First Senior Shoot - Lauren
Please get the guns out and let me have it on these...
Here's the background:
Client - My daughter's gymnastic's coach. Her daughter is graduating early as a Junior so they were late getting these done late. I was up front that my specialty is sports but she was game.
Location - Local Park and the gymnastics center
We started shooting at the park. Since I had never been there, my daughter and I arrived a 1/2 hour early to find some spots to shoot. After the park, we went to the gym for some shots there.
We had a good time with Lauren and her mother and I hope we got some shots that they will be happy with. My daughter even told me that I did a good job with the chit-chat. High compliments indeed from her.
Be honest but constructive. I need to hear it.
All were shot with a D700.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8 After the park, we moved to the gymnastics center. This one was lit with an AB800 in a 60" SoftliterII with a reflector under her chin. The background was a landing mat that we propped up against the back wall. She's sitting on the edge of a trampoline for this one.
Here's the background:
Client - My daughter's gymnastic's coach. Her daughter is graduating early as a Junior so they were late getting these done late. I was up front that my specialty is sports but she was game.
Location - Local Park and the gymnastics center
We started shooting at the park. Since I had never been there, my daughter and I arrived a 1/2 hour early to find some spots to shoot. After the park, we went to the gym for some shots there.
We had a good time with Lauren and her mother and I hope we got some shots that they will be happy with. My daughter even told me that I did a good job with the chit-chat. High compliments indeed from her.
Be honest but constructive. I need to hear it.
All were shot with a D700.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8 After the park, we moved to the gymnastics center. This one was lit with an AB800 in a 60" SoftliterII with a reflector under her chin. The background was a landing mat that we propped up against the back wall. She's sitting on the edge of a trampoline for this one.
0
Comments
It is MUCH more common to get back home and find out you said something that somehow has embarrassed your kids.....
-On to the photos-
1- I wish the green in the background were the only color in the background. Finding a spot with enough grass or foliage to act as a green backdrop isnt usually that difficult. Her shoulder is a tad square to the camera but I still like the pose AND facial expression. The main problem is that it appears the camera focused on the shoulder/zipper area. It should always be on the eyes.
2- Everything about this shot feels right, but the one eye is just too far out of focus. In a head on head shot like this both eyes should be super sharp.
3-This one is in focus. Nice expression. I wish all the stair lines were straight, as the slight perspective distortion at the bottom makes it appear as if the fact that they arent straight was an accident. I'm not liking the processing. I use textures not and then myself, but I would use a mask to remove them from any part of her body. Try just using the texture around the edges? Or none at all. It looks like cobwebs on the stairs that have her held captive.
4- I would call this shot a HUGE success. The background is a great combo with her clothing and is not distracting, but rather enhances the image. For the sake of C&C Ill remind you that is is usually more pleasing to shoot with shoulders quartered to the camera rather than straight on, but really, this is a nice shot.
5- I'm not loving this one. Again, it appears one eye is out of focus. High contrast black and white might make it better for me. I like the rule of thirds use on the framing.
6-Another very successful shot. A couple minor nits: Her teeth could use some whitening in photoshop(dont over do it!), and be careful (watch for!) background features that can appear to pierce the subjects head. That top horizontal wire strand is very close to appearing as an arrow through the head.
7- This one is very similar to #4. Great capture. Her expression is super fun in this one. The exposure and contrast look great.
8- This one is really nicely done. Again, a little help with the teeth may be in order. Be careful not to brighten them too much.....to help with teeth most of the work can be done with a sponge set to desaturate......after which a tiny tad of brightness (I do it with a curves layer) can be done. Over doing it will look like crapola! A little dab will do ya.
I think you really did a good job on the set. A few focus issues make me want to suggest a couple things.
- Stop your lens down a little: perhaps the aperture is just too wide open for your shooting style (are you a focus and recompose shooter?)
- Dont focus and recompose - instead, set the camera to a single focus point and toggle through the focus points to find the one that is closest to her eye(s) and use that one. A minor focus/recompose may be needed, but you will be much closer to the mark.
Keep shootin' and thanks for sharing!
Jeff
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-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
Jeffreax gave you some really good info.
For me several of the body angles seem awkward. Focus could be sharper, either there is a noise issue or too thin depth of field/focus issue with several of the shots.
She looks relaxed and having fun, which really is the hardest part of portraits...the people part.
The technical stuff you can fix.
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Thanks a ton Jeff and Zoomer. Always appreciate the detailed feedback you give and have learned a lot from you guys. Frankly I look at both of your bodies of work and want to get there.
Focus Issues - I'm definitely not a focus and recompose shooter but the lesson here is that just because your lens can go to 1.4, you don't have to use it down there. Repeat after me - stopping down is a good thing and you can still get the shallow DOF that you like. This is definitely the case in #2 and #5. I think the focus issue in #1 is a lens that has a front-focus issue. I picked up this 70-200 VR1 and have struggled with it through soccer and the ski race season. I just haven't settled into trusting this lens yet...sad. I gave up an 80-200 that was absolutely tack sharp to get this one.
It's amazing how fast everything you read and think you know goes out of your head as things get going. At least it did for me.
Thanks again for your help and feedback. I'm looking forward to trying this again.
Comments and constructive criticism always welcome.
www.mikejulianaphotography.com
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As for the pictures they are good. I did have one question. Are you really tall or is she really short? It seems like all of these are shot looking down on her except for a couple of them. Also because she has fair skin they look a tad over. I agree with everything Jeff said as well. Some of these are just great!
The main problem I've had with the 70-200 on both my D300 and D700 is focus problems. I think it has a pretty severe front-focus issue. It just want back to Nikon on Saturday. We'll see what they say.
I have both the 50 f/1.4 and the 85 f/1.4. #2 was shot with the 85 but at f/1.6.
For some of the shots I was on a 3-step stool hence the looking down angle on some of these.
Comments and constructive criticism always welcome.
www.mikejulianaphotography.com
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