Senior Portraits.......the beginning

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

11/28/2007 02:03:48 AM · #1

These are from my FIRST "senior shoot". Lucky for me she's my sister-in-law. I know there are some hot spots and maybe even a few dark areas but overall they turned out pretty decent; I think. Even the M-I-L was happy with the results, lol!

What do you think? Care to share any opinions or pointers? Ideas or fine tuning for next time? Say whatever; I'll learn from the criticism as well as the compliments.

Thanks for looking...Brandon

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

11/28/2007 02:38:22 AM · #2

Left a few comments. Overall, I would say you appear to have all the right skills with the lighting and exposure and most of the poses (assuming you directed). My only nitpick is the overuse of the severe angles. One or two shots in that "Batman TV Show" style would be ok, but the more traditional ones are the best and some of the angled ones would be improved by more traditional angles. This may be my lone opinion, but I would think any shot with water in the horizon should never be tilted - it just feels wrong - like all the water will spill out. :)

Gotta say though, these samples look like a much more seasoned photog shot them - very well done! I think you've got a great talent for it.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

11/28/2007 08:48:29 AM · #3

I'm hard pressed to nitpick. If they're not perfect, they are a darned sight better than The assembly line portraits I have seen from some "professional" studios. My kids drill team pictures really were done poorly. Washed out colors and way off on the framing.

Prof_Fate

11/28/2007 09:23:08 AM · #4

Ooh, can I nitpick? Pleeeeese???
Overall they're pretty good.

First one..the tilting horizon annoys me to no end. Sorry. Her one arm is cut off and the other just lays there. Use the arms to form leading lines to the face (like you did in the last photo) or form triangles (like you did in the last photo). If you move her right arm out just a bit you can show her waist and she'll lose 10 pounds. Overall amount of tilt is fine, but showing the horizon is an issue - it's also the hottest thing in the image and bisects her head.
Images 2 and 3 are very nice. 3 is tilted almost too much, but it works here IMO.
#4 has an awkward crop - it's not a head shot and not a bust shot, it just looks like a snapshot. Very centered compositon. Next time take about 20 steps back and get her walking on the beach, full length. This shot is the only one where she's not looking at the camera - you need more like that.
#5 too tilted, the head should not cross over the corner of the image. And you're cutting of parts at the joint (her toes). Never cut a body part at a joint, it's mentally unsettling to the viewer.
#6 in the grass is pretty good.
The last one needs some curves work to have some pop to it. Tilt her head just a bit to her left and this is a winner.

Try longer lenses and wider apertures next time. The 70-200 2.8 type of lens (or 135 f2, 85 1.8, 100 2.8) are the best lenses for portraiture for the reason that telephoto compresses the scene and makes people look better. Wider aps put the attention on the subject by putting the BG OOF.

yann

11/28/2007 09:40:20 AM · #5

The one in black and white is by far the best shot in my opinion.
The one where she's laying on the green with white flowers isnt too bad either.

tcmartin

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

11/28/2007 09:57:49 AM · #6

Good job. Prof_Fate has taken some serious time on his comments and has given you some really killer advice. Pay attention to all of his suggestions. A mere tilt of 5 degress on a head or a body or an arm can have a huge effect in the final picture. Try to remove the little things that bug the viewer so that the overall capture is enjoyed. Buy, check out, or borrow books on portraits and posing. See what the rules are. Try some stuff with the rules so you understand these - then break whatever rule you want. Keep it up - good job.

11/28/2007 05:10:56 PM · #7

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

Left a few comments.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

Overall, I would say you appear to have all the right skills with the lighting and exposure and most of the poses (assuming you directed). My only nitpick is the overuse of the severe angles.
Gotta say though, these samples look like a much more seasoned photog shot them - very well done! I think you've got a great talent for it.

I really did wonder about all of the precarious angles! They really don't appear to be quite that sharp of angles when you're looking at the actual prints/wallets.

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

Ooh, can I nitpick? Pleeeeese???
Overall they're pretty good.

Nitpick? Yes please! and by the way, thank you for your comments. They are very helpful.

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

Try longer lenses and wider apertures next time. The 70-200 2.8 type of lens (or 135 f2, 85 1.8, 100 2.8) are the best lenses for portraiture for the reason that telephoto compresses the scene and makes people look better. Wider aps put the attention on the subject by putting the BG OOF.

I will say that I'm pricing around for that very lense and the cheapest I'm finding is about $1,600! I am working on it though.

Thanks....Brandon

Message edited by author 2007-11-28 17:12:22.

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

11/28/2007 05:12:02 PM · #8

Originally posted by yann:

The one in black and white is by far the best shot in my opinion.
The one where she's laying on the green with white flowers isnt too bad either.

The first three are my favs. I was really worried about the green one w/flowers because of being so washed out. As you said it isn't so bad and even her mom like it.

Originally posted by tcmartin:

Good job. Prof_Fate has taken some serious time on his comments and has given you some really killer advice. Pay attention to all of his suggestions.

Yes, believe me they are nice notes to have.

Originally posted by tcmartin:

A mere tilt of 5 degress on a head or a body or an arm can have a huge effect in the final picture. Try to remove the little things that bug the viewer so that the overall capture is enjoyed. Buy, check out, or borrow books on portraits and posing. See what the rules are. Try some stuff with the rules so you understand these - then break whatever rule you want. Keep it up - good job.

Yes, there are lots of little things that can really make an image 'pop'. Thanks.

Thanks to all of you for you comments so far. If anybody cares to give their opinion on any of these go ahead. Thanks....Brandon

Prof_Fate

11/28/2007 05:55:08 PM · #9

It's also a hell of a lot easier to see the flaws AFTER the photo is taken rather then before. That's what separates us mere mortals from the masters.
I know what to do, but actually doing it at the time is the hard part. There are whole seminars on posing just the hands in portraits, so you can get as much into this as you have patience for.

Nikon shooter...not sure the cost of Nikon lenses, but $1600 gets you the best canon 70-200 2.8, the IS version. If you shoot where IS is handy then it's worth the $600 premium over the non-IS.

A couple of companies make 50-150 2.8 or so lense, the 'crop' equivalent of the 70-200 on a FF body. They are a lot cheaper ($600-800) and might be worth considering. I had a tamron 70-210 2.8 for a good while before I went of for the canon - and I did it mainly for the IS.

I attended a PPA school on senior photography and the instructor would look over our work and critique it. I was blown away that he could look at an image for a split second and know the focal length and aperture it was shot at. I'm not there and may never be, but it was impressive to see what can be seen from a 2D photo.

escapetooz

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

11/28/2007 06:38:51 PM · #10

Well the one thing that stuck out to me as far as nitpicks was the angle of her face. In almost all of them she is facing her nose away from the camera at almost the same angle. Direct her to bring her nose more straight on in some of them and I think that would have done wonders.

For example on the first one, I'd instruct her to bring her nose around to the left more.

That is something I got pounded into my head in my studio work. Keep the shoulders at a 45 degree angle and then the face more straight on to the camera for traditional smiling photos. And you can do this in a bunch of ways without it looking boring. Play with head tilts and face angles.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

11/28/2007 07:50:12 PM · #11

Originally posted by Venom:

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

Try longer lenses and wider apertures next time. The 70-200 2.8 type of lens (or 135 f2, 85 1.8, 100 2.8) are the best lenses for portraiture for the reason that telephoto compresses the scene and makes people look better. Wider aps put the attention on the subject by putting the BG OOF.

I will say that I'm pricing around for that very lense and the cheapest I'm finding is about $1,600! I am working on it though.

Thanks....Brandon

Don't think that you absolutely need a 70-200 f2.8. They're nice, but you can get excellent results with some of the other lenses mentioned for less money, specifically, the 85mm f1.8 (Mine was just over $400). I have the Canon version and it's sharp, even wide open and gives excellent creamy bokeh (the BG blur). Another option would be a 50mm f1.4. If your specifically interested in nice BG blur, avoid the popular and inexpensive 50mm f1.8. While the f1.4 has a circular aperture, the 1.8 does not and the blur will not be as smooth.