I really like surroundings on all of them.

Yeah, it is too bad we can't get some good scenic backgrounds up here in Alaska. Bummer, huh. Thanks for the compliment!

jeffreaux2

Very nice !!!

FWIW I think the WB looks fine. His skin tones at least seem consistant throughout.

Deadeye008

These are very nice. Well done!

DECinNC

#1 and 5 are winners for me. And yes the "eyes" have it.

jayegirl

Great job as usual. The eyes are great. The lighting on the long porch picture doesn't bother me at all.

Agnieszka

Very nice set!! The first and last are my favorites + you are right he does have very nice eyes! He should think about contact lenses .....

Photosbychuck

Great Photos!
My favs are #1, #2 & #4.
Do you include prints in your prices or just let them buy the prints from your site?

Thanks for posting.

Chuck

tonichelle

It was funny, I didn't realize where you were from at first and I saw the second one and went "whoa, that looks too familiar"

great series, and yes his eyes are very cool!

JAG

Lovely work Heather! They all look great but I think the last one with the genuine smile is super! That snow is too close for comfort now...cant believe we have already got it here in the valley!

tonichelle

JAG wrote:

Lovely work Heather! They all look great but I think the last one with the genuine smile is super! That snow is too close for comfort now...cant believe we have already got it here in the valley!

it's here in Anchorage, too... though thankfully just a dusting (though it was snowing when I was driving around this evening so it might be more now) and I know Sterling got a bit too...

it's too flipping early! especially since we didn't have much of a summer! *pouts*

JAG

tonichelle wrote:

it's here in Anchorage, too... though thankfully just a dusting (though it was snowing when I was driving around this evening so it might be more now) and I know Sterling got a bit too...

it's too flipping early! especially since we didn't have much of a summer! *pouts*

I hear ya. Thats why I am going to the Caribbean next month!

heatherfeather

JAG wrote:

I hear ya. Thats why I am going to the Caribbean next month!

Oh, thanks for bringing THAT up. (Have a good time!!) And don't get too tan or you might get whitewashed by all the angry/ jealous Alaskans.

tonichelle

heatherfeather wrote:

Oh, thanks for bringing THAT up. (Have a good time!!) And don't get too tan or you might get whitewashed by all the angry/ jealous Alaskans.

hey, it'll kill the winter set in blues!!!!

I have till January before I get to get the heck outta dodge for a while... *sigh*

JAG

heatherfeather wrote:

Oh, thanks for bringing THAT up. (Have a good time!!) And don't get too tan or you might get whitewashed by all the angry/ jealous Alaskans.

Green is not becoming on you Heather... Ty I will have a fun time. Did you check out my baby shots? I have been waiting for you to give me a critique girl!

heatherfeather

Oh wow! I missed a whole bunch of comments on this thread. Sorry I didn't respond to everyone already. To answer a couple questions:

To Chuck- either they buy prints from my site, or if they are wanting wallets I order them bulk from WHCC and give them a bulk discount.

And to everyone else: Thanks for the nice compliments! That was really a fun shoot! It is hard to hold the camera steady while laughing, but somehow I managed!

JAG

tonichelle wrote:

hey, it'll kill the winter set in blues!!!!

I have till January before I get to get the heck outta dodge for a while... *sigh*

Hang in there...you can live vicariously through my pics I will have afterward!:D

heatherfeather

tonichelle wrote:

hey, it'll kill the winter set in blues!!!!

I have till January before I get to get the heck outta dodge for a while... *sigh*

We are trying to decide between January or March.... They both sound good. Too bad we can't have both! I could use a "freckle boost" since I don't really tan. *matching sigh*

tonichelle

heatherfeather wrote:

We are trying to decide between January or March.... They both sound good. Too bad we can't have both! I could use a "freckle boost" since I don't really tan. *matching sigh*

well, March was out for me because that's spring break and my best friend and I are headed to Walt Disney World and so we chose January due to the smaller crowds... weather won't be as warm as I want it to be, but it'll be way warmer than here!

heatherfeather

tonichelle wrote:

well, March was out for me because that's spring break and my best friend and I are headed to Walt Disney World and so we chose January due to the smaller crowds... weather won't be as warm as I want it to be, but it'll be way warmer than here!

Ha HA! We are going to Disney Land. Good point about spring break. Have to think about that one. : )

zoomer

I like 1 and 4.
You can always go into saturation and take some of the yellow out in number 1....but I think it is fine how it is.
When you get shots like the one on the porch, select the boy and then hit inverse and take some of the yellow out and reduce contrast on the blown our porch and sometimes it will work to make it less distracting. Sometimes not...worth a shot?

White balance does not always need to be correct embrace the wrongness sometimes and you will end up with a nice effect.

Nice photos looks like you were having a good time. I know what you mean by waiting for the person to loosen up. I spend the first 30 minutes typically just messing around till I see the personality start to come out and then we start really getting down to the pictures.

Nice work!

tonichelle

heatherfeather wrote:

Ha HA! We are going to Disney Land. Good point about spring break. Have to think about that one. : )

I went to DL in August of 2006 and was told it would be very crowded as it was summer vacation's last big push before school starts and it felt pretty deserted the one day we got to be there. I love that park, just for the history, as it's smaller than the Magic Kingdom at Disney World (not just grounds wise but the scale seems to be way smaller too, not just the castle height difference).

I'm told I'm obsessed with the parks by my family, but what's wrong with that?

heatherfeather

tonichelle wrote:

I went to DL in August of 2006 and was told it would be very crowded as it was summer vacation's last big push before school starts and it felt pretty deserted the one day we got to be there. I love that park, just for the history, as it's smaller than the Magic Kingdom at Disney World (not just grounds wise but the scale seems to be way smaller too, not just the castle height difference).

I'm told I'm obsessed with the parks by my family, but what's wrong with that?

I don't think you are the only one. My S.inLaw is right there with you. She has "converted" the rest of us too. I will be taking my kiddos for the first time, so I am super excited about that. Last January I went with all my adult siblings and mom and dad and that was a kick in the pants. THis year we are taking all the kids too! Can't get enough!

tonichelle

sounds like so much fun! We took a family trip last year to WDW and it was so much fun and we're still talking about it! Disney really knows how to do it right, that's for sure! hopefully your kids are young enough to fly free on AK Airlines! that'd make it even better!