Courtney- Class of 2008

jeffreaux2

I am not even close to finishing up my edits, but was thrilled with the results of Courtneys senior photoshoot. She is a lovely young lady who is full of enthusiasm. We were able to take advantage of an overcast and windy day. She had a hard time with the wind, but I assured her that if we muddled through it that it could only make the photos better. She will be thrilled to see them.

Hope you enjoy....there may be more to come next week when I get done editing...if I can get a break to post them.

....C & C always is welcomed

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5- Still need to remove the thread hanging from her sleeve here.

binghott

i love these! she is stunning, i love the dimples. you really made her look outstanding. awesome job with the lighting!

personally, i think that 2, 3, 4, and maybe 5 have too much head room. i would prefer closer or just lower crops.

Agnieszka

Oh, I love those and you did a great job photoshopping them. How beautiful! My fav is #2

#4: I think her left eye looks maybe a bit awkward (?)

ShepsMom

I really like #2!! clap The rest are great as usually, you've done a fantastic job as always!! Keep it up

Briggie

#2 and #5 for me! Lovely!! Great places to shoot in Baton Rouge! I still think you should get a workshop organized! How about "Senior Portrait Boot Camp"??... I'm tellin' ya Jeff, I'm there!! :ivar

cunarder534

Wow. Love #2. Excellent series.

jayegirl

Good job again. 2 and 5 are my favorites. On number two, even though it is great, something about the fence to the right makes it hard for my eyes to stay looking at the picture for any length of time. But then again, I can not use a microscope with both eyes either, only look through it with one eye I still like the picture!

DavidS

Very nice Jeff!! I love #2.

evoryware

1, 2, and 4 have a magenta tint not that it's bad. Just thought I'd mention it. If that's what you intended then no prob.
I like them all and can't pick a favorite. Ok I lied, #3.
Also, I see a bruise on her arm in the last one? Her hair withstood the wind pretty well.

jeffreaux2

binghott wrote:

i love these! she is stunning, i love the dimples. you really made her look outstanding. awesome job with the lighting!

personally, i think that 2, 3, 4, and maybe 5 have too much head room. i would prefer closer or just lower crops.

I leave room when composing for cropping when ordering prints. If you have ever had that sinking feeling when a client wants an 8x10 or 11x14 and you haven't left room....well then you would surely understand why!!!

Thanks for the comments.

jeffreaux2

Agnieszka wrote:

Oh, I love those and you did a great job photoshopping them. How beautiful! My fav is #2

#4: I think her left eye looks maybe a bit awkward (?)

.

Her left eye doesn't seem to open or be as big as her right. It is not just in that photo. It's just her. It is better when she is quartered to the camera from her left. Thanks for looking!!

jeffreaux2

ShepsMom wrote:

I really like #2!! clap The rest are great as

usually, you've done a fantastic job as always!! Keep it up

Thanks!!!

jeffreaux2

Briggie wrote:

#2 and #5 for me! Lovely!! Great places to shoot in Baton Rouge! I still think you should get a workshop organized! How about "Senior Portrait Boot Camp"??... I'm tellin' ya Jeff, I'm there!! :ivar

You are too funny!!!

Thanks for the kind words though.

jeffreaux2

cunarder534 wrote:

Wow. Love #2. Excellent series.

Thank you very much.

jeffreaux2

jayegirl wrote:

Good job again. 2 and 5 are my favorites. On number two, even though it is great, something about the fence to the right makes it hard for my eyes to stay looking at the picture for any length of time. But then again, I can not use a microscope with both eyes either, only look through it with one eye I still like the picture!

Well, by the time enogh is cropped to get an 8x10 or 5x7 out of #2 it will be a bit better balanced. I don't crop until the prints are ordered.

Thanks for commenting!!

jeffreaux2

DavidS wrote:

Very nice Jeff!! I love #2.

Thanks David

jeffreaux2

evoryware wrote:

1, 2, and 4 have a magenta tint not that it's bad. Just thought I'd mention it. If that's what you intended then no prob.
I like them all and can't pick a favorite. Ok I lied, #3.
Also, I see a bruise on her arm in the last one? Her hair withstood the wind pretty well.

I have not touched them up yet but will defiantely be getting to the hanging thread and bruise and also a scar in one other of these.

They do not appear magenta on my monitor ...which should...better have an up to date calibration. I was definately going for a very nuetral temperature with most of them.

Thanks for commenting.

Chrissiebeez_NL

oi! # 2 is a killer!!

NeilL

Jeff, I understand you have clients' expectations to meet, and you have to please them of course! But just for the sake of argument, do these kinds of pics have to be so generic? Except for the individual features of each girl and location, your seniors shots have a cast-in-a-mold look. The same kind of effect as looking at a cadet passing out parade.

Why do you take these people out of their actual habitat into places with which they have no intimate, personal connection. Devoid of any reference to their personalities, histories, idiosyncrasies and actual involvement with life? Why do they all wear the same brand of duckling-downy cutsieness? Aren't they adult women? Do they have no breadth and depth? If I was a woman I think I would feel that there was a measure of stereotyping and two dimensionalising happening here.

I think taking technically good pictures is not the only challenge of portraiture. I think making portraits unique is an equal challenge. I don't think you can get the latter with settings unconnected to the subject, no matter how picturesque they might be, and with stock poses. These things are antagonistic to a portrait, I think. Because any person is larger than the visible borders of their skin, I think the other things which constitute and reference them have to appear in a portrait of them.

I make these remarks with goodwill towards you, and they are just about my personal preferences. I can see the good things in these images. That's perhaps why I long for the more they could be!

Best wishes!
Neil

urbanaries

I think Neil makes some good points but a portrait boils down to intention and expectation. There's a set of skills and talents associated with portraiture in a pleasing visual context eg exposure, lighting, color accuracy and PP, and I think these are absolutely wonderful in that regard. Capturing someone's true personality may not be the intention here. A lot of girls this age just want pics of them dressed up as fashion models, and any photo that shows their true selfs, they don't like (BTDT).

The downside to having "tried and true" settings (like that baton rouge fence) for photographs is that they can all start to look alike. It's up to the photographer to see them with fresh eyes each time we return, so we don't have 4 or 5 variations of the exact same photo, if that makes sense.

All in all, I think your technique is rock solid and there's just not much to critique in that arena!

jeffreaux2

NeilL wrote:

Jeff, I understand you have clients' expectations to meet, and you have to please them of course! But just for the sake of argument, do these kinds of pics have to be so generic? Except for the individual features of each girl and location, your seniors shots have a cast-in-a-mold look. The same kind of effect as looking at a cadet passing out parade.

That is a pretty harsh criticism from someone who hands it out regularly, but rarely posts photos themselves. If you "underdstand" my clients expectations, then none of the drivel that followed need take place. However, since you did so, I will at least dignify your comments with a response, though I don't know that it deserves one.

Why do you take these people out of their actual habitat into places with which they have no intimate, personal connection. Devoid of any reference to their personalities, histories, idiosyncrasies and actual involvement with life? Why do they all wear the same brand of duckling-downy cutsieness? Aren't they adult women? Do they have no breadth and depth? If I was a woman I think I would feel that there was a measure of stereotyping and two dimensionalising happening here.

I wonder if you have ever made a similar comment to any of the fine and capable studio photogrphers who frequent the forum? Would that not be the same thing? To answer your question as to why I take people where I take them I will quote directly from my portrait and senior portrait pricing guide.
"On location photography at the location of your choosing. Additional charges may apply to locations greater than 25 miles from Baton Rouge. The client is resonsible for any entry or garden fees incurred at the location."
So maybe you can see that I actually "take" no one anywhere. It is entirely up to them. Therefore you might be better off asking why they choose to have their photos done at these locations. I could answer that simply by saying that the buildings and their grounds at which I often perform services are highly popular for photography here. It could be that the reason is because they are interesting places that are very picturesque, or perhaps even more simply that there are many photogrphic opportunities here that are accessable by the general public at no charge. These include attractive archetectual elements, great textures ranging from granite to grass, and gardens that range from formal to informal and even on to rambling. Of course it could also easily be that these capitol buildings and grounds define this city as not only the state capitol, but also as home. Our hometown. There is also history involved as some of the structures pre date the civil war. Only those included in the photographs that you so easily dismantled could answer that question.

I think taking technically good pictures is not the only challenge of portraiture. I think making portraits unique is an equal challenge. I don't think you can get the latter with settings unconnected to the subject, no matter how picturesque they might be, and with stock poses. These things are antagonistic to a portrait, I think. Because any person is larger than the visible borders of their skin, I think the other things which constitute and reference them have to appear in a portrait of them.

When I first make contact with a client who is interested in senior portraits I try to find out a little about the person. Do you play sports? Music? What types of activities are you involved in? Would you like your photographs to involve these activities? ...and where? Is there a hunting or fishing camp?...a family farm or property?.. a stadium you would like to do your portraits in? In the end the decision is theirs, or their parents. I also do not provide attire, although I do suggest casual clothing...something they would wear to "hang out" with friends, and if they must dress up to wear something classic/conservative. Here also I have very little say in the end. I would say that girls more than boys arrive at a photoshoot with very specific things in mind and may even show up with a list of "shots" that they want. Of course it is my responsibility then to be sure that the technicalities of composition and exposure are appropriate for the photograph...as well as to worry with things such as trying to frame them such as to show them in a good light. Shaping, framing, lighting...and eventually pushing a button.

I make these remarks with goodwill towards you, and they are just about my personal preferences. I can see the good things in these images. That's perhaps why I long for the more they could be!

Best wishes!
Neil

Yes Neil I could almost see the goodwill dripping from these remarks.

jeffreaux2

urbanaries wrote:

I think Neil makes some good points but a portrait boils down to intention and expectation. There's a set of skills and talents associated with portraiture in a pleasing visual context eg exposure, lighting, color accuracy and PP, and I think these are absolutely wonderful in that regard. Capturing someone's true personality may not be the intention here. A lot of girls this age just want pics of them dressed up as fashion models, and any photo that shows their true selfs, they don't like (BTDT).

The downside to having "tried and true" settings (like that baton rouge fence) for photographs is that they can all start to look alike. It's up to the photographer to see them with fresh eyes each time we return, so we don't have 4 or 5 variations of the exact same photo, if that makes sense.

All in all, I think your technique is rock solid and there's just not much to critique in that arena!

Not sure why, but it seems as if you did a double post...of basically the same comment. Maybe you are using the same type keyboard I use at work.

Anyways, I hope it is ok if I only reply once?

These locations are indeed popular. I have never ever done a session at either location when there wasn't at least one other photographer working. It does take an effort to find alternative compositions at a particular location. I have found also that time of day and the weather can play an important role. For instance, on this shoot since it was overcast, we were able to venture into some of the park areas that would normally recieve very harsh sunlight. These are areas where I have never been able to photograph anyone else.

There are many many fine locations within 45 minute or less of my home....but the choice is ultimately the clients. Oh, and then there is that hayfield...and that awesome thick green clover patch that I would love to work in. Just waiting for the right person to call in the right frame of mind I guess.

Thanks for commenting Lynne.

jeffreaux2

Chrissiebeez_NL wrote:

oi! # 2 is a killer!!

Thanks!!!

jecottrell

I can appreciate what NeilL and Urbanaries have to offer, but having been in these customer's shoes (albeit a long time ago), I would be willing to bet that they all want, like, and expect what everyone else is 'getting'. Teens never want what is 'best' for them, they only want what they think other people want. A CEO that has had the years to mature and learn to think independently can appreciate the work, effort, and creativity that NeilL and Urbanaries speak of. But a teenager would most likely raise their nose at anything other than what 'everyone else has.' And, ultimately, it comes down to what the customer wants.

John



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eL eSs Vee

These are great, Jeff! Courtney's going to love them.

My only concern is her ankle in number two: It's over-extended. Other than that, it's a great image.

I did a lot of work with a lovely lady who had that same eye characteristic: She had smooth skin, soft features, long brown hair and green eyes (And twenty-three years later, I still melt when I see her), but I could only photograph her straight-on or from her left to make her eyes seem the same size. I got a lot of great shots of her, and you've got a lot of great shots of Courtney.

With the limited locations you have, the most important thing is that you're giving your clients what they want. But someday, someone will ask about that clover patch. :ivar

Keep up the great work!

ladytx

Beautiful work here Jeff. She should be very pleased with these photos!!

zoomer

I like them all but number 2 is AWESOME...........
The colors and exposures in all of them are perfect.
Very pretty model and you did an excellent job of capturing her look.

zoomer

I just read through some of he other posts where people had some opinions about your work.
Senior girls want to look as grown up and as pretty as possible.
They hire us the photographers to make them look that way.
They can't wait to get to school to show their girl/boyfriends how hot they look in their pictures.
They don't want a picture of them doing what they do in real life at least not in my experience so far...has never happened.
Keep up the good work!

NeilL

Yes, I said I recognised that clients have expectations and you must oblige them! Not all girls have these specific expectations, by the way. In fact, I know girls who wouldn't be seen dead in this style of photo! From a business perspective you lose these potential clients because you DON'T offer them what THEY want.

When you look back through the years at portraits you notice that there have been fashions. This style belongs to a current fashion, and it will be replaced by something different someday. Like with all fashion, change is not led by the consumer but by the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur creates need which wasn't there before. These girls don't want different because they have not seen what they would like better if they could! The photographer as entrepreneur can show them. Otherwise fashion stultifies, reaches a sterile repetitiveness. The stimulus for making it new (a nod to Ezra Pound) is created consciously, and can draw from things far and wide of the final application, as Pound drew on Chinese verse and the dynamism of mechanised society, among other things, for the creation of a new style of English poetry. The role of the critic is to raise consciousness so the dead end is avoided. And it's my impression that the best critics have rarely been the most successful practitioners!

My question to Jeff was about why this style of photography has to be ALL there is for these girls. Sure, give the girls something to take to school if that's important to them. But why give them ONLY that?! Can't the photographer show them other possibilities, which might have a more lasting value to them? Something which records them as personalities as distinct from versions of a fashion. I remember through my childhood coming back again and again to the shoebox my mother kept photos in. There were some glamor shots of her among them, but the ones that drew me most were of my mother and her story - the people and places I saw her with and in, the photos which helped me to KNOW her!

So, lighten up and loosen up, people, to the possibilities. Imagine!

Neil

Elaine

My niece has a similar eye issue...one opens larger than the other. No matter...this girl is very pretty and you captured her very nicely. I really, really like #2 and 5!! I like your use of various backgrounds and lighting and post processing!!

This thread has brought up some interesting trains of thought. For me, senior photos are traditional, and if they aren't traditional, then they're called something else. Especially in the South, I'd wager that traditional "beauty" shots are what is highly sought. (Not meaning to stereotype here...just guessing at some cultural wants/tendencies.)
Years ago, when I had mine done, it was exciting to be out of the "norm" of school and sports life for a couple hours and have a photog dedicated to making me look lovely and cute. And my parents wanted those traditional, lovely shots to look at when I went away to college. They were a sophisticated culmination of years of school photos that began in kindergarten and ended with a senior photo shoot.
I would not consider a high school senior to be an adult woman (I was 17 when I graduated), and I think senior photos are more about capturing Johnny or Sally at their "handsomest" and "prettiest" at the end of their childhood as they transition into adulthood. I believe the parents are as much the client as the student is, which can make the photog's job even more interesting!

Andy

jeffreaux2 wrote:

They do not appear magenta on my monitor

Yup, get to work on that calibration, but more importantly, learn to use the eye dropper, and measure the colors

Original on top, then a corrected version. Head over to finishing school if you'd like to know how

You captured her beautifully, jeffreaux!