First Senior Photo Shoot (RFC&C)

09/26/2004 04:05:02 PM · #1

See some of the others in my portfolio titled: Mindy's Senior Photos

A short time ago, just after Labor Day weekend, I was given the opportunity to do my first senior photo shoot. The young woman is my nieceâ��s daughter Mindy. Her and her parents were visiting our home just before Labor Day when she noticed my â��studioâ�� setup in the garage. She wanted to know what all of the big softboxes, boom stands, etc., were for, so I told her about my little hobby. After hearing that I was a â��photographerâ�� she asked me if I would shoot her senior photos. I warned her that I had never done anything like that before, but she still wanted me to do it, so I agreed. We arranged to have her come over on the weekend after Labor Day, and my daughter Shannon agreed to do her makeup and hair for her.

Mindy and I have known each other all of her life, so neither of us was nervous about being alone together in my studio. However, when we first started shooting she seemed a bit timid and stiff. She isnâ��t a shy girl, so I think she was afraid to relax and move for fear that it would spoil my shots. But after joking around with her a little she finally relaxed and got more into the thing. At one point I even had her dancing for me. She was a real trooper when it came to doing what I asked, so if any of the photos turned out less than ideal it was strictly my fault and not hers.

I ended up taking over 450 photos of her that day. I had her change clothes 4-5 times, and my daughter did her makeup twice, plus a couple of touchups. It has taken me several days to weed out the shots I didnâ��t like and perform basic corrections on the shots that I wanted to keep. Several shots were underexposed, and some needed cropping and\or levels adjustments.

My studio equipment consists of the following:
(4) AlienBees B400 strobe lights
(1) LG4X remote control (for strobes)
(2) Medium Octaboxes
(3) 13â�� heavy-duty boom stands
(1) Background light stand
(1) Shovel reflector (for background light)
(1) 20 degree honeycomb grid (for hair light)
(1) Roll of Artic White seamless background paper (9â�� wide)
(1) Roll of Jet Black seamless background paper (9â�� wide)
(1) Canon EOS 10D camera
(1) Canon EF 35-350L lens
(1) Canon EF 100 macro lens

I would very much appreciate any comments, critiques, or suggestions for improvements on these photos. I uploaded a representative sampling of the photos to my portfolio. Please, look them over and let me know what you really think. Donâ��t be afraid to be critical--I think I can take it. :)

--Mick

Message edited by author 2004-09-26 16:44:02.

rcrawford

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

09/26/2004 04:35:21 PM · #2

The link didn't work for me.
I don't care for the fist picture, her beautiful hair gets lost in the background and the wrinkles on her blouse are distracting (My daughter's High School picture, taken by a professional, came back with the same type of wrinkle and she was so embarrassed by it that she wouldn't let us display it until I scanned it into the computer and cropped out the wrinkles)
I really like the second photo however, the lighting is nice and the background works much better IMHO.
Wish I could see the other photos.

Canon EOS-20D

09/26/2004 04:40:30 PM · #3

This link should work.

rcrawford

09/26/2004 04:47:41 PM · #4

Just checked out the other photos, 5566 and 5835 are my favorites. She looks like a fun and happy young woman.
Great Job!

09/26/2004 04:49:52 PM · #5

Originally posted by rcrawford:

That's strange, the link worked fine for me. But, I compared it to the one mk posted and they were different. I edited the original post to fix the link.

I think you're right about the first one, although I think some of it is caused by the small file limitation. The full size image looks much better.

Thanks for the comments Roger! They are very much appreciated.

09/26/2004 04:51:07 PM · #6

Originally posted by mk:

This link should work.

Thanks for the quick fix mk!

rcrawford

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

09/26/2004 04:52:55 PM · #7

Everybody needs to read micknewton Bio. I'm still laughing!

pcody

Canon PowerShot G6

09/26/2004 05:05:39 PM · #8

5694 is pretty unique. The far shoulder looked a bit odd at first but I think I like it the best. Then the light one you posted and then the one with the red shirt. The background looks a tad pinkish on that one. Good job for your first shoot!

09/26/2004 08:14:29 PM · #9

Originally posted by pcody:

I'm glad that someone else liked 5694. I almost trashed it because I thought it might be a bit too off-beat, but I guess I kinda liked it.

The light one (5659) was one of several that I took several of her in the light blue shirt. I think the black background may have worked better with that shirt, but I never got a chance to shoot any.

You are right about the background looking pinkish in some of the photos. This is the first time I've done a shoot like this, and I found that it can be very difficult to keep a white background white and a black background black. After doing some reading (after the fact) I found that I should have feathered the softboxes on the key and fill lights. I'll have to remember that if I ever get a chance to do something like this again.

Thank you very much for your comments Pat. I appreciate them very much.

09/27/2004 12:13:38 AM · #10

Well, so far this one looks to be the most popular with 52 views...

Then this one with 42...

Then this one with 30...

But not many comments for any of them, good or bad. I was hoping that more of you would let me know what you think of the photos, offer suggestions, criticism, etc.

KevinRiggs, have you got any tips you can offer? And EddyG, your photos of Gina rocked. I'd love to get your thoughts on my pics.

C'mon folks, need input.

cbeller

09/27/2004 01:20:23 AM · #11

I'm not Kevin, but a couple things.

1. I don't care for the straight on head shots, as they look flat and unflattering. With some of the tight crops it makes it look like her arms are all scrunched in.

Try having her turn 45 degrees to you then turning her head back to face the camera. If you have your key light 45 degrees from the model (facing her body), you should get a nice catchlight in the eyes.

2. I'd sugget you whiten her teeth a little. This is kind of like healing a pimple, it just make the subject enjoy the photo more, if they have nice white teeth. :)

I like the cowboy hat and jeans set, they are some fun looking shots. Looks like she really started to loosen up and enjoy herself.

Good job for your first shoot. I wish I had an indoor studio setup to play with. It looks like yours is pretty nice.

09/27/2004 10:27:47 AM · #12

Originally posted by cbeller:

I was wondering about catchlights. I used softboxes for the key and fill lights, with both of them above and at about 45 degrees from the subject. In most of the photos her eyes have two catchlights instead of just one. I like the octagonal shape of the lights, but wonder if just one catchlight would have been better. If so, then how?

Originally posted by cbeller:

2. I'd sugget you whiten her teeth a little. This is kind of like healing a pimple, it just make the subject enjoy the photo more, if they have nice white teeth. :)

I offered to let her decide what post-shot mods she wants, if any, after she picks out which photos she wants printed. I did whiten her teeth a tiny bit on 5659 to see how it would look. It does make a big difference.

Originally posted by cbeller:

I like the cowboy hat and jeans set, they are some fun looking shots. Looks like she really started to loosen up and enjoy herself.

Yes, sheâ��s a real cowgirl and loves her horses. She and I both wanted to get that aspect of her personality into some of the photos. We plan to do some outdoor photos soon, probably around her barn, with horses and saddles for props.

Originally posted by cbeller:

Good job for your first shoot. I wish I had an indoor studio setup to play with. It looks like yours is pretty nice.

Thanks Chris. The lights and stuff are nice, but not as easy to use as I thought they would be. I really need to get a light meter and practice a bunch.

09/27/2004 04:23:46 PM · #13

(bump)

EddyG

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

09/27/2004 05:41:55 PM · #14

Hi Mick... congrats on getting your first "senior photo shoot" under your belt -- the first one is always the toughest! You're right about studio strobes not being as easy as it might seem -- but I think you did a fine job in terms of the lighting! I'm not sure how much work you had to do in post, but my "white background" shots with Gina needed a ton because I was using white muslin instead of seamless paper... (what a joke! :-)

Chris already commented on the first thing I noticed, and that was the shots with Mindy's shoulders and/or face square to the camera. In some cases, you can get away with this and it looks OK, but it most cases, you want your subject's shoulders at a 45-degree angle to the camera, and you want their face turned slightly. 5506 is a bit too much with the shoulders, but the facial angle is good. 5500, 5853, 5854 and 5863 are examples of "too square". Adding a little bit of "tilt" to the head (towards the near shoulder) can also add to a pose.

One thing you can try to avoid the "arms being squished next to the body" look when doing head-and-shoulders is to have them put their hands on their hips (not necessairly their waist) -- this gets their arms away from the body a bit.

One thing that I learned recently is that good posture is vital to a good-looking formal portrait. They should be sitting up very straight and tall, with their shoulders back, etc.

I think there are some good shots here. 5506, 5566, 5795, 5806 (great candid-looking capture), 5809 (really like this one because it looks like she is "being herself"), and 5835 is cute. You did an admirable job with the lighting -- especially in the ones with a hat. Hats can cause some pretty bad shadows on the face, and you did a nice job of keep her well lit. And for not having a light meter, things turned out quite well. I think in 5795, the lights on the background could have been turned up; it looks gray. Just be careful not to over power the background, because you don't want it so blown out that you lose all the texture and shadow -- you want those things, you just want them to be "bright" instead of "gray".

Keep up the good work, and thanks for the comments about my shoot with Gina. She definitely made it easy in terms of posing. For me, I think learning how to pose people will take a lot more study and practice than trying to get the lighting "just right"...

Message edited by author 2004-09-27 17:44:04.

Tamron SP AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical IF for Nikon

09/27/2004 10:19:05 PM · #15

Originally posted by EddyG:

Thanks Eddy. Yes, studio photography is much more difficult than I expected it to be. I really worked up a sweat getting these shots. Mindy had the easy part. All she had to do was smile until her face ached. :) I am very glad that I took your suggestion and bought the LG4X remote. That little gadget saved me so much trouble; itâ��s worth its weight in gold!

Originally posted by EddyG:

Keep up the good work, and thanks for the comments about my shoot with Gina. She definitely made it easy in terms of posing. For me, I think learning how to pose people will take a lot more study and practice than trying to get the lighting "just right"...

Thank you for taking the time to look at and comment on my photos. It really means a lot to me, and Iâ��ll certainly take your advice to heart. I donâ��t mean to embarrass you, butâ�¦ youâ��re my hero. :) Ya know, before I did this shoot I spent a lot of time browsing various photographersâ�� web sites, looking for ideas, poses, lighting, etc., but I kept coming back to your photos of Gina. I kept saying to myself, â��Damn, this guy is good!â�� I know that you think you still have a lot to learn, but, IMHO there are a lot of pros out there that could learn a thing or three from you.

Thanks again!

--Mick

dartompkins

Nikon D70s

09/27/2004 10:39:33 PM · #16

I don't think I would want this for a "Senior Photo", but I think this shot is great!