Senior Pictures

Mrs F

I've been reluctant to post these with the caliber of senior photos I've seen here lately, but hey, I need to learn. C and C greatly appreciated. I love feedback, good or bad.

All images were taken with a Canon 40D and a 70-200 f/2.8L or a 24-70 f/2.8 L. I used a 430 EX in ETTL mode and Gary Fong Light sphere with dome pointed directly at subject for fill. The rest of the gallery can be seen here if you're interested.

1. 30mm f/3.2 1/125 ISO 200




2. 66mm f/2.8 1/125 ISO 200




3. 70mm f/2.8 1/200 ISO 200




4. I shot this after I read the "keep the hands out of the pockets" thread
70mm f/2.8 1/125 ISO 200

Elaine

I don't think you have anything to worry about! These look lovely to me! Nice colors and variety of locations/backgrounds. She's such a pretty girl and these look nicely lit to me. I love how her hair seems to have motion in #3, and I like her pose and angle (I do wish the brick wall extended all the way behind her, but that's minor and my opinion). I like your conversion on #4. I'm sure she and her parents will be very happy with these! Great job!!!

jeffreaux2

These are very nice. I agree about the wall as stated above. Very nice touch with the fill light as well as it is very well controlled in the photos. Were you using the flash/camera in AV mode, or manual? Either weay they are awesome. I also like her chice of clothing. Casual is definately the way to go!!!

rwells

Cute girl

I like the effort you put into finding nice backgrounds and I agree on #3. If you would have taken a couple of steps to your left the wall would have been continuous in the pic. Love the pose and blown hair.

Lighting looks controlled.


Don't hesitate to post, yours look good


We want to see more.

Mrs F

Elaine wrote:

I love how her hair seems to have motion in #3, and I like her pose and angle (I do wish the brick wall extended all the way behind her, but that's minor and my opinion).

Thanks Elaine, I appreciate the sweet comments!

I agree about the wall in the background. If only I'd taken that step to the left to change the perspecive. :cry

Jeffreaux2 wrote:

Were you using the flash/camera in AV mode, or manual? Either way they are awesome. I also like her chice of clothing. Casual is definately the way to go!!!

Thanks Jeffreaux2! My camera was in manual mode. I've done a little experimenting with fill flash in other modes, but I always go back to shooting in manual.

BTW, I literally studied the senior work of your beautiful daughter before I went out on this senior shoot. Thanks a lot for upping the ante for me.

rwells wrote:

I like the effort you put into finding nice backgrounds... Don't hesitate to post, yours look good

Thanks for taking the time to give feedback!

You gotta love downtown Fargo for those backgrounds. That girl was a trooper when I marched her all over downtown in 40 degree weather.

Yeah, I need to get over my phobia about posting...the feedback is really helpful.

Kari

Scott_Quier

I looked at those you have in the gallery. You have a lot of very, very nice shots there. I think this one is my favorite:



If you are planning on selling these images (and they are very much worth putting a serious price on them), I might suggest you consider setting the pricing (right now, they are being sold at zero profit) and lock down the larger sizes (see you gallery customization page) as you have all sizes available to anyone who would care to download them.

jeffreaux2

Mrs F wrote:

Thanks Jeffreaux2! My camera was in manual mode. I've done a little experimenting with fill flash in other modes, but I always go back to shooting in manual.

BTW, I literally studied the senior work of your beautiful daughter before I went out on this senior shoot. Thanks a lot for upping the ante for me.

Wow.........I think that is the best compliment I have gotten in this forum yet!!! You have given me confidence for my senior shoot that I have to do this afternoon!!!

I tend to mostly still use the AV mode, and will from time to time shoot manual. You have some very good results, and since Scott put up the horse photo I have to ask....How did the horse behave with the flash?

There is a possibility that I will be doing a set of a senior guy and his horse soon, but I have never worked with horses.

And.....I have to agree with Scott.......you don't have any reason to be shy about posting your work!!

DJ-S1

I thought these were great, then I checked out the gallery. Did you get any that weren't really good? Man, how is she supposed to choose between 40 shots like that? Great locations, poses and execution - cute subject to work with, too.

Awesome stuff, I'm not to the level you folks post but seeing what you do and reading your tips really helps.

Bobbyz

Nice shots. For some of them, straight flash looks a bit much.

BTW - You shoud disable viewing of originals from your galleries. In the K gallery, in some of the images, you aren't focussing on the eyes. Using f2.8, if you don't focus correctly, eyes won't be sharp. In some of the shots the focus is on her t-shirt.

Mrs F

Scott_Quier wrote:

If you are planning on selling these images (and they are very much worth putting a serious price on them), I might suggest you consider setting the pricing (right now, they are being sold at zero profit) and lock down the larger sizes (see you gallery customization page) as you have all sizes available to anyone who would care to download them.

Thanks for the feed back Scott! I looked at that horse image for so long that I couldn't decide if it worked or not, so it was nice to hear you like it.

I don't have a SmugMug pro account so I don't have the ability to mark up the images on my site. I thought I was too inexperienced as a hobbiest to charge for my work (other than a small fee for wear and tear on my equipment). I thought I would consider getting a Pro SmugMug account and charging per image when I can consistently produce "pro caliber" work. I'm giving her a disk with the jpegs. However, I'm thinking I need to change how I handle charging for these big jobs. It's a lot of work!

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I tend to mostly still use the AV mode, and will from time to time shoot manual. You have some very good results, and since Scott put up the horse photo I have to ask....How did the horse behave with the flash?

There is a possibility that I will be doing a set of a senior guy and his horse soon, but I have never worked with horses.

This horse (Dunny) didn't seem to mind the flash, but I asked before I started shooting. Shooting with Dunny was much harder than any dog or toddler I've shot. His big head kept obstructing my view of the senior and he loved to show me his back side I should have looked for some good portraits with horses to inspire me before the shoot. It didn't help that I have a healthy fear of horses and I would have rather shot from a half mile away with a very long lens.

Good luck with your next senior session! I hope you'll be posting some of the images

Mrs F

Bobbyz wrote:

Nice shots. For some of them, straight flash looks a bit much.

BTW - You shoud disable viewing of originals from your galleries. In the K gallery, in some of the images, you aren't focussing on the eyes. Using f2.8, if you don't focus correctly, eyes won't be sharp. In some of the shots the focus is on her t-shirt.

Thanks for the feed back! Do you think I should have used a reflector or just dialed down the flash? Even though the day was overcast, I felt like I needed some fill to keep the shadows out of her eyes since it was the middle of the day (the only time we were able to schedule).

I disabled the originals in both galleries. The K gallery you're referring to was the first senior session I've done and I thought the results were so bad that I decided a reshoot was in order. Not only was the focusing bad, the color casts and the distracting backgrounds were a huge problem for me. :cry However, she likes a lot of these images so I kept the gallery in place.

DJ-S1: thanks for the kind words! She's really a natural in front of the camera, which made my job much easier.

Elaine

Kari,

If I can justify a pro account, then you most definitely can (and should)! With shots like these, you will get asked to do this more and more, and you're right - it's a lot of work! The time to shoot and post process alone is worth being compensated for. And with the pro account, you can mark up the prints as little as .01 cent so that when people do order prints, you at least know which ones are being ordered. People don't mind paying something for good work. I think you're selling yourself way short! I got a pro account and even a city business license within the last three months...this does not mean I feel like I'm delivering consistent work and I don't feel very pro, to be honest, but the framework is in place for me to grow. I hope you'll consider it!

jeffreaux2

Elaine wrote:

Kari,

If I can justify a pro account, then you most definitely can (and should)! People don't mind paying something for good work. I think you're selling yourself way short! I got a pro account and even a city business license within the last three months...this does not mean I feel like I'm delivering consistent work and I don't feel very pro, to be honest, but the framework is in place for me to grow. I hope you'll consider it!

I agree.

This one shoot would have paid for the pro account and then some. When I forked over the dough for mine last May(?) I set a goal that if my "business" earned enough to pay for the site, domain name, and my business cards I would be happy. Then my first client paid for it all. My subsequent clients have paid for equipment purchases. There is definately more on the equipment to buy list, but it does have an end and when I reach that point I will be making some decent profits.

Icebear

Surely you jest!

jeffreaux2 wrote:

There is definately more on the equipment to buy list, but it does have an end and when I reach that point I will be making some decent profits.

You will NEVER . . . EVER run out of goodies to drool over. I find myself actually READING freaking Hassleblad ads these days. Now THAT'S scary.

Scott_Quier

Elaine wrote:

Kari,

If I can justify a pro account, then you most definitely can (and should)! With shots like these, you will get asked to do this more and more, and you're right - it's a lot of work! The time to shoot and post process alone is worth being compensated for. And with the pro account, you can mark up the prints as little as .01 cent so that when people do order prints, you at least know which ones are being ordered. People don't mind paying something for good work. I think you're selling yourself way short! I got a pro account and even a city business license within the last three months...this does not mean I feel like I'm delivering consistent work and I don't feel very pro, to be honest, but the framework is in place for me to grow. I hope you'll consider it!

100% with all the above. Time to start thinking like a pro. This will, as well, help motivate you to spend the time to get really, really good!

Mrs F

Elaine wrote:

Kari,

If I can justify a pro account, then you most definitely can (and should)! With shots like these, you will get asked to do this more and more, and you're right - it's a lot of work!...I hope you'll consider it!

Thanks Elaine, jeffreaux2 and Scott for chiming in on this issue. You've really given me some food for thought and twisted my arm. I think I'm going to have to make the leap to a pro account. I appreciate your opinion so much. You guys are awesome!

And Icebear: I think my "want" list keeps expanding. I swore to my husband I would never set up a studio in the basement...and guess what I'm shopping for? Studio lights!

Bobbyz

Mrs F wrote:

Thanks for the feed back! Do you think I should have used a reflector or just dialed down the flash? Even though the day was overcast, I felt like I needed some fill to keep the shadows out of her eyes since it was the middle of the day (the only time we were able to schedule)

Dialing down should help. I am also new to all this. After seeing some very nice senior pictures on another forum, I have got a photoflex x-small softbox for my 550ex flash. I just tested it the night before on my wife and it does give me soft light.

I also signed up for the pro account. That way, I can customize my site and mark up the prints. And my living room is now full with light stands along with Alien Bee goodies. Good luck.

saurora

Very nice job, Kari! I love the backgrounds you obviously worked into each shot. #3 is my favorite .... I haven't been to your gallery yet to check out the rest but I will. I agree w/everyone else that a Pro account is the way to go even if you think you're not ready!

urbanaries

WOW! These are all fabulous!

I love the multicolored background in #1, as well as the color blocking effect with her shirt, jeans and the BG in #3. I might crop some off the left and straighten that one a bit to give it even more pop, but it's great as-is!!!

I am not sure about the official "rule" of hands in pockets, but to me her hands are in her belt loops, not stuffed in pockets, and that gives her hands something to do. In my experience, subjects feel more relaxed when their hands are doing something, and if they feel relaxed, they look relaxed. Which I think she does in all of these!

You've received some great advice in this thread as to shooting and more importantly, GETTING A PRO account...you certainly are at that point talent-wise! Awesome stuff!

Mrs F

Bobbyz wrote:

Dialing down should help. I am also new to all this. After seeing some very nice senior pictures on another forum, I have got a photoflex x-small softbox for my 550ex flash. I just tested it the night before on my wife and it does give me soft light.

Thanks, I'm always looking for a way to get softer lighting.

saurora wrote:

Very nice job, Kari!...I agree w/everyone else that a Pro account is the way to go even if you think you're not ready!

Thanks Susan, I informed my husband last night that he'll be purchasing a pro account for me

urbanaries wrote:

I am not sure about the official "rule" of hands in pockets, but to me her hands are in her belt loops, not stuffed in pockets, and that gives her hands something to do. In my experience, subjects feel more relaxed when their hands are doing something, and if they feel relaxed, they look relaxed. Which I think she does in all of these!

Thank you so much for the comments and advice! I'm going to try the changes you suggested.

I'm glad you mentioned the "hands in the pockets" rule. I don't like dangling hands and I was surprised that a lot of photographers on DGrin consider the hands-in-pockets pose as bad form. I bought the Portrait Photographer's Handbook by Bill Hurter for posing ideas and he even suggested having the subject put the hands in the pockets to avoid the dangle. I suppose like anything, it's a pose to be used judiciously.

jziegler

You have some great shots there. Better than the senior pictures that a "Pro" that the school setup did for me a number of years ago. Of course, going through the school limited the options, but I digress.

I's agree with the pro account comment. I'm setting up a pro account to see what happens. I figure try it for a year, if I make back the fees, I'll keep it, if not, I'll downgrade. It's always worth a try, and your work looks good to me.

Regards,
James

jeffreaux2

I think relaxed is much more important that precise hand placement. I think though that the post you referred to had several shots with hands stuffed in pockets....it appeared uncomfortable and drew attention.

As for softer light, use your Flash Exposure Compensation(FEC). There are some instructions in the flash manual. Any type of diffuser or modifier will shorten battery life. Yes a softbox will soften shadows, but so will backing down on flash output. I think these shots look fine, but remember shadows are perfectly natural, and it is fine to leave some of the natural shadowing on a face as it helps to shape/ or model the face.

You did a great job.

BTW I have tried bouncing a flash off of a reflector and it isn't as easy as it may seem. The very first thing you will need to do this is a helper. Much easier to either make adjustments or shoot with an off camera flash.

Captn14

These are really nicely done. I would be proud to say I took these.

Deadeye008

I love the colors in #2. Very nice series! Great work!

Cantfeelmyfingers

I really like these... the wall issue aside.. My absolute favorite is the fourth. I wish my senior photos would have come out half as good as these!

pyrtek

Mrs F wrote:

I agree about the wall in the background. If only I'd taken that step to the left to change the perspecive. :cry

Surely in this day and age that is not a problem.

Scott_Quier

pyrtek wrote:

Surely in this day and age that is not a problem.

Not a bad edit, especially if you didn't take a lot of time with it. Only flaw I can see is a slight issue with maintaining a straight edge between the wall and the sidewalk. There appears to be a slight deflection to the left next to her right hip.

But, this is a better edit than I could easily accomplish.

pyrtek

Scott_Quier wrote:

Not a bad edit, especially if you didn't take a lot of time with it. Only flaw I can see is a slight issue with maintaining a straight edge between the wall and the sidewalk. There appears to be a slight deflection to the left next to her right hip.

But, this is a better edit than I could easily accomplish.

Actually, I just did this quick and dirty as a joke. The source image is way too
small for a serious retouch. But that makes your compliment all the more
appreciated. Thanks.

Mrs F

Thanks cantfeelmyfingers for the nice comment.

pyrtek wrote:

Surely in this day and age that is not a problem.

Thanks pyrtek, you know I briefly thought of doing this too? I'm way to slow to attempt that sort of edit. Your quick and dirty fix was good. I had to really study it to find the edge Scott was talking about.

Kari

jeffreaux2

Mrs F wrote:

Thanks cantfeelmyfingers for the nice comment.



Thanks pyrtek, you know I briefly thought of doing this too? I'm way to slow to attempt that sort of edit. Your quick and dirty fix was good. I had to really study it to find the edge Scott was talking about.

Kari

M..a..y..b..e........you could let Pyrtek download your original file and let him extend your wall.....then he could get the full size file...repaired...back to you. I bet he will give it a try if you send him a PM.

pyrtek

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I bet he will give it a try if you send him a PM.

You would win that bet.