Ashley Senior 2010 Second Session

Countryfied

Ashley had some time to think about what she wanted between her first and second session. So when she showed up she brought her sister along and wanted her included, I knew we would have some fun.
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She also wanted to try something a little "out there". So this is what we came up with.
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Thanks for looking. C&C Appreciated.

thomasjm

Are these photos for senior pictures? If they are, then they are not what I would think of traditional senior pictures. In my opinion the focus of senior pictures should be on the face and the eyes of the subject and in two of the pictures we can't see a face at all. I think the last two pictures have some creative licenses to them, and I think senior pictures should be a little more traditional. I don't think there should be color casts, etc. I think almost like commercial photography you should show the person straight up. But those are just my thoughts.

They are great pictures. Just not what I would think of as senior photos.

Qarik

OP mentions this is a 2nd session.

slpollett

Senior pictures are whatever the senior wants them to be!

These are great! The first few show the love and companionship of the two sisters and the last ones show a little personality.

Most of the senior pictures that I see around here are similar to these. There may be a few 'traditional' poses, but most are shots designed to show the senior's personality--serious, silly, whimsical, or displaying some 'inside joke' that only the senior's buddies will understand.

Nice job.

Sherry

RustingInPeace

slpollett wrote: »

Senior pictures are whatever the senior wants them to be!

These are great! The first few show the love and companionship of the two sisters and the last ones show a little personality.

Most of the senior pictures that I see around here are similar to these. There may be a few 'traditional' poses, but most are shots designed to show the senior's personality--serious, silly, whimsical, or displaying some 'inside joke' that only the senior's buddies will understand.

Nice job.

Sherry

Ditto

Countryfied

thomasjm wrote: »

Are these photos for senior pictures? If they are, then they are not what I would think of traditional senior pictures. In my opinion the focus of senior pictures should be on the face and the eyes of the subject and in two of the pictures we can't see a face at all. I think the last two pictures have some creative licenses to them, and I think senior pictures should be a little more traditional. I don't think there should be color casts, etc. I think almost like commercial photography you should show the person straight up. But those are just my thoughts.

They are great pictures. Just not what I would think of as senior photos.

Thanks for the time to reply. I guess I should have showed the first set first. We handled all that the first session in 4 locations. Did the traditional brick wall, close up portraiture, etc. Here's a few random shots of those.

Qarik wrote: »

OP mentions this is a 2nd session.

Yeah, I sorda went back-a$$wards. There was over a month in between sessions so I forgot about these.

slpollett wrote: »

Senior pictures are whatever the senior wants them to be!

These are great! The first few show the love and companionship of the two sisters and the last ones show a little personality.

Most of the senior pictures that I see around here are similar to these. There may be a few 'traditional' poses, but most are shots designed to show the senior's personality--serious, silly, whimsical, or displaying some 'inside joke' that only the senior's buddies will understand.

Nice job.

Sherry

My thoughts exactly....thanks!!

RustingInPeace wrote: »

Ditto

Thanks!!

JDEORTA

Ashley Senior 2010 Second Session

Senior pictures are whatever the senior wants them to be!

These are great! The first few show the love and companionship of the two sisters and the

My thoughts exactly....thanks!!

Ditto

Thanks!![/QUOTE]
I agree!!


Nice job!!

They look really good.

kevincaophotography

I love them as well. For me, personally, I get tired of the same old commercial senior pictures that is nothing more than a having your clients fold their arms over a white mailbox behind a white picket fence. As time moves on, we have to keep up. In 1920-1930, senior pictures were merely an image of a person, bust up with no smile. Look at how much that has changed since then (color, movement, expression, emotion, technology, etc.). Tradition is GREAT, but in this business, customers want something different, something creative, something that they are proud of and want to pay for. Not to say EVERY customer wants that type of creativity, but if I were to get my senior pictures done when I was in high school, I'd want something extremely creative and different. I got into this as an artistic hobby because of the endless creative possibilities, and it's the same reason why I made it a profession. I've had TONS of photography mentors, but never did I want to capture photos exactly like them. Just my 2 cents.

Now about the photos, I LOVE the first post compared to the second post. Photo 1 is hilarious imo. 3 + 4 are sweet. If I had to nitpick, #6's background is a bit wavy and pixelated at the corners. I'm not sure if it was your screen or maybe just the PP. But the subject is VERY sharp, no worries there. Just the corners. Other than that, really enjoyed the set. Keep it up!

Countryfied

kevincaophotography wrote: »

I love them as well. For me, personally, I get tired of the same old commercial senior pictures that is nothing more than a having your clients fold their arms over a white mailbox behind a white picket fence. As time moves on, we have to keep up. In 1920-1930, senior pictures were merely an image of a person, bust up with no smile. Look at how much that has changed since then (color, movement, expression, emotion, technology, etc.). Tradition is GREAT, but in this business, customers want something different, something creative, something that they are proud of and want to pay for. Not to say EVERY customer wants that type of creativity, but if I were to get my senior pictures done when I was in high school, I'd want something extremely creative and different. I got into this as an artistic hobby because of the endless creative possibilities, and it's the same reason why I made it a profession. I've had TONS of photography mentors, but never did I want to capture photos exactly like them. Just my 2 cents.

Now about the photos, I LOVE the first post compared to the second post. Photo 1 is hilarious imo. 3 + 4 are sweet. If I had to nitpick, #6's background is a bit wavy and pixelated at the corners. I'm not sure if it was your screen or maybe just the PP. But the subject is VERY sharp, no worries there. Just the corners. Other than that, really enjoyed the set. Keep it up!

Kevin... Your post reminded me a lot of me. How I think. Quick insight to my rural area. Small community of 4-5k. Another town 10 miles west of about the same size. Another town west about 30 miles east twice the size. Another town North about 30 miles, 3 times the size. Dallas and Houston a couple hours away. Each one of these small towns have one or two togs in it. Usually one is pretty good, the other one isn't. Hang in there, I am getting there....They have the market sewed up right Well, they thought they did

I am in no way saying my work is any better technically than theirs. In fact, it isn't up to some of their qualities. Its better than some, but not better than others. I am not happy with that either but having bought my first slr/dslr in October, I am rapidly catching them. Why? Because they are stagnant in their work. I can learn the technical side. In fact I know it, but just dont have the experience. So why am I booked a couple months out? Because I provide something different. I gel. I am out there at dark as much as I am out there in the "golden hour". I am constantly searching for something creative that the other photographers aren't providing. Yes, I will make the parents happy with the traditional shots of their kiddos, but where I believe you have to succeed is making a few shots that the girl or guy is proud to show off. Something they love, that's current, and different than the other senior portraits that they have seen. When they put those on facebook/myspace, the other kids love them.....then my phone rings. I give each senior some rep cards of their favorite shots. They hand them out to their friends, their friends have my number on the back of the card.

I also have a secret weapon. My wife. She is the master of creativity and personality. She has what I lack. I can figure out how to make it happen, she dreams it up. I am just tapping into her potential and mine.

In the glitter shot, you comment on the background. Very true observation. See, we were just messing around while waiting on the right time to go out and shoot. Ashley (the senior), her sister, mother, and a few of her friends were all there. I mentioned the glitter idea and they all said lets try it!!! I dont have a studio......yet. So I walked in my garage....looked around....found an old canvas tarp. Green actually and not in the best shape, not big enough, and heavy. I told some of the friends to come over and help me. I told them to hold it up to see if they could. They did it but of course wasn't near like a seamless background. So as they rested, I asked Ashley what her favorite color was. She said purple, so I got out a couple speedlights and gelled them purple. They held up the tarp and I tested. Long story short (or longer) 15 minutes later and about a cup or two of glitter, we had it. Everyone had a blast laughing at her monkey cheeks as she blew the glitter, dropping the tarp, spilling the glitter twice, basically just having a good time. I shot the glitter shot "lights out", so I had to focus, they raised the tarp, she would get ready to blow the glitter, mom would turn out the lights, count down from 3, and snap. they would drop the tarp and glitter and run over to see the LCD on camera and laugh. But the last one, when it finally worked, they didnt laugh. Mom cried, Ashley loved it, and her friends and sister celebrated. I sighed with relief

My point here is that one shot got me at least 3 more appointments, and she hasn't even got her rep cards to hand out yet. Because the seniors are seeing something different than "traditional".

From there we tried the hoodie shot, and that took three tries just getting the gel flashing as I wanted it to.

My secret recipe. A cup of traditional. A cup of creativity. 2 teaspoons of glamour. A teaspoon of hard work. A dash of technically sound photography, then fill the rest of the bucket with fun.

Sorry for the long post that will probably kill this thread which is fine. Just hoping that I can inspire some creativity to others as I have been inspired by a few along the way that led me in this direction.

Remember, girls want to be glamorous. Guys want to be cool. So try to think outside the box and give the parents what they want, but talk them into letting you try a few for the kiddos too.

Qarik

kevincaophotography wrote: »

I love them as well. For me, personally, I get tired of the same old commercial senior pictures that is nothing more than a having your clients fold their arms over a white mailbox behind a white picket fence. As time moves on, we have to keep up. In 1920-1930, senior pictures were merely an image of a person, bust up with no smile. Look at how much that has changed since then (color, movement, expression, emotion, technology, etc.). Tradition is GREAT, but in this business, customers want something different, something creative, something that they are proud of and want to pay for. Not to say EVERY customer wants that type of creativity, but if I were to get my senior pictures done when I was in high school, I'd want something extremely creative and different. I got into this as an artistic hobby because of the endless creative possibilities, and it's the same reason why I made it a profession. I've had TONS of photography mentors, but never did I want to capture photos exactly like them. Just my 2 cents.

Now about the photos, I LOVE the first post compared to the second post. Photo 1 is hilarious imo. 3 + 4 are sweet. If I had to nitpick, #6's background is a bit wavy and pixelated at the corners. I'm not sure if it was your screen or maybe just the PP. But the subject is VERY sharp, no worries there. Just the corners. Other than that, really enjoyed the set. Keep it up!

I am not sure this is true. I think many clients just want the "standard". I think we have to becareful projecting what floats our boats as photographers vs what the client has in mind.

Countryfied

Qarik wrote: »

I am not sure this is true. I think many clients just want the "standard". I think we have to becareful projecting what floats our boats as photographers vs what the client has in mind.

True...thats what the pre-shoot interview is for. Thats why you check out their facebook. Their myspace. Sit down with the parents and the senior. Most all my parents (although limited compared to most of you) tell me it is what the senior and I want to do. Most say I only have a couple requests then its whatever you and him/her decide. I personally am much more comfortable kicking around ideas with the guys but am ok with the gals also once they open up. It's sort of funny how I started getting text messages from kids I didnt know. Mr. Knight, do you do this/that? We knock out what the parents want and then have fun with the rest of our time.

Personally, I like a more casual atmosphere. I completely respect the professional atmosphere also. There is a time and place for both.

Hackbone

The sizzle gets the seniors in the door and generates the buzz but they usually purchased more of the standard stuff than the sizzle. I do work on the sizzle because I'm trying to sell a senior alb to as many seniors as possible.

kevincaophotography

Qarik wrote: »

I am not sure this is true. I think many clients just want the "standard". I think we have to becareful projecting what floats our boats as photographers vs what the client has in mind.

I completely agree. Like I said, not ALL people want this. But it's very helpful to meet with the client before the shoot, as Countryfied suggested; just to give them the idea of what they like, what they don't like. I guess I was speaking out of personal experience, without taking the experience of the entire community as a whole. You are correct that there is a large number of people who may think our creativity is a bit over the top. There's a fine line with all things, this subject included. Moderation comes into mind.

As for the "standard", every photographer defines that differently. When I shoot my clients, most (although, like you said, not all of them), said that they don't want their photos to be lost in their older sister's or brother's photo albums -- just something a bit different (either on a dramatic scale or a small scale). With that being said, even when my customers ask for a regular or standard shoot, I still put a bit of my individually into it. That's what makes each photographer different right? Clients come to us for a reason - whether it be a recommendation or a positive review.

But you are absolutely right, the "standard" is a very sought after purchase, but isn't there always room to add a bit of creativity and individuality into each photograph?

BTW, I love your wedding photographs. Beautiful!

kevincaophotography

OP, you have the right idea and I'm glad you're making this as much about your personality (in moderation) as it is about your clients. I think that's what makes photographers so special -- being able to catch their personality and highlighting it with our creative juices.

Hackbone - I agree with you! Having those amazing, different "sizzle" photographs really attract customers. I browsed your site for just a few seconds and was blown away by a handful of your photos. I love the image of the girl with the curly brown hair and the very red lips. The saturation on that image is spot on. Not a typical senior photo at all imho, and definitely a winner!