Advice on taking Senior Portraits

Shima

So it's common knowledge where I work that I love photography and one day would like to make it a side job... but alas have no formal training or real experience in professional jobs...

Well one of my co-workers mom's was talking to my husband (who also works with us) and got wind that I'm all up for taking various sorts of photography to build my portfolio and get experience... (and I guess it helped that my husband was flattering my skills to make her want to try me out)... so now I'm going to be taking Senior portraits for her daughter that just graduated high school this year. She knows I'm *very* new at this, so no worries about disappointments, she even said "so it will be an experiment for both us" when we were discussing it the other day, so that makes me feel less nervous

I've never really done true purposeful portraits though... so I'm in need of advice. She has some ideas for what she's looking for but likewise is hoping I'll bring ideas to the table. I can steal some "pose" ideas from various shots I've seen here, but I'm not sure what will be best / more likely to be keepers. I also plan to play around with photoshop in post processing for some neat effects (the mom mentioned her daughter being interested in smoe selective coloring shots her friends got for example, so that will be one of many things we'll try out).

What advice can you give me as a first timer in the area of posed portraits? I'm hoping we can do these outsides on a nice sunny day (thinking we'll go to the Indiana Dunes). Also my plan is to use the 24-105 f4/L ISM for these, I assume that's the right range for portraits since I'm not planning on throwing her way far away from the camera in order to need the 70-200 lol.
Well I'll stop rambling, hit me with your advice! Thanks!

Peter Dumont

some advice

Shima wrote:

Well I'll stop rambling, hit me with your advice! Thanks!

Hello Shima,
How is your sense of humour ?
Having a good sense of humour can help a great deal when taking a formal portrait.
A long time ago when I was in my early twenties, I went to a shop in the center of Amsterdam to have portrait pictures taken.
The shop was famous for it's portrait pictures as there were a lot of portraits of famous locals (actors and people I knew from television) in the window that were done in this shop.
As it was a very succesful enterprise I even had to wait a while in a room before it was my turn and when it was I came into a small room and was escorted to a seat by an elderly man who then proceeded to make my portrait.
"Well Sir", he said, "perhaps (click) if you can (click) look in this (click)direction, oh yes, I can tel from your face you voted conservative party last week, didn't you sir" (click,click,click,click,click) .
His casual inquiry made my face move from tense dignity to astonishment to frown to a big smile to laughter and then I told him he was a craftsman.
The pictures were the best anyone ever made of me.

The idea is of course to make people forget for a moment that they are having their portrait taken, by saying something so absolutely ridiculous
( I looked more like a hippie in those days than like a conservative ) that you will provoke a natural expression .

Good luck with your project !

Bye,
Peter Dumont

Scott_Quier

Nice sunny day, outside, no shade - that's an equation for some very hard shadows, squinting eyes, and hot spots where you don't want them. Very tough conditions. These problems can be overcome some with the use of a flash on a bracket to supply some fill flash with your client facing AWAY from the sun. You can also bring along an assistant (like the young lady's mother) and have her hold a large (LARGE) diffuser over her to soften the light a bit.

But why make life harder than it has to be. Take them to some nice, scenic place with trees that offer up full shade (not blotchy light/shadow shade) and shoot under the shade where it's cool and the light nice and soft. You can use a little off camera flash (if you have the equipment - I don't, yet) to add some depth to the portriats.

Take them places where the senior likes to play. OK, malls may be an issue in that you will have a tough time getting permission to shoot on private property, but I'm sure that there's something. This would end up being an almost environmental portrait, providing some context and personal flavor that will be cherished in the years to come.

If she's into it, take her to a playground and convince her to do "goofy stuff" to sort of break the ice and relax her.

Peter's comment is dead on - make her comfortable. Figure out how to get a range of emotions. Get her to laugh really, really hard and shoot. The first ones won't be worth much as her face will be all squished up, but as she comes down and her face relaxes some, you will get some real winners.

Provide an opportunity for the senior to change outfits.

Take your time with her. The initial shots are going to be tense. Your client will begin to relax as you get more comfortable with her and with the task at hand. Don't rush it. As you go along and you start getting decent shots, show them to both her and her mother. This will instill confidence and she will relax that much more.

Good luck on the shoot - I'm sure you'll do well.

saurora

Scott_Quier wrote:

.
Provide an opportunity for the senior to change outfits.

Really encourage this! You have a better chance of selling more pics if there is a change of clothing. Also, people sometimes make bad clothing decisions. It's not always easy to judge what will photograph poorly.

Be cautious shooting in full shade, especially under trees, as they can cause unsightly (and difficult to correct) green casts and shadows. Adjust your WB for shade. Relax, have fun, be silly and share with us the results!

Nikolai

Peter,

Peter Dumont wrote:

Hello Shima,
How is your sense of humour ?
...
Bye,
Peter Dumont

This is by far the best advice I've seen for the last few weeks

quark

Ask her to bring things that are important to her (and portable). A musical instrument, a pet, a piece of art, stuff like that. Ask her to tell you the story of whatever she brings to help relax the subject.

For girls (particularly) it helps if you can give them an option to review the pictures alone. Often there is friction between the photos that the parent will want and the ones that kid is happy with. Seniors often have lots of friends so keeping them happy can be great business.

Scott_Quier

quark wrote:

Ask her to bring things that are important to her (and portable). A musical instrument, a pet, a piece of art, stuff like that. Ask her to tell you the story of whatever she brings to help relax the subject.

For girls (particularly) it helps if you can give them an option to review the pictures alone. Often there is friction between the photos that the parent will want and the ones that kid is happy with. Seniors often have lots of friends so keeping them happy can be great business.

I'm thinking this is some very good advice for those seniors that don't have a very close and fun relationship with parents. You really want to make the total experience fun for the senior.