Musician's Portrait Session - DPChallenge Forums

05/19/2009 09:54:21 PM · #1

Hey all,

I got the chance to shoot one of my friends who is an upcoming musician. I was thrilled with how her portraits turned out, and would love some comments/critique on any and all of them.

Here is the whole folder of them.

Thanks,
Ryan

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

05/20/2009 11:39:27 AM · #2

*bump*

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

05/20/2009 11:57:11 AM · #3

These are quite nice, but they seem to me to be dominated by the glasses. Many times the glasses frames are the sharpest thing in the image, and they are certainly a distinctive enough shape to command attention. I'm left feeling that this would be a good shoot for the optometrist who sold her the frames :-)

R.

love

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

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

05/20/2009 12:07:27 PM · #4

I had to do a doubletake when I saw the title of this thread - thought it said Mortician's Portrait Session - roflmao!!

chromeydome

Nikon D7000

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

05/20/2009 12:33:49 PM · #5

What kind of musician is she? Nice portraits, btw. Just wondering how they fit her music, or if her music was a consideration at all in this shoot. Does she play an instrument that could be incorporated? Or were these shots to be independent of her musician-hood? :-)

The glasses don't bother me at all--I really don't like portraits of glass-wearers where they take the glasses off to "look better". And I think you did a good job with the glasses, no distracting reflections, and some of the best shots are the up close ones with the glasses "in your face" :-)

Message edited by author 2009-05-20 12:36:14.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

05/20/2009 01:35:20 PM · #6

She is a singer and a pianist, I really wanted to do something extreme, like have an old beaten up piano out in the middle of a field, but she was mainly looking for simple portraits to put up on her site and such.

MattO

Nikon D4

05/20/2009 01:54:00 PM · #7

I left you a few comments. Overall very nice set with a few changes they would be better, but as they are I'm sure your client will be thrilled.

Matt

bassbone

Nikon Z8

Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-120 f/4 S

05/20/2009 03:20:09 PM · #8

Really nice work on these portraits of your client. They are very flattering to her, providing a nice comfortable and calm feel.

A couple thoughts I had....

If these are for her website, it will seem to the website viewer that these were all taken at the same time (which I am sure they were since she is wearing the same outfit) and this may come across as a bit odd. Most sites I have seen of musicians have some live shots, or a series of shots with different poses and different outfits that all seem to fit the mood the artist is trying to convey. Questions like this may come up - "Has she only taken photos once?" "Is this all she wears?" What instrument does she play? etc.

If you have a chance to shoot with her again, I would really recommend asking her to shoot with a piano, either at some live concert (or simulated concert), or in a small venue that has a nice grand piano.