Senior Pics

RustingInPeace

Love them or hate them, partial desaturation shots always sell.







The same seems to go for the heavy handed processing pics






I always find it interesting that clients seem to gravitate to these types of photos.

SitterS

I haven't done any of this kind of processing for my clients. I find it funny that they gravitate towards the selective coloring so much. Do you find it is the teenagers or the parents that mostly like this? Just interested. I personally do not care for selective color except in a few instances where I have seen it work and it was subtle. This is just my preference. The pink really stands out in this but it the client likes it and drops the bucks for it that is all that counts.

Shane

RustingInPeace

SitterS wrote:

I haven't done any of this kind of processing for my clients. I find it funny that they gravitate towards the selective coloring so much. Do you find it is the teenagers or the parents that mostly like this? Just interested. I personally do not care for selective color except in a few instances where I have seen it work and it was subtle. This is just my preference. The pink really stands out in this but it the client likes it and drops the bucks for it that is all that counts.

Shane

It's across the board. The kids, parents, grandparents all seem to pick these types of shots. I have never been a huge fan of the selective color or heavy processing, but I do them because the sell. In several cases I have had a perfect picture, one I really love, and I'll have the client ask if I can process it to look more like one of the other shots like the ones in the OP. Kinda sad sometimes, but it's their money.

Cuties02q

I really do not like selective coloring...with that said very nice photos of a very pretty girl. I am sure she will be very happy with them

Shelleyk

Im not a HUGE fan of selective coloring, but I do like it in some instances. IT works here though the pink to me is just screaming tone it down

As a woman and a parent I think the selective coloring is popular because it "looks' harder to do and its not something that you see everyday

Seneca

I don't selective coloring works in these photos...perhaps if she had a rose or a very bright flower than you could keep your subject in B&W, and just colorize the rose or flower of choice.

jeffreaux2

Seneca wrote:

I don't selective coloring works in these photos...perhaps if she had a rose or a very bright flower than you could keep your subject in B&W, and just colorize the rose or flower of choice.

Doesn't work for me either.........sorry:D........my daughter says she doesn't personally like it , but that other kids think that"look" is ridiculously cool.

Katie Beth

Great pics!

I like the selective coloring if it's not overdone. The pink is pretty strong but I actually kinda of like it and can see how it would appeal to the teen girls.

I just did a photo shoot of a 2 month old and did just one photo that was black and white with just the headband/ribbon colored pink and the mom said she liked the look.

212089627-M-5.jpg

A friend of mine likes the more artistic type shots with painting effects and some selective coloring (and she's very good at it) but she has found that most of her clients seem to go for the traditional type of shots and not the ones they consider "artsy."

Scott_Quier

On the top of selective color - it should the focus of the image that is colored. IMO, the first two shots miss the target in that it's her clothes that are colored. I think these would be improved if she and her clothes were colored.

#1 - all I see is a mass of unfocused image, as in not sharp. I'm sure, based on the other three, that this was intentional, but it just drived my eyes nuts.

#2 - background is very bright! On this monitor, I'm afraid to say it's blown (I made that mistake once before ), but the brightness of the water spray is quite distracting.

#3 - this is good for what it is and I'm sure parents/clients will appreciate it. I wonder about the angle - is it a bit much.

#4 - Again with the soft focus and the very bright water.

In #2, #3, and #4 - it appears you had your model in the shade and the background was illuminated by full sun. Is this the case? If so, I think a little fill flash would have helped you balance the light so the background wasn't quite so bright - just a thought.

toddharmon

All in all some pretty and interesting pics! Here's a couple of my own (many more of the non-selective color variety on my site). Let me know what you think! Take it easy on me - I'm new to dgrin

RustingInPeace

Scott_Quier wrote:

On the top of selective color - it should the focus of the image that is colored. IMO, the first two shots miss the target in that it's her clothes that are colored. I think these would be improved if she and her clothes were colored.

#1 - all I see is a mass of unfocused image, as in not sharp. I'm sure, based on the other three, that this was intentional, but it just drived my eyes nuts.

#2 - background is very bright! On this monitor, I'm afraid to say it's blown (I made that mistake once before ), but the brightness of the water spray is quite distracting.

#3 - this is good for what it is and I'm sure parents/clients will appreciate it. I wonder about the angle - is it a bit much.

#4 - Again with the soft focus and the very bright water.

In #2, #3, and #4 - it appears you had your model in the shade and the background was illuminated by full sun. Is this the case? If so, I think a little fill flash would have helped you balance the light so the background wasn't quite so bright - just a thought.

I offered these parents nice crisp sharp images but THEY picked these. As a matter of fact #2 & #4, the parents requested the "OVER-THE-TOP" treatment. They paid and I did the processing.

I have figured out that my clients tend to pick my least favorite photos. If I preview 60 photo with a client I can count on them picking at least5 of my bottom 10 choices.

ShepsMom

I agree that "processed" shots gets picked more often then not. Is it a trend? Or may be parents/kids think it's such a cool thing to show everyone, cause not everyone have it .
Anyway, bottom line is what customer likes, we tend to judge our own work and work of our fellas photogs that we overlook little things like "what's on the market". So, if a girl and her parents liked these shots, more power to you. You probably won't have luck of requests like this. If this pays off, who cares?? Go with what works for you and your client, provide them what they like, keep originals and admire them if your clients wont. That's the story!

Just my 2 cents.:D

photogmomma

My thoughts? (As if anyone cares....)

If you're out to make money and that's what makes money, why not? Especially if it's your bread and butter.

If you want to improve yourself as an artist and not cater to the current trend? Eh. I could do without 'em.

I think it's interesting what sells and what sells bigger. I think unprocessed these are probably *really* great shots. Processing takes a lot away from them, IMHO. I understand that kids want the trendy stuff and you have to do what sells, though. This is why I am struggling with going into senior photography as I think you *need* to have a big bag of tricks to keep 'em interested - especially in larger cities.

If you're looking for feedback, I think #1 & 2 could do with less blurring and a bit of desaturation. I think you could still go for the same feel, but end up with a higher quality image doing those two things.

#3 is over tilted, but I still like it. Watch out for cropping the fingers, though.

#4 - eh. I think it's too blurry and she looks uncomfortable rather than serious.

I have seen a lot of your photos and I know you do some phenomenal work. And I bet these photos are really good processed differently.... especially #2 and #3 as the lighting on them looks *really* great!

I'm glad you found a niche, though! That can be hard!