Jesse's Sr Shoot

jeffreaux2

That time of year....beginning to busy up with Sr portraits.

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Edit: To add that the unrestored pick-up used in this set has graced Dgrin once before. A few of you might remember it as "Nearsighted"...an aptly titled entry into one of the DSS challenges and a POY finalist.

"Nearsighted"

Swartzy

He should be very pleased Jeff. I like the style and processing.

Spydawebb

These are really nice. My favorites are 5-7.

Hackbone

Jeff, you'be got some good things going on here. He should be very happy. He does have some deep set eyes with hard core eyebrows. You need to get more light into the eyes to counter the overhead lighting. It seems that the light is coming straight down giving him the racoon eye effect.

jeffreaux2

Thanks Guys!!!

...and welcome to Dgrin....Hackbone and Spydawebb !!!



In a teaser post Neil had asked about shooting and processing notes....I have a few to share.

These were shot on day three of a four day rain....in fact we took several breaks from shooting to keep the gear somewhat dry. The skies were HEAVILY overcast/cloudy/soupy....call it what ya want...but it was heavy enough that you couldn't discearn exactly where the sun was above them. This gave off some very soft light but....

The last time I shot in skies like this I made the decision to NOT use a CTB gel on the flash. Things just didnt look right in camera so I ditched it. I later had to deal with some extremely troublesome skin tones. This time...I decided that no matter what they looked like in camera I would stick to the CTB gel on the flash. These actually looked pretty good in camera, but my first round of edits were way warm.....and hopefully I have toned that down enough.

This was my first serious outing with the 50D. It seems to be a little more sensitive to highlights than the XTi, but manageable in a RAW workflow. Along with the 50D, I shot with the 70-200 and 17-55. For flash, I used a single 580EX off camera with a 60inch shoot through umbrella. It took some minor effort to find the balance I wanted in regards to the flash, but once I found that it was easy to just set the lightstand up at an equal distance for each shot. I wasn't looking for key light from the flash...but rather just a little boost. I accomplished that better in some shots than others...but hey...Ill get it eventually.

The RAW files were done up in lightroom. The BW conversions were done in CS3. My teaser shot and several of the BW shots here also use some texture overlays. Jesse's deep set eyes, and the old pick-up made me go for the James Dean look in ragged monotones in those few.

Frog Lady

I was trying to say which was my favorite, but I can't. I like them all for different reasons. From your photos, I feel like I can almost tell Jesse's personality. Nice job.

C.

BCSPhotoguy

I like them, Just like what I said with the teaser shot. These too tell a story about him. Seniors around here dont do this type of photography, the leave it up to the school to give them bland and boring portraits... I may have to start advertising the 'new' version of the portrait!!

WingsOfLovePhoto

Technically great shots Jeff. Love the posing and props, you are so lucky to have found places like this! #5 is my favorite. The only thing I don't like is most of his facial expression. I realize that he is a teen boy and that is probably just his face and his way of showing attitude but he looks pissed in a few of them. Kind of like he is sneering..... But I am sure he will like them that way.

divamum

Jeff, I was going to ASK if it was the same car!!!!!! Ha - glad you posted that, so I know I'm not simply hallucinating (I saw these yesterday, but didn't have a chance to respond in depth so I'm only just now catching up)

I really like the overall look and styling you gave him, and the car was an inspired choice! I'm going to guess he wasn't an "easy" subject to shoot - as WoL says, he has that "teen sneer" look; even if that's not what he's actually like, that's what he projects, so great job on some different looks which particularly in 1 and 4 show his *youth*, which makes the "I'm all growed up" looks in the others quite endearing I just wish he had smiled in #6 - with a lighter expression, that one would have been pretty much perfect, because the comp and lighting are scrumptious.

I think 1 and 3 are my favorites (although what does it look like if you crop a wee bit tighter on the left-hand side of 3, to lose that dark patch of growth behind? (And BOY is your part of the world green this time of year!! Wow - life further north is still BROWN in the places it isn't still white!)

Great job, as always. With the processing, what did you actually do - desat, or black/white layering or...? Just curious - I really like what you did

jeffreaux2

Hey thanks everyone!!

jeffreaux2

divamum wrote:

Jeff, I was going to ASK if it was the same car!!!!!! Ha - glad you posted that, so I know I'm not simply hallucinating (I saw these yesterday, but didn't have a chance to respond in depth so I'm only just now catching up)

I really like the overall look and styling you gave him, and the car was an inspired choice! I'm going to guess he wasn't an "easy" subject to shoot - as WoL says, he has that "teen sneer" look; even if that's not what he's actually like, that's what he projects, so great job on some different looks which particularly in 1 and 4 show his *youth*, which makes the "I'm all growed up" looks in the others quite endearing I just wish he had smiled in #6 - with a lighter expression, that one would have been pretty much perfect, because the comp and lighting are scrumptious.

I think 1 and 3 are my favorites (although what does it look like if you crop a wee bit tighter on the left-hand side of 3, to lose that dark patch of growth behind? (And BOY is your part of the world green this time of year!! Wow - life further north is still BROWN in the places it isn't still white!)

Great job, as always. With the processing, what did you actually do - desat, or black/white layering or...? Just curious - I really like what you did

I don't typically crop shots until I order prints. I have done a square version of a shot very similar to #3. In the square version, I cropped the back of the truck away....which I think is the opposite of your suggestion. THAT shot will be posted on my blog sooner or later.

Ive known this guy for a long time. He even took my younger daughter to a prom once. He absolutely DREADS having his photo taken....but...we talked....planned...schemed together.....the truck...as a backdrop was his idea.....he was into it.....and we had a great time. As for the expressions..... I"ll take it! To me....it beats...hands down....the pasted on smiles that some folks bring to a photoshoot. Gimme a laugh, a frown.....cry, be mad, be anything but fake!! I am sure I will have at least ONE client who will bring that look to me this year.....and try as I might I wont be able to do anything but shoot it....I hope not, but it's bound to happen. Jesse's youthful vs. all grown up looks that you refer to are very true to where he is at this point in life. We see hime here in a letter jacket holding a ball.....but unless something falls through he will be a marine this time next year....wearing/carrying something entirely different.

As for processing.....Im not sure which photo you are referring to? I could give better details if I knew that.

barbnjon

Jeff,do you use the highlight tone priority feature for portraits? By the way, I love the series. Why do some boys love wearing plaid? I don't get it. Anyway, the plaid shirt seems to work here in backgrounds that you chose. Nice job.

jeffreaux2

barbnjon wrote:

Jeff,do you use the highlight tone priority feature for portraits? By the way, I love the series. Why do some boys love wearing plaid? I don't get it. Anyway, the plaid shirt seems to work here in backgrounds that you chose. Nice job.

Hi....and welcome to Dgrin!!!!

I at least try to be very careful when suggesting clothing for portraits. My conversation with his mother went sort of like....

Her "What should he wear?"

Me "Casual.....jeans....boots ( I have seen him around...always in boots).....no shirts with bold print. Casual...a tee shirt will do....even a plain white one.

Her "He has a plaid shirt he wants to wear"

Me "I dunno......is it a shirt he really likes to wear...will he feel comfortable in it or will he feel like he is dressed up for something"

Her "He wears it everywhere"

Me "Thats fine.....but dont have him dress like me...or the neighbor...or one of his friends....have him dressed like Jesse."

Fair enough?
That said...notice the shirt he wore under the letter jacket....



As for the highlight priority thing...the short answer is no...I have never used it for portraits. I have experimented a little with it, but I can't do that with a paying client until Im sold a bit more on it. My understanding of it is that it actually captures the highlights at the next stop lower ISO. This removes ISO100 as an option right off the bat.....leaving ISO200 as the lowest useable ISO. In addition to that I am not so sure it works in RAW....or if it does am I required to use Canon's software to take advantage of it. I recently tried it on some candids of my daughter. In camera...the preview image was perfect...and the histogram showed no clipping.....but when I brought the file into lightroom it did show clipping....blown highlights! So Im left thinking that it is a "processing trick" (thanks Scott) of Canon's and that I would have to forego RAW and use the camera processed jpeg to take advantage of HTP. What I havent done is shoot in RAW plus jpeg mode to determine for sure that what I "think" is indeed true.

My typical exposures are set to expose as far to the right of the histogram as possible without over exposing. I later assign white and black points in post using threshold and curves.

Agnieszka

YAY to it being "that time of the year again"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love #1, I love #2, I love #3, I love #4, I love #5, I love #6, I love #7 ... oh and I hate you for #8, I want to have a cool car in the area as well!!!

#1 seems to have a bit of a cyan cast to me and I think he could be more contrasty in #3 (he kind of looks a bit "copy-pasted" in, if you know what I mean .. but that's just me being super picky. I LOVE them all! Boy was I missing your seniors

jeffreaux2

Agnieszka wrote:

YAY to it being "that time of the year again"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love #1, I love #2, I love #3, I love #4, I love #5, I love #6, I love #7 ... oh and I hate you for #8, I want to have a cool car in the area as well!!!

#1 seems to have a bit of a cyan cast to me and I think he could be more contrasty in #3 (he kind of looks a bit "copy-pasted" in, if you know what I mean .. but that's just me being super picky. I LOVE them all! Boy was I missing your seniors

Hey Agnieszka!

I appreciate all the "I love" you are giving me here. Im with you on the cool car. I wish I had room here to drag an old relic like that in to use for a prop, but we are very space limited.....and my wife might send me and the old car a packin'. It would be pretty cool though.

You have great eyes.....er...uh...I mean...in #1 I did leave it a tad heavy in cyan. I am liking the look...even though I usually go for warmer tones. Of the shots I posted , #3 is probably my least favorite, and I don't really know why. You say contrast....and I am thinking he is lit too flat....and that may all be one in the same and caused by lighting him too directly....rather than sidelighting.....well maybe.

It's funny you have missed my seniors, I have missed them too, but Im up to my neck in them now!!!

Ive missed seeing your work too...especially those pastoral engagement shots. People up there still too cold to get married or what?

...and hows about that flash? Did you make any headway with using it off camera yet?

Agnieszka

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Hey Agnieszka!

I appreciate all the "I love" you are giving me here. Im with you on the cool car. I wish I had room here to drag an old relic like that in to use for a prop, but we are very space limited.....and my wife might send me and the old car a packin'. It would be pretty cool though.

You have great eyes.....er...uh...I mean...in #1 I did leave it a tad heavy in cyan. I am liking the look...even though I usually go for warmer tones. Of the shots I posted , #3 is probably my least favorite, and I don't really know why. You say contrast....and I am thinking he is lit too flat....and that may all be one in the same and caused by lighting him too directly....rather than sidelighting.....well maybe.

It's funny you have missed my seniors, I have missed them too, but Im up to my neck in them now!!!

Ive missed seeing your work too...especially those pastoral engagement shots. People up there still too cold to get married or what?

...and hows about that flash? Did you make any headway with using it off camera yet?

I def. think you can work out #3, just dodge him a bit on his sides, and you'll have it!

Yup, got the Nikon SU-800 ... don't even want to have a look at my bank account anymore these days / got an other lens too (24-200, 2.4) Didn't have a good chance to use it yet, need to find a willing victim first, hehe ...

Had my first engagement shoot last weekend, maybe I'll post some pics tomorrow, don't want to shock anybody with my high key shots, haha Have 3 more sessions scheduled this spring, and I think there will be more to come in May. Phew, I guess it's that time of the year for me too

Anyway. Can't WAIT to see more of your pics!!! lust

jeffreaux2

Agnieszka wrote:

I def. think you can work out #3, just dodge him a bit on his sides, and you'll have it!

Yup, got the Nikon SU-800 ... don't even want to have a look at my bank account anymore these days / got an other lens too (24-200, 2.4) Didn't have a good chance to use it yet, need to find a willing victim first, hehe ...

Had my first engagement shoot last weekend, maybe I'll post some pics tomorrow, don't want to shock anybody with my high key shots, haha Have 3 more sessions scheduled this spring, and I think there will be more to come in May. Phew, I guess it's that time of the year for me too

Anyway. Can't WAIT to see more of your pics!!! lust

Congrats on the commander(SU800) and the lens! 24-200 is some stretch of range...I can't wait to see what you have planned for that new gear!

Its good to be busy! Im excited that my phone is ringing....I really LOVE to do this, but on the other hand I am worried that I wont be able to accomodate them all. I think I am going to make a bigger push to do more senior portraits in the fall of next year. My daughter wants hers done this summer....so...maybe that will sway some of the other kids. It would be nice to spread the work out...rather than piling it all in a four week period.

Agnieszka

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Congrats on the commander(SU800) and the lens! 24-200 is some stretch of range...I can't wait to see what you have planned for that new gear!

Its good to be busy! Im excited that my phone is ringing....I really LOVE to do this, but on the other hand I am worried that I wont be able to accomodate them all. I think I am going to make a bigger push to do more senior portraits in the fall of next year. My daughter wants hers done this summer....so...maybe that will sway some of the other kids. It would be nice to spread the work out...rather than piling it all in a four week period.

You are getting too famous, that's the price you have to pay Aw, you'll have to do something special with your pretty daughter!!! You should plan a huge model session with all of her friends (have them all be together in once pic, and take them out somewhere fun) I bet they would be up for something fun! So jealous! At least your subjects are not all stressed out when you shoot them .. ok, they probably are, but shooting couples at weddings is nerve wracking sometimes as you know they all just want to go back to their parties You're always showing off their personalities, and do an overall perfect job, love looking at all of your sets!

jeffreaux2

Agnieszka wrote:

You are getting too famous, that's the price you have to pay Aw, you'll have to do something special with your pretty daughter!!! You should plan a huge model session with all of her friends (have them all be together in once pic, and take them out somewhere fun) I bet they would be up for something fun! So jealous! At least your subjects are not all stressed out when you shoot them .. ok, they probably are, but shooting couples at weddings is nerve wracking sometimes as you know they all just want to go back to their parties You're always showing off their personalities, and do an overall perfect job, love looking at all of your sets!

The guys generally are less uptight/nervous than the girls, but they want it to be over with and fast. Weddings.....for me.....is a whole different level of stress. Stress times 12! ...but even so the day goes by quickly.....and you are left with the drudge of having to cull, edit, polish, etc. A lot more work...and no second tries. I have a couple weddings planned....but have turned down 4 this year already. My real job takes priority...and my schedule will only allow so much. Its going to be hard to improve my wedding photography if I am only able to do two or three a year....and at that pace, those few may well not be worth the hassle and liability. But I am at least making an attempt to take on more wedding work where I previously wouldn't even entertain most of what came my way. I decided Id make that attempt this year......that is to at least TRY to take more on.

We are going to Destin, Florida for a few days this summer. Bre wants to do some of her senior photos there...on the beach. Aside from that we are kicking a couple other fun ideas around for locations. She's the caboose.(the baby!)...she gets what she wants!:D

heatherfeather

jeffreaux2 wrote:

We see hime here in a letter jacket holding a ball.....but unless something falls through he will be a marine this time next year....wearing/carrying something entirely different.

Gee whiz that made me feel all kinds of patriotic. I sure am proud of the servicemen in our great nation.

Jeff, you surely don't disappoint with these photos. I actually love his expression. Sometimes the cheese ball look gets old. This is his game face and I like it on him.
And the colors in the rain are lovely. Also, I noticed your textures- great balance and usage. Nicely done!

jeffreaux2

heatherfeather wrote:

Gee whiz that made me feel all kinds of patriotic. I sure am proud of the servicemen in our great nation.

Jeff, you surely don't disappoint with these photos. I actually love his expression. Sometimes the cheese ball look gets old. This is his game face and I like it on him.
And the colors in the rain are lovely. Also, I noticed your textures- great balance and usage. Nicely done!

Thanks Heather.

It's indeed sobering to be reminded that young men like Jesse are out there making the sacrifices neccesary to defend our freedoms.

Thanks for the kind remarks.

Cantfeelmyfingers

#5 is IT. Good-ness! I absolutely adore your photography! Fab fab fab!

NeilL

Jeff, I like the first (partly because of the connectedness of the prop - but also the pose and the color quality), and the last two b&w which are very, very excellent!! thumb

Thanks for the shooting info - great reading and honey for the photographer braincells!

Cuties02q

These are very nice...I love the car!! My favorites are #3 & #5

zoomer

The black and white ones with the old pickup are very cool.
Really nice processing work on those.

jeffreaux2

Cantfeelmyfingers wrote:

#5 is IT. Good-ness! I absolutely adore your photography! Fab fab fab!

Sheesh.....I appreciate that.

jeffreaux2

NeilL wrote:

Jeff, I like the first (partly because of the connectedness of the prop - but also the pose and the color quality), and the last two b&w which are very, very excellent!! thumb

Thanks for the shooting info - great reading and honey for the photographer braincells!

Thanks Neil!

Some thought the football too "hidden"....but I thought it was there enough....but didnt pull the eyes. Go figure

jeffreaux2

Cuties02q wrote:

These are very nice...I love the car!! My favorites are #3 & #5

Im on the lookout for old cars like this all the time. I like to shoot them even without people involved. I could kick myself for not acting sooner on a sweet old mouldy 59 Impala that I passed every day to work. It was evidently sold and moved. .....

Thanks for commenting!

jeffreaux2

zoomer wrote:

The black and white ones with the old pickup are very cool.
Really nice processing work on those.

Thanks zoomer,

The conversion might be a tad hot on the skin tones, but I really liked the deep contrast. It seemed to go well with the mood of the images.

grimace

Awesome set of shots Jeff!! Not a bad one in the bunch.

I have to say #5 really stands out for me. The angle of the truck and the lighting and positioning of your model really make this a winner in my eyes.

Great work!!

jvgphoto

Very Nice Work!
Thanks for posting - great stuff and interesting to see how you solved a variety of potential lighting problems in an interesting and creative way. Thanks for sharing!

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Edit: To add that the unrestored pick-up used in this set has graced Dgrin once before. A few of you might remember it as "Nearsighted"...an aptly titled entry into one of the DSS challenges and a POY finalist.

"Nearsighted"
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