Suggestions for Male Senior Pics??

kenlyne

I hope this is the correct place to post this??

Anyway, does anyone have any advice for shooting senior pics for a guy?

His mom wants them shot in their backyard which is woodsy. I did ask her if she has some kind of old bench we could use and she does have one. Thankfully, she understands that this is practice for me, so it does take some of the pressure off but I really want to do a good job for them and also want some stuff to start a portfolio with. I have taken some children shots which is how she found out that I'm getting into photography and asked me to photo her son. I do not have any experience with senior shots

I have an XT body, 70-200 no IS, 85mm, 50mm 1.8, & a kit lens

Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!

mercphoto

I can't offer advice on poses, but, you will want to get some separation between the boy and that woodsy background. Do not, do not, do not have him sit down with the woods close to his back. You want the background to fall out-of-focus so that he pops out of the picture, and you need some distance to allow that to happen. If distance isn't possible because "woodsy" means there are trees everywhere then play that to your advantage by getting some trees in front, some behind, some far, some close, etc. That will give your shots layers and depth. Shoot in Av mode, lens wide open, for the most shallow depth of field possible. A low ISO for low noise. About any shutter speed faster than 1/320 will be fine with that lens and IS will not be necessary. I'd shoot the 85mm, or a longer focal length if space allows.

Watch the direction of lighting (hopefully sun is in front and to the side). Watch for funky shadows caused by trees and leaves.

kenlyne

mercphoto wrote:

I can't offer advice on poses, but, you will want to get some separation between the boy and that woodsy background. Do not, do not, do not have him sit down with the woods close to his back. You want the background to fall out-of-focus so that he pops out of the picture, and you need some distance to allow that to happen. If distance isn't possible because "woodsy" means there are trees everywhere then play that to your advantage by getting some trees in front, some behind, some far, some close, etc. That will give your shots layers and depth. Shoot in Av mode, lens wide open, for the most shallow depth of field possible. A low ISO for low noise. About any shutter speed faster than 1/320 will be fine with that lens and IS will not be necessary. I'd shoot the 85mm, or a longer focal length if space allows.

Watch the direction of lighting (hopefully sun is in front and to the side). Watch for funky shadows caused by trees and leaves.

Thank you so much for the advice!!--I used both the 85mm & the 70-200mm. I posted some in a thread on People if you'd like to take a look. We didn't end up doing a whole lot in their yard--took some in the neighbors field with a barn, another neighbors fence and some on the road. Just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to post, I really appreciate it.

~Kenlyne

pathfinder

Be very careful with the lighting on the face - it is very easy to overlook a nice dappled lighting on the face when shooting, and then later realize in post processing that you have dark irregular shadows on the face and CANNOT fix them in Photoshop. DAMHIK:D

I strongly suggest using fill flash in this arena also.