Toughest Customer Yet!!

jeffreaux2

Yes...we are STILL working on her senior portfolio....but...we are very close to having it all done. WE had a very productive shoot yesterday afternoon...until she had had enough.:D I'd still like to put something together with her and her little green VW....and she wants a shot with the bridge in the BG.

It's tough for a photography nut like me when his daughter is reluctant to have her photo taken. I was very close to hiring someone to shoot her SR pics....knowing that teens are more patient with a hired photographer.

She chose some of the locations where I...well we (she as assistant) have shot over...and over again. I was thinking she would want to go somewhere...anywhere different and new, but also pleased that she wanted them done in some of the places where we have spent so many afternoons.

In any event....here's one of our shots.

-Canon 50D
-Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS @ 120mm
-Manual Exposure
-F2.8, 1/120, ISO 100
-A single Canon 580EX flash at camera left, shot through a 45 inch umbrella, triggered via Canon STE2, Phoxle's Lt CTB Flashmatch Gel.
-RAW editing in Adobe Lightroom
-Finishing Touches in Adobe Photoshop

Zanotti

Very nice shot as always. (And your daughter(s) are beautiful.)

Why CTB gel on the flash? I have just started using gels and have had some success with CTS and CTO, but have never seen a chance to use CTB. Do you adjust your white bal to match?

Thanks,

Z

zoomer

That is so fun that you are able to do this for her....and that she will let you.
Enjoy the process.
Nice photo, she is very pretty and you captured her well.
Love this setting and you made the most of it.

jeffreaux2

Zanotti wrote:

Very nice shot as always. (And your daughter(s) are beautiful.)

Why CTB gel on the flash? I have just started using gels and have had some success with CTS and CTO, but have never seen a chance to use CTB. Do you adjust your white bal to match?

Thanks,

Z

Hey Z!!!

Why the gel?

Have you ever taken a shot in shade and seen the bluish cast?
That is due to the fact that sunlight....in open or deep shade has a blue cast....and it can even be stronger under heavy cloud cover. The flash though is daylight balanced and is has much more yellow than that bluish light in the shade. A couple years ago I began experimenting with CTB gels in the shady locations I seek out for outdoor portraits. I have settled on the lightest of the two CTB gels included in the Phoxle kit. A shady location, plus the blue gel, added to an in camera "cloudy" white balance has worked well for me. I shoot RAW so the "cloudy" WB is moot, but it does give an indication of what the final shot will look like minus all the blue, and it is important when using a correcting gel to stay away from "auto" or "flash" white balances unless you are particularly looking for a mis-match.

FWIW, before I discovered the Phoxles I used a 1/4 or 1/8 CTB LEE.

This particular shot was warmed quite a bit more in post. My weakness...I like warmth in portraits....

adbsgicom

Very lovely image. I like the warmth of the image as well. The only thing that caught my eye is that the image (for me) could stand to be rotated CCW by about 2 degrees. The wall feels like it is a bit too angled. Making it perfectly vertical may rotate it too much. YMMV. You might also want to lightly desat and lightly dodge the whites of her eyes to even the tone because when you pushed the white point they went a bit too yellow IMO.

Love the light and shadows. Sweet image, and glad to hear that she's still game to go out with you on this adventure.

mud390

Fantastic! If it were my picture, I'd be more than pleased with it! Best of luck pleasing the, "customer."

Kris

jeffreaux2

adbsgicom wrote:

Very lovely image. I like the warmth of the image as well. The only thing that caught my eye is that the image (for me) could stand to be rotated CCW by about 2 degrees. The wall feels like it is a bit too angled. Making it perfectly vertical may rotate it too much. YMMV. You might also want to lightly desat and lightly dodge the whites of her eyes to even the tone because when you pushed the white point they went a bit too yellow IMO.

Love the light and shadows. Sweet image, and glad to hear that she's still game to go out with you on this adventure.

The tinting is the result of a couple of the TRA actions I ran...."Pool Party" and "Flare-Up - Faded"......I can live with it....and as for the two degrees.....I prefer NOT to make it perfectly straight as it would lose some of it's casualness.

Thanks for commenting.

kidzmom

What an incredibly beautiful girl and portrait! I would have guessed she was much older than a senior! She is so sophisticated and mature looking (I'm assuing you mean HS senior) That is wonderful that she will model for you! I think you definately did the right thing in not hiring a photog. The charm and beauty are definately easier to spark from good 'ol Dad! Great capture, love the warmth and her smile. I'm a wall addict so this particularly appeals to me! Excellent. Thanks for sharing all of the details

Svennie

kidzmom wrote:

What an incredibly beautiful girl and portrait! I would have guessed she was much older than a senior! She is so sophisticated and mature looking (I'm assuing you mean HS senior) That is wonderful that she will model for you! I think you definately did the right thing in not hiring a photog. The charm and beauty are definately easier to spark from good 'ol Dad! Great capture, love the warmth and her smile. I'm a wall addict so this particularly appeals to me! Excellent. Thanks for sharing all of the details

Great shot, beautiful girl! I think the fact that this one was taken by Dad will have a lot of meaning to her 20 years down the road

Maybe somewhat off topic, but I have a question about these 'senior portraits'. Are these taken when he/she is in the final year of HS? And is this an US tradition? Anyway, I think it's a shame 'we' don't do this quite often in NL

jeffreaux2

Svennie wrote:

Great shot, beautiful girl! I think the fact that this one was taken by Dad will have a lot of meaning to her 20 years down the road

Hey, Thanks for your kind comments...

Maybe somewhat off topic, but I have a question about these 'senior portraits'. Are these taken when he/she is in the final year of HS? And is this an US tradition? Anyway, I think it's a shame 'we' don't do this quite often in NL

- Yes, "Senior Portraits" are traditionally done when the student is in their final year of high school. A way of celebrating the milestone...and marking the beginning of adulthood.

- I wouldn't really call it a U.S. tradition. Some fplks in other parts of the country don't do senior portraits....and even in the places where it is somewhat customary not all families choose to have them done.

- I think...if you chose to...they could be shot anywhere!:D

NeilL

Ooh, yes Jeff! It's been a while since I saw anything of yours, and evidently I ain't seen nothin' yet! Polished!

Neil

Svennie

jeffreaux2 wrote:

- I think...if you chose to...they could be shot anywhere!:D

Well, a tradition has to start at some point More and more kids here are celebrating their 'sweet 16' (thanks to the show on MTV), so maybe this will catch on as well

Thanks for the info.

jeffreaux2

kidzmom wrote:

What an incredibly beautiful girl and portrait! I would have guessed she was much older than a senior! She is so sophisticated and mature looking (I'm assuing you mean HS senior) That is wonderful that she will model for you! I think you definately did the right thing in not hiring a photog. The charm and beauty are definately easier to spark from good 'ol Dad! Great capture, love the warmth and her smile. I'm a wall addict so this particularly appeals to me! Excellent. Thanks for sharing all of the details

Well then.....here's another at the wall....

adbsgicom

ChatKat

2nd one! I like it. The angle and pose and post are terrific. Tell the subject that the price is right and if she doesn't like it to find another photographer. Maybe they can find one on CL that will match the price she's paying you.

kidzmom

Perfection!

kris10jo

beatiful photographs and daughter! love them both! and it definitely makes it more special that you were the photographer for her senior portraits.

jeffreaux2

ChatKat wrote:

2nd one! I like it. The angle and pose and post are terrific. Tell the subject that the price is right and if she doesn't like it to find another photographer. Maybe they can find one on CL that will match the price she's paying you.

She knows she has it good.

We saw several other phogs out working with people on the afternoon we did these. She recognized some mistakes they were making such as....shooting in full sun or mixed / dappled light, aiming reflectors up from the ground, using small diffusers like a stofen for shoe mounted fill. We saw only one other guy dragging around an umbrella to shoot through.

I think she could pick up the shooting part of this pretty easily if she chose to.

...and she knows full well what she likes and doesn't like.

For instance, I grabbed this one shot when doing my oldests daughter's senior portraits a few years ago thet my younger daughter evidently liked very much. Ill note again that she chose the locations....and what clothing to wear for each one.....

So here is big sis...a couple years ago...my maiden senior shoot....




...and then last Friday afternoon...little sis....she even wore the same top. Go figure...

Scott_Quier

Very nice. Very, very nice. I really like the second wall shot and the last two.

cab.in.boston

jeffreaux2 wrote:

So here is big sis...a couple years ago...my maiden senior shoot....

Geez... they don't look at all like they're related, do they?

Excellent work, I'm sure both girls will be/are very happy with these shots. I hope I can do half as well for my kids!

Swartzy

Dude....do you ever have tough customers?.....your daughters are beautiful and you do such a nice job making them shine. Send them up here will ya?

Wil Davis

Very pretty girl, and great colours, and focus…

and when I look at it, my eye should be drawn to her eyes…

…but I find my eye being pulled to the portion of the brick wall in the centre which is in focus, and also to the out of focus part of the frame on the right.

I wonder why you chose landscape format rather than portrait?

…perhaps it's to do with the way in which the picture will be displayed?

…ah! just seen the others - yup portrait is definitely the way to go!

Very nice!



- Wil

Qarik

Question: assuming you shoot in RAW..why gel? do you find that gel different then warming it up in PP?

jeffreaux2

Qarik wrote:

Question: assuming you shoot in RAW..why gel? do you find that gel different then warming it up in PP?

Shooting in RAW has nothing to do with balancing the color temperature of the flash to the color temperature of the ambient light. That can only be done with a flash gel.

Qarik

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Shooting in RAW has nothing to do with balancing the color temperature of the flash to the color temperature of the ambient light. That can only be done with a flash gel.

ahh..I re-read your posts..you are using a CTB gel not CTO gel..so you are just "matching" your flash to ambient. I see now thanks.

Now I had thought that ungelled flash was "daylight" balanced but now that I think about it I do often see a blue cast..perhaps when the sky is blue? So daylight balanced flash is only valid when... skies are overcast? ie "white sky"?

jeffreaux2

Qarik wrote:

ahh..I re-read your posts..you are using a CTB gel not CTO gel..so you are just "matching" your flash to ambient. I see now thanks.

Now I had thought that ungelled flash was "daylight" balanced but now that I think about it I do often see a blue cast..perhaps when the sky is blue? So daylight balanced flash is only valid when... skies are overcast? ie "white sky"?

To match daylight is not a perfect science as the color temp can change depending not only on the weather, but also on time of day. However.....it's easy to match in the shade....and its easier to control light/exposure in the shade.

l.k.madison

ChatKat wrote:

2nd one! I like it. The angle and pose and post are terrific. Tell the subject that the price is right and if she doesn't like it to find another photographer. Maybe they can find one on CL that will match the price she's paying you.

Me!!! Me!! Me!!! I'll do it!!!! Really, Mr. Jeff, I will!!!! I'll even hand over every last RAW to you so you can edit and get that trademark warmth we all know and love!

Of course, with "toughest customer yet" I had to click on it and see who it was, oh how I laughed when I realized you weren't kidding the other day when you said she was a tough customer.

She is, as always, beautiful and coupled with your skills, she just shines. Great work, Mann

jeffreaux2

l.k.madison wrote:

Me!!! Me!! Me!!! I'll do it!!!! Really, Mr. Jeff, I will!!!! I'll even hand over every last RAW to you so you can edit and get that trademark warmth we all know and love!

Of course, with "toughest customer yet" I had to click on it and see who it was, oh how I laughed when I realized you weren't kidding the other day when you said she was a tough customer.

She is, as always, beautiful and coupled with your skills, she just shines. Great work, Mann

Thanks Lauren.....

She had all her wisdom teeth out today and has been REALLY sick since. Im hoping shes back to Bre soon.

You need to take me up on the ETTL flash lesson offer.....Im still waiting....


...and my prayers are with you and your family. Ive had weeks like that before also....and it definately feels like things can't possibly suck more. Unfortunately there isn't much another person can say or do to make it any easier. Hang in there.

Keep Faith!

l.k.madison

Thanks Lauren.....

She had all her wisdom teeth out today and has been REALLY sick since. Im hoping shes back to Bre soon.

Cassie just got hers out a few weeks ago, she said texting was the hardest part, the numbers on her phone kept trying to run away from her... gotta love pain meds. I managed to argue with the mattress when they had me on that medicine, I have yet to live it down.

You need to take me up on the ETTL flash lesson offer.....Im still waiting....

Anytime that works for you works for me!!! Let me know when you're free and we'll make a date of it, we don't even have to go to Waffle House

...and my prayers are with you and your family. Ive had weeks like that before also....and it definately feels like things can't possibly suck more. Unfortunately there isn't much another person can say or do to make it any easier. Hang in there.
Keep Faith!

Thanks, Jeff - it was a rough week. Brad's got pneumonia on top of everything else that's going on, so I'm not sure who's taking more care of who.