First Try with Senior Portraits
After a chilly weekend in Milwaukee with one cousin, I was off to Texas the next to stay with family for the holidays, where my aunt asked me to shoot senior portraits for another cousin. Having never done senior photos before, not knowing him as well as I do other cousins, and having never shot young men in my personal work (something I really didn't realize until now), I was a bit panicky.
Add to that the fact we accidentally left my grandmother's (with a family entourage) before presents were opened, so we had to cut the session short just as the light was getting good. For presents. :lol3
Posing men is a bear! Even though I studied posing ideas ahead of time, I utterly blanked in the chaos of the moment. Any ideas I'd had ahead of time were killed when he refused to bring his football jersey and when we didn't make it to a location I'd had my heart set on. How do you manage teenage boys? :huh
Anyhow, it was quite a learning experience, but I obviously have a ways to go. Feedback certainly welcome and appreciated!
1. Stealing Mitchell's garage-lighting technique...
2.
3.
4.
5.
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7.
8.
9. This and the next are my favorites--near the end of the session when he was tired of being goofy and my family finally stopped teasing him (the secret to getting great smiles from him, apparently!).
10.
11.
Thanks for stopping by! :thumb
Add to that the fact we accidentally left my grandmother's (with a family entourage) before presents were opened, so we had to cut the session short just as the light was getting good. For presents. :lol3
Posing men is a bear! Even though I studied posing ideas ahead of time, I utterly blanked in the chaos of the moment. Any ideas I'd had ahead of time were killed when he refused to bring his football jersey and when we didn't make it to a location I'd had my heart set on. How do you manage teenage boys? :huh
Anyhow, it was quite a learning experience, but I obviously have a ways to go. Feedback certainly welcome and appreciated!
1. Stealing Mitchell's garage-lighting technique...
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. This and the next are my favorites--near the end of the session when he was tired of being goofy and my family finally stopped teasing him (the secret to getting great smiles from him, apparently!).
10.
11.
Thanks for stopping by! :thumb
0
Comments
Why did he refuse to bring his jersey?
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Teenaged boys indeed are the toughest of customers. If he was agreeable to the photos at all then you were extremely lucky....as many are "into it" for about 15 minutes flat. Yikes!
Of the set Im not really digging 5 and 7. In both, his shoulders are square to the camera and the Background is in much sharper focus than most of the others.
And of the others there are a couple more where his shoulders are square to tha camera but in those you shot more parallel to the BG and used a shallow DOF
I think having the shoulders quartered away from the camera as in #4 is much more flattering and relaxed looking.
That said... #10 is my favorite of the set....despite the shoulders being squared up, I find it to be dynamic. His eyes are open, he looks very relaxed, I like the background. I hope the original capture lends itself to a 5x7 and 8x10 crop....as the hands here are already getting nipped.
Nits?...
-I see lint(?) up around his right shoulder in 8 , 9, and 10.
-I think the blue printwork on the undershirt where visible in the portrait detracts from the images. There are a couple where it doesnt show, and these appear a tad more formal....but still not "stuffy formal".
Overall, I think you did well. I have at least one senior guy each year that is a real toughy. These shoots can suck out all yer confidence and leave you feeling as though you should take up wood carving or basket weaving. The important thing when you find yourself in the middle of a shoot like this is to keep the guy involved and entertained so he doesnt quit on you too soon, and as always.....remember the basics of what makes a solid portrait. Shoot from slightly above, let the eyes be the focus of the image, keep shoulders at slight angles from the camera, defocus the background. Incorperating all that into one or two frames can get you back on track.
Jeff
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-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
TenThirteen, I have no idea why he refused to bring his jersey other than he's a teenager.
Jeff, thank you for the detailed comments!
I really like 9 and 11 - he seems so much more relaxed in these, as you said. I quite like his expression in #1, too, although it's running a little bright on my monitor(s) - what happens with a little more contrast to increase the detail in the camera right side of his face?
I'm no expert on seniors so can't offer detailed c&c, but I think you did well to get a fair bit of variety along with a couple of excellent shots. All the teenage boys I know would be nightmares to shoot since they're about as cooperative as an untrained puppy, so brava to you!