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09/23/2007 09:02:34 PM · #1 |
Lacey's Senior Portrait
We had a blast, spent about 5.5 hours doing this with her, had my kids along (my neighbor's daughter) and even got paid! WOW! I guess this makes me a real photographer now that I've actually been paid, right? LOL!
Ben  Konador is helping me with some of the trickier editing on some of the shots (yes, or course I'm paying him!) and so far the mom, daughter and dad (the parents are divorced, dad's paying for it all) love the shots! A lot of her friends at school are jealous from what they've seen so far and few have even mentioned having theirs redone by me! WOOT! :)
It was nice to pick up the camera again, I've been lazy since I went back to work full time and to spend an entire day behind the lens was really nice.
Deannda
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09/23/2007 11:23:01 PM · #2 |
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09/23/2007 11:32:04 PM · #3 |
| Very wonderfully done. I HATED my senior portraits, so I can definately attest to how good these are. I love the setting, and how some pictures are soft, some are pretty, some are happy, and others are edgy. Just the variety altogether is great. Of course it does make it easier when your model is so pretty, but that is not to take away from photography well done! |
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09/24/2007 12:32:33 AM · #4 |
Thank you! The one big studio here that usually does the Senior stuff is so............. Well, I'll let you judge for yourself.....
$20 Yearbook Special
$30 Traditional Special
$50 Deluxe Package
Add a Location for $50
Perfectly acceptable but a bit boring............
Deannda
Message edited by author 2007-09-24 00:32:46. |
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09/24/2007 12:36:00 AM · #5 |
| Very boring indeed. The cheaper packages look like regular ol' school pictures. And the "Add a location" pictures are very boring as well, and if those are the ones they feature on their website, how horrible are the rest of the ones they take? Just my opinion though. =) Yours are definately much better. |
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09/24/2007 12:36:46 AM · #6 |
| Oh and those prices do NOT include any retouching or any other editing. That's extra............ |
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09/24/2007 12:48:16 AM · #7 |
| It has to be said, but I HATE their backgrounds... |
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09/24/2007 01:14:53 AM · #8 |
Yikes! I much prefer your shots over the "big studio" stuff.
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09/24/2007 01:48:02 AM · #9 |
Well, "Senior" is not what I was expecting. Unless she just looks really young for her age. :) I came to this thread expecting to look at what lighting you used to minimise the wrinkles, and I have you say, you did an amazing job. She doesn't look a day over 40. :)
Message edited by author 2007-09-24 01:48:49. |
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09/24/2007 02:56:16 AM · #10 |
| Great job Deannda, they're gorgeous!! |
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09/24/2007 10:55:10 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by surfdabbler:
Well, "Senior" is not what I was expecting. Unless she just looks really young for her age. :) I came to this thread expecting to look at what lighting you used to minimise the wrinkles, and I have you say, you did an amazing job. She doesn't look a day over 40. :) |
Hahaha! :)
That's alright, when I told Ben I needed one specifically for the Yearbook he was like, "What's a yearbook?" I thought every school had yearbooks!
and thank you suemack for the compliment! ;)
Deannda
Message edited by author 2007-09-24 10:55:31. |
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09/30/2007 08:23:25 PM · #12 |
Lacey's Senior Portrait
Okay, just updated with more edited pictures.
Thanks again to Konador for help with a good portion of the editing! ;)
Deannda
I have one very happy mother and Senior Classperson :) |
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10/01/2007 01:04:04 AM · #13 |
Deannda,
Your poses are well done, but your post processing really lacks here. I assume you're using photoshop or similar.
Studio shots crit:
Biggest problem here is that your lighting is wayyy off. It's to harsh. Needs to be diffused with a softbox, even an umbrella would work. Looks like its direct lighting.
Secondly, Move the subject further from the background. THe combination of hard light and proximity to the background is producing a hard shadow. Easy enough to fix though.
Other shots crit:
LAY OFF THE GAUSSIAN BLUR!!!! Way too much here. If you're going to blur to soften skin, make sure to mask the eyes and possibly some hair if you do it. It looks like the focus on every shot was really soft (off).
Jason |
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10/01/2007 10:22:45 AM · #14 |
Thanks jprezant!
I know the blur is a bit much on some of the shots but she likes them like that. She has a few blemishes that is covered quite well by the blur after I used the healing brush.
As for the lighting, yeah, the studio shots, which were all with natural light and my on board flash are a bit harsh and I was going to redo those now that I have a diffuser for my flash but she picked one out for the yearbook that she really liked. Not going to argue with the teenager, I do that enough with my own, LOL!
We will be taking a few more when she gets her cap and gown at the end of the year and by then I hope to have some other equipment and lighting available, looking at some other equipment.
Thanks again for taking the time to give me an honest critique, I really appreciate it! ;)
Deannda |
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10/01/2007 11:21:09 AM · #15 |
Hmm...
5 1/2 hours? That is a LONG time to spend shooting - i've shot weddings that don't take as long - point being, you can't make money if it takes that long to shoot one session, and unless the client is a professional model they'll get WAY bored. Bored clients are not happy clients. How long are you spending editing? You'll get faster with practice, but again, if you want to make money you have to keep the time spent as low as possible.
You have a good variety of head, head and shoulder, 1/2-3/4 and full, horizontal and vertical. You can't sell what you don't shoot, and the wider variety you shoot the more you can sell. You did pretty good here.
The studio shots - very direct flash looking, the BG is what? Electric blue? Easy to fix in PS though. Clone out the fly away hairs too. The catch light should be in the lower quadrant of the eye, NOT in the pupil as they are in these shots. ...773, 771 have bad shadows on the BG.
The outdoor shots - you gotta fix the eyes - lasso them and hit them with a curves and pull up the shadow end to put some life and color into them -most are dark or black holes. Lose 937 - makes her look fat and you amputated her fingers.
The B&W ones at the end are very good.
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