Senior port session...C&C please

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

08/26/2006 01:24:16 AM · #1

Here are a few shots from this weeks senior portrait session. Comment and critique welcome and appreciated. I'll return C&C...if you have a preference on which image of yours you would like me to comment on please let me know...otherwise I will just pick a fave from your portfolio...

Thanks
Carisa

1.

I Enjoy Ham

Canon EOS-30D

08/26/2006 01:26:32 AM · #2

my favorite is the first one... one thing i might try to do to it is tdull the sheet in the bg and under her leg a little bit, the high key style looks awesome though.. awesome work!

-Dan

ShannonLee

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II

08/26/2006 01:30:03 AM · #3

My favorite is totally number three!! It's gorgeous!!

I love her eyebrow ring, i think it adds a little extra to the pics.

As for #1 & #2 I like the sepia best! I'm not sure that I'm loving the crop though... it seems like an awkward cut on the bottom.

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

08/26/2006 08:48:35 AM · #4

Put me in the "I like color" camp. #2 is the one I like the most. For me, the two b&w images are just missing too much detail in the shadows and highlights. On #4 the crop just isn't working for me. But #2 is really nicely done.

sherpet

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

08/26/2006 08:55:14 AM · #5

I left a comment of my favorite, which is number two.
I really like them all, but number two, is definately the one I like the best.

Olympus 50mm f/1.8 MF Normal Zuiko

08/26/2006 11:49:00 AM · #6

Here are two more of the B&W...do you like these better or not so much?

5.

Thanks for all of the comments thus far...I will be returning comments later this morning...

emorgan49

Olympus E-5

08/26/2006 11:54:54 AM · #7

I LOVE #5 but maybe to suggestive of the bedroom for a yearbook picture? #6 looks like she's laid out for a funeral, something about the satin and flowers.

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

08/26/2006 12:00:22 PM · #8

Yes, 5 and 6 definitely appeal to me much more than the earlier b&w attempts. I'm having a hard time deciding between 5 and 6. I like the close up look of 5. Maybe just a tiny bit tighter crop on the left of 6 would be good.

violinist123

Canon EOS-6D

08/26/2006 12:00:44 PM · #9

#5 is great but to be honest the first thing I thought was 'replace the rose with a phone' heheh.

letenele

Canon EOS-5D

08/26/2006 12:19:38 PM · #10

I would crop #4 to vertical and increase the shadows just a little bit so the cheeks and eyes pop more. Other than that, the shots look very nice, the first few a bit overprocessed maybe but 5 and 6 looking much better. Did you get any "standard" shots, like her standing, leaning against something, head and shoulders, etc?

08/26/2006 12:28:07 PM · #11

Dave...6 is a crop of 5...LOL...I should have mentioned that..:)

And yes...I got a lot of the standard shots as well

My hubbie is nagging me to clean up our house (we have both been swamped this week and it shows)...but I will add some of the standard shots later...as well as return all of the comments. Be sure to let me know if there is a particular shot you want comments on!

Thanks so much guys...all great advice (well except for the phone thing...hehehe)

FireBird

08/26/2006 12:56:14 PM · #12

Well, on 1 thru 4 I really don't like the way the eyebrow jewelry appears. Were it gold I'd like it a lot more. I know, that's the clients' choice. But.... maybe it just looks dull because of the size limits here. I'd really want to zoom in on the face so you'd get more detail on the jewelry and how it compliments the face. From a distance it looks like a not too flattering blemish. Since it appears it came off later in the shoot maybe on/off versions here would be a good choice too. Or maybe I'm just an old codger that dislikes face piercing? Naw, that couldn't be it. ;)

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

08/26/2006 01:35:39 PM · #13

I like #2 also. I like #3, but the angle is strange for me.

I think if you would have shot it at more of a down on her angle, it would have more impact. Such as this shot:

I agree, she looks like she should be in a coffin. Plus, with that angle, you can't see her beautiful face.

The other thing I wanted to add... but forgot, is that the lighting seems a bit uneven in the first 2. She has a nice amount of light on her face, but the background doesn't have much on the right side of the picture.

Message edited by author 2006-08-26 13:37:15.

renefunk

Canon EOS-5D

08/26/2006 01:40:10 PM · #14

nubmer 3 is the best i think

08/26/2006 02:07:49 PM · #15

I hope you don't mind that I played a bit. The girl is beautiful and the picture has potential. The background was very distracting to me. It was very bright in some places and dark in others. Also, the light on her face was a bit uneven and the light caused a yellow cast to her skin.

I took this one in photoshop and dodged the background in the dark places to match the lighter areas. I made it black and white and bumped up the levels and contrast. I dodged her eyes a bit to make them pop and then I sharpened the eyes, mouth, nose and a bit of the hair. I also lightly burned the side of her face that was twords the light, so it would even out the skin tone. I added a squiggly vignette, and erased the parts of her that the vignette covered.

Again, I hope I don't offend you by doing this. I just wanted to play around, and I thought you'd like to see what I came up with.

:) Lorrie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

08/26/2006 04:04:21 PM · #16

Lorrie...No offense at all. I really like what you did with the shot. I am just starting out as a portrait photographer and I post things here to learn from them. My lighting has been giving me the most trouble. I have hot lights until I can upgrade to strobes so I don't have quite as much control over the light as I would like. I shot in RAW do you think I can get rid of the yellow cast there?

Thanks to everyone who has commented...anyone else care to take a shot?

kenskid

Nikon D700

08/26/2006 04:26:52 PM · #17

I like #2 but I can't imagine why this beauty would stick that thing through her eyebrow! The old adage "she is just looking for attention" doesn't play out here because I'm sure she would have been fighting off admirers her whole life!

Anyway...good shots.

08/26/2006 05:20:23 PM · #18

Originally posted by carisakD70:

If you shot it in Raw, try fixing your white balance until the skin looks less yellow. I will play around with the color version and see what I can do for you.

:)

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

08/26/2006 06:54:20 PM · #19

Ok, here is the colored version. This took alot of fixing up. I just went along and I don't quite remember it all! haha

PM me if you need more help. :)

wavelength

Nikon D300

08/26/2006 07:12:29 PM · #20

Originally posted by nsoroma79:

Ok, here is the colored version. This took alot of fixing up. I just went along and I don't quite remember it all! haha

Personally, I think the vignetting could have been done a bit more subtly here, and made to look more natural. Just my personal preference. Thinking of what a Parent would like to buy, something that looked less obviously edited in would probably be better.

It looked fine on the B&W now that I checked again, but here it kind of detracts more than it add. Maybe fuzz in a light blue or golden halo to match either her jeans or hair could work. I'd just keep the pattern to a more natural oval or roundish shape without the dips into the center of the frame is all.

Message edited by author 2006-08-26 19:13:04.

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

08/26/2006 09:43:54 PM · #21

Lorrie...I appreciate the effort...but telling me the pic "took alot of fixing up" but not being able to tell me what you had to do to it is really not helpful, just comes off as critical. I know the pics aren't perfect...but are they really that terrible? Also I agree with wavelength...not a fan of the vignette.

wavelength

Nikon D300

08/26/2006 10:11:22 PM · #22

Carisa,

I think all you should need to to to get rid of the yellow on the teeth at least is choose white point on one of the highlight of the teeth before you convert to .jpg. Alternatively, you could used the sponge brush to desat the teeth and keep the golden cast on the rest.

Possibly you could choose a grey point on one of the gold highlights in the upper right of the sheet.

Nusbaum

Fujifilm X-T1

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

08/26/2006 11:13:36 PM · #23

I popped some comments onto 3 and 4. I hope they don't seem critical. You are obviously skilled and you asked for comments so I offered my critique.

08/27/2006 12:02:38 AM · #24

Nusbaum...very helpful thank you! I totally agree that #3 is perhaps not a traditional senior shot...really it was more of an accident than anything, but I really like the artistic feel of the shot. I am sure it is not one that will be gracing her parents wall...but I do think it will make its way into my portfolio...or at least my website. I am also going to work more on posing her next time...we had a really hard time getting her to lock her shoulder and I have a hard time explaining what it is that I want her to do.

Thank you everyone for the comments...if I seemed snippy earlier I apologize.