Senior Grad Shoot '14

slpollett

When my daughter was in her high school band, my husband and I were always volunteering in some capacity--chaperoning games, moving equipment, hauling equipment, recording the half-time show, and even announcing half-time. I always had my camera taking pictures at the games & other performances. The last couple of years, I even took the pictures for the parents' photo buttons and the group photos of the full band and small groups such as officers, seniors, sections, etc. When my daughter was still in school, I took the best of all those pictures and created a photo book for the band at the end of the year. Since my daughter graduated last year, I haven't volunteered as much, even though we still helped out quite a bit. I didn't get to many games or to any of the marching contests so I didn't feel like I had a representative number of pictures to do a book for them this year. I still wanted to do "something" for them, so I decided to "gift" graduation pictures to each of the band's graduating seniors. (The gift was no sitting fee, one 8x10 and two 5x7's, plus deeply discounted prices if extra prints were desired.) 6 of the band seniors took me up on the offer plus the daughter of one of the music teachers. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Mateo--a very nice, quiet young man. His Mom made him come and he really didn't want pictures, so I had to coax a nice 'look' from him.




2. Will. A little stiff, but still willing to have a little fun.



3. Alec. Also very stiff, but maybe I got him to loosen up a teeny bit. I was also fighting 'glasses glare' a little so Mom wanted a few without glasses.


4. DeCarlo. Another one sent by his Mom (who is deployed to Kosovo) who really didn't want anything to do with having pictures made.


5. Francisco. OMG, this kid rocked! I told him I would take a couple of 'formal' grad shots then I wanted him to have fun with it. Did he ever! He needs to give lessons to his band mates, lol!






6. Destiny. My daughter was in pre-k with this girl, so they have known each other a long time.



7. Lauren. She is the daughter of my daughter's oboe teacher and someone we have known for many years.



Now, I'm still in learning mode with photography. I love doing it and I am having fun, but I am mostly self-taught with no formal classes. I welcome critique and advice on how to do it better next time.

Thanks for looking,
Sherry P.

WhatSheSaw

I am certain the parents are going to be very pleased with these. I love Francisco!!! What a character! Is he a drummer?

I think the thing most parents are looking for is expression. Obviously, some kids will be easier than others. Maybe try some acting exercises with them. The only one I really remember is taking an object and pretending it is something else. For instance, asking each one to pretend their diploma is their instrument and then ask them to think of as many different things as they can. Keep taking pictures while they go through the exercise. After a bit, most of them should loosen up.

Or try asking them to balance the mortarboard on their fingertip. That should take enough concentration to get their minds off themselves.

You might also try scheduling them in groups. Then ask the kids who are off camera to do something silly.

I haven't done any formal portraits, so I don't have any technical advice.

slpollett

Thanks for commenting. Yes, the parents (and most of the kids, too) have been very excited to receive these grad pics.

Francisco is a trombone player.

Sherry P.

Hackbone

For the most part these are very nice, great expressions and most of the exposures are good.

My nit and please take it for what it is worth......high key means light background and light clothing.......low key is a darker bkg and darker clothing. You've got a mix here that takes away from the subject. Remember bright areas come forward and darker receedes. Turn you images upside down and you will have your eye going to the background more than the faces. Again please take this as suggestions to create a more professional look.

slpollett

Thank you for commenting, Hackbone.

I appreciate your 'nits' because I can't improve if I don't address things like that.

What type of background would you suggest for these bright red & black graduation gowns? I have light gray (used here and which I tried unsuccessfully to make white) and a grey/blue mottled looking. I also have a black collapsible background that almost isn't wide enough for larger folk. Last year I used it for a couple of shots, but thought the black was just too much. I thought the gray/blue wouldn't match. The light gray looks too 'plain' to me, plus it just looks like it should be white and I don't really like plain white either. I've been hoping to get another background but haven't made a purchase because I don't really know what would work best. So....I'll listen to any suggestions you have.

Part B of this question would be: if I only have the light gray background, how do I approach set-up in order to make the most of it and not take away from the subject?

Here's one from last year with the black background. I liked it, but the parents didn't and my friends didn't.


Here's the other background I have:


Thanks again for your suggestions.

Sherry

Hackbone

First try to keep you subject at least 6 ft from the bkg. What was your main light source? An umbrella will spill light on the bkg and will work against you when trying to keep it dark. I would prefer a softbox to help keep the light off the bkg. Aim the box in such a way to keep the light off the bkg. I use an umbrella when doing white bkgs to help keep it white.

You can darken a light grey bkg by doing the above.

I like your mottled bkg and I would add a vignette to darken the edges forcing the viewers eye back to the subject.

This was brief by try some experimenting with the bove.

When using the black bkg you need to use more lights to help separate you subject from the bkg.

slpollett

Thanks, Hackbone. I will try your suggestions next time. (Erg...I do this so infrequently that I hope I REMEMBER next time....lol.)

I think it's doable in the space I have, but it will be tight. For this shoot, I had each student about 2-3 ft in front of the backdrop. I think I can bring them out a little more and still have room for me to back up. I had an AB-800 with a softbox (on 1/2 power) to my right as the key light and another AB-800 with an umbrella (on 1/4 power) on my left as fill. I started out with a little more power on the lights, but I thought they were too harsh so I backed off.

I've only had these lights for a year and I've used them 6 or 7 times now. I am definitely still learning about set-ups. I've done research and reading to figure out some stuff and I've had two professional photographer friends also give me some advice. The 'pull-back' thread has also been a source of information. I've tried something slightly different every time and still haven't quite found what I think is 'perfect' for me or at least 'perfect' for what I've been trying to do so far.

Thank you again for taking time to help me learn.

Sherry P.

Qarik

these are spot on! good work!

Hackbone

Keep your main on one side or the other but have your fill behind you not on the opposite side. That causes cross lighting patterns if your not careful. Do you have a light meter? If you do or can borrow one set your main light one stop brighter than your fill. This will give you pleasing shadows on one side of the face.

slpollett

I did purchase a light meter but did not receive it before this shoot. (I have it for next time, though!) I also now have a back drop that looks like a door.

I am willing to try any different set up next time to get better results. I took the setup for this shoot from an article I read that showed the pull-back. I liked the author's results and thought I'd try it. I've tried a different setup every time I've using these lights. I think I'm getting closer, but not there yet. Plenty of room for improvement!

Thanks Qarik & Hack.

Sherry P.

jmp2204

slpollett wrote: »

When my daughter was in her high school band, my husband and I were always volunteering in some capacity--chaperoning games, moving equipment, hauling equipment, recording the half-time show, and even announcing half-time. I always had my camera taking pictures at the games & other performances. The last couple of years, I even took the pictures for the parents' photo buttons and the group photos of the full band and small groups such as officers, seniors, sections, etc. When my daughter was still in school, I took the best of all those pictures and created a photo book for the band at the end of the year. Since my daughter graduated last year, I haven't volunteered as much, even though we still helped out quite a bit. I didn't get to many games or to any of the marching contests so I didn't feel like I had a representative number of pictures to do a book for them this year. I still wanted to do "something" for them, so I decided to "gift" graduation pictures to each of the band's graduating seniors. (The gift was no sitting fee, one 8x10 and two 5x7's, plus deeply discounted prices if extra prints were desired.) 6 of the band seniors took me up on the offer plus the daughter of one of the music teachers. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Mateo--a very nice, quiet young man. His Mom made him come and he really didn't want pictures, so I had to coax a nice 'look' from him.




2. Will. A little stiff, but still willing to have a little fun.



3. Alec. Also very stiff, but maybe I got him to loosen up a teeny bit. I was also fighting 'glasses glare' a little so Mom wanted a few without glasses.


4. DeCarlo. Another one sent by his Mom (who is deployed to Kosovo) who really didn't want anything to do with having pictures made.


5. Francisco. OMG, this kid rocked! I told him I would take a couple of 'formal' grad shots then I wanted him to have fun with it. Did he ever! He needs to give lessons to his band mates, lol!






6. Destiny. My daughter was in pre-k with this girl, so they have known each other a long time.



7. Lauren. She is the daughter of my daughter's oboe teacher and someone we have known for many years.



Now, I'm still in learning mode with photography. I love doing it and I am having fun, but I am mostly self-taught with no formal classes. I welcome critique and advice on how to do it better next time.

Thanks for looking,
Sherry P.

they are awesome !!