Senior photo shoot... - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

01/16/2008 11:17:14 AM · #1

Took these back around the first part of November. These are of my niece and these are the final poses they selected from the shoot. These are the final edits as well.

Would love any C&C you have to offer...

TIA
Kevin

[thumb]634059[/thumb] [thumb]634061[/thumb] [thumb]634062[/thumb] [thumb]634063[/thumb]
[thumb]634064[/thumb] [thumb]634065[/thumb] [thumb]634066[/thumb] [thumb]634068[/thumb]

Ritchell

Fujifilm FinePix F10

01/16/2008 11:40:58 AM · #2

Firstly, kudos to (my guess) your niece for matching her eyes perfectly to her sweaterâ��it makes the eyes focus straightaway on her face. I like the first photo on the top row, but it almost seems like she doesn't have enough real estate, and she sharing too much with the green-yellow foliage in the background. A similar effect happens in the top row, third from the left. The tree hogs some spotlight, a minor issue addressed by the next photo. Bottom row starts very strong with her looking very natural, but if I were you I'd try to blur the stalks behind her more. The one following is my clear favorite, it's focused, serious but not too serious, and sharp as a tack on her eyes. I feel like the last one lacks enough contrast to compensate for the low saturation.

Overall, a very good shoot. She has quite a few shots to choose from, you did well.

Nald

Nikon D700

01/16/2008 11:41:45 AM · #3

Hey Kevin,

Nice work left you some comments, hope they were of help.

Steve

01/16/2008 11:44:55 AM · #4

Originally posted by Ritchell:

Thanks very much... great comments and observations.

yann

01/16/2008 11:45:23 AM · #5

They pretty much all seem underexposed to me, some are blurred and others have too much editing... but the last one is just awesome!

Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L USM

01/16/2008 11:45:30 AM · #6

Originally posted by Nald:

Hey Kevin,

Nice work left you some comments, hope they were of help.

Steve

Yes, they were of great help. Not happy because I have to redo the edits, but hey :) :) :)

icu1965

Sony DSLR-A200

Sony 75-300 mm f/4.5-5.6

01/16/2008 11:50:41 AM · #7

She's a very pretty girl! I have a hard time with senior portraits because they're always in such cheesy poses. I have a ton of yearbooks in my basement that demonstrate just how cheesy they can be! The very last pic, where she's not in the green sweater is really great. She looks so natural and not posed, it looks like this could be in a fashion magazine. The first one is great too. It's very natural, she's not over posed and the lighting is just right. Overall I think you did a really good job. Senior portraits and wedding pictures have to be some of the hardest shots to get. You as the photographer can see what would look good, but there's always someone telling you what they want you to do, whether it will look good or not!

lovethelight

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

01/16/2008 12:09:32 PM · #8

I really wish there was some texture in her skin. It looks really over smoothed like she is almost plastic. The flash seems a bit harsh on some too. Nice work thought it takes practice. They all seem a little bit too cool toned to me, I think a little more yellow could warm it up in curves maybe.

Claire

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/16/2008 12:17:06 PM · #9

Have you edited these image and smoothed the skin? If so, perhaps tone it down just a little (to be honest, she is so pretty I kinda doubt she needs much skin softening). But more importantly, mask out the eyes and other details so that the skin smoothing stays strictly on the skin. It's really important that the eyes be in focus.

Message edited by author 2008-01-16 13:07:47.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/16/2008 12:56:34 PM · #10

Thanks to all your suggestions, here are a few quick changes. Doing much more sharpening to the eyes will require going back to the very beginning...

Before: [thumb]634059[/thumb] After: [thumb]634100[/thumb]

Before: [thumb]634064[/thumb] After: [thumb]634094[/thumb]

Before: [thumb]634065[/thumb] After: [thumb]634093[/thumb]

Before: [thumb]634068[/thumb] After: [thumb]634102[/thumb]

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

01/16/2008 01:09:29 PM · #11

Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:

Doing much more sharpening to the eyes will require going back to the very beginning...

One thing to consider... I keep all of my editing in layers (using non-destructive editing as much as possible) and save it as a .PSD file, so that I can go back and change or undo any steps I've done.