San Diego Portrait Session

Shay Stephens

In January I had a chance to go visit family in San Diego. I wanted to take some portraits of my sister and brother-in-law, so we went to Balboa park. It was a cloudy day, so I kept the composition as free of sky as I could manage.

My brother-in-law Rob, really hates his picture taken. Too self conscious. So I tried some with him looking away from the camera, and that seemed to make him more relaxed.

So, I now present portions of Balboa park in the dead of winter hehehe

wxwax

Ooh, the last one rocks.

Thanks for explaining your methodology, it helps a lot.

I notice you choose to leave a lot of headroom in #2 and #3. Could you explain your thinking?

Shay Stephens

wxwax wrote:

Ooh, the last one rocks.

Thanks for explaining your methodology, it helps a lot.

I notice you choose to leave a lot of headroom in #2 and #3. Could you explain your thinking?

Room for cropping 8x10's. Nothing worse than not having enough room to crop

photogmomma

#4 & 5 are awesome! I just love those two... Especially that your BIL looks so relaxed and great in that 4th shot.

#3 looks like the focus was on the tree behind.

I like #2, but don't love it. They don't look really relaxed like they do in #5.

I really like #1 if it's to be blown up large. I think in a small print they would be lost, but in a large it would be gorgeous....

Wonderful series!

Shay Stephens

photogmomma wrote:

#3 looks like the focus was on the tree behind.

I'll take another look at that one, it might be an optical illusion, but I'll check to make sure.

edit: I checked and there is a slight amount of backfocus., though it looks more exaggerated than it is in the small photo above. Thank you for spotting that.

I like #2, but don't love it. They don't look really relaxed like they do in #5.

I must have chosen that one as the family snap-shooter in me, one of those shots only a family member would really enjoy Looking at it now I can definitely see the snapshot look.

I really like #1 if it's to be blown up large. I think in a small print they would be lost, but in a large it would be gorgeous....

Large would be my suggestion too.

Wonderful series!

Thanks for looking and commenting

urbanaries

Shay...

#1 & #5 are my faves. I like #3 too, the more I look at it the more I like it. His expression is great, although photogmomma is right, she seems a tad stiff.

I'm curious about the styling....the satin vs. oxford texture is odd, and the pink/blue combination is a bit overt. :smack

Balboa park is a great spot, btw!

I definitely agree the first one would be great enlarged, and the last would be good at any size. What an attractive couple.

saurora

Such a nice looking couple. Your sis definitely has your engaging smile! You did a great job hiding the fact it was gloomy. Other than you mentioning it, it never crossed my mind looking at the shots. #4 and #5 are my favorites. Your brother-in-law may relax after seeing how great he looks in these shots. Thanks for posting these, it's always neat to see what the pros are doing!!! :saurora

Shay Stephens

urbanaries wrote:

I'm curious about the styling....the satin vs. oxford texture is odd, and the pink/blue combination is a bit overt. :smack

Well, you know, it's California

Balboa park is a great spot, btw!

I was hoping to find something that is as close as possible to Central park for variety, and such. And it turns out that Balboa park works out very very nicely. I was very satisfied using that location.

Thank you for the comments!

Shay Stephens

saurora wrote:

Your brother-in-law may relax after seeing how great he looks in these shots. Thanks for posting these, it's always neat to see what the pros are doing!!! :saurora

I have been shooting him over the years, and there is just a instinctual aversion to photos with him. You have to almost sneak up on him in a way. So if I want a shot of him, I have spend maybe five minutes. The first 4 minutes is just wearing him out, and the last minute, he starts to relax a bit, but only flashes of it. So I have burn through quite a few frames to get anything worthwhile of him.

This was a couple of years ago (pardon the old watermark)


It was the first good photo of him he had gotten, and it got us all excited to try more hehehe. Maybe in a few years he will be able to give two minute worth of photos at a time hahahaha

Scott_Quier

#4 & #5
I love #4 for the lighting - I just think it's great. And, you BIL looks relaxed and confident. Very well done.

#5, like everyone has said, their pesonalities have surfaced very nicely in this one.

Shay Stephens

Scott_Quier wrote:

I love #4 for the lighting - I just think it's great. And, you BIL looks relaxed and confident. Very well done.

One nice thing can be said for overcast skys, the lighting can be very attractive. If it were'nt for that, I would really hate overcast. But as it is, I have to admit I don't hate it totally hehehe

#5, like everyone has said, their pesonalities have surfaced very nicely in this one.

That seems to be one of the favorites in the family too.

Jen was just saying to me "Shay, next time you should just post the best stuff, why post the picture where they don't look so comfortable?" but I like to hear the comments about the good and not so good too. It's easy to fall in love with your own work. And like it says in my sig, failure is feedback, and feedback is the breakfast of champions

WrenTheBlurry

OK, at the risk of being pelted with overripe tomatoes, I must say I disagree on number 5. I do love their embrace, and the natural, happy expressions, along with the lovely setting and lighting...but I just cannot get past the black pants. To me, the darkness of the pants and how they are standing makes it seems that they are conjoined at the hip. Those pants catch my eye, and I have a difficult time looking away from them. I have read such praise for this photo from the others that I am now wondering what is wrong with ME, hehe.

I LOVE numbers 2 and 4, however. Re: number 2: Snapshotty, bah! If a picture of two strangers smiling can make ME smile, I deem it a wondrous thing. I heavily enjoy smiling, and it is clear they are having a good time and are so in love.

Number four is also so nice; he is quite photogenic, and I hope he starts letting you take more and more shots, and warms up for you more easily, heh. I like that I cannot truly tell whether or not you 'posed' him like that. Fantastic!

The first is nice too, and that I will agree with the others that a nice big 'ole print will look grand.

Thanks for letting me share (*wipes tomato gunk off her face*), I feel ever so much better now.

happy day,

wren

Shay Stephens

WrenTheBlurry wrote:

...but I just cannot get past the black pants. To me, the darkness of the pants and how they are standing makes it seems that they are conjoined at the hip. Those pants catch my eye, and I have a difficult time looking away from them. I have read such praise for this photo from the others that I am now wondering what is wrong with ME, hehe.

Hahahaha, this really made my day. Now when I look at it all I see is the mutant embracers from space!!!! They do kind of blend together into a "one flesh" type of thing. You may have tainted my perception forever hahaha.

I really enjoyed your comments, thank you!

Shay Stephens

Shay Stephens wrote:

Hahahaha, this really made my day. Now when I look at it all I see is the mutant embracers from space!!!! They do kind of blend together into a "one flesh" type of thing. You may have tainted my perception forever hahaha.

I really enjoyed your comments, thank you!

I just got off the phone with my sister and told her about the black pants observation. Her reply was:

Oh my god I know, I was looking at that and thought, we are never going to both wear black pants like that again!

We had a good time laughing

WrenTheBlurry

Shay Stephens wrote:

Oh my god I know, I was looking at that and thought, we are never going to both wear black pants like that again!

Hehehe, glad I could help you see the pic in a different way, and that you and your sister got some amusement from it.

happy day,

wren