These are from another senior session. Most were lit with an sb800 in a soft-box. The soccer shots were lit with a couple AB800s with various modifiers. I'm not 100% happy with the backgrounds in the soccer shot but you work with what you can get sometimes.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
I like 11 the best. Lighting is weird in 2, makes it look like she has an out of control fatroll where the shirt and jeans meet.
She also looks like she is 13, not a hs senior.
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OK, wasn't trying trying to sound snarky or anything. From a composition and lighting standpoint, these are well done. Colors are vibrant, I like them alot. Thoughts above are what jumped out at me as I looked at them more.
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Last edited by ColoradoSkier; November 11th, 2009 at 02:39 PM.
Chester Bullock
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These are great Jocko. Love your use of lighting, and I prefer the soccer shots. For some reason, the "model glamor" look doesn't really seem, I dunno, real? her? Sorry I don't have the words for it. Meanwhile, the soccer shots seem to tell me more about her personality.
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I don't know much about composition, lighting, technicalities. . . but I agree. As I scrolled through them I thought "hmm, nice shots, they look good, she looks like she's not real comfortable posing." Then I hit the first soccer shot and thought "wow, there we go. . that's a great shot and now it feels like who she is has been captured." They're all nice, but I really like the soccer shots. They're a little more unique and she seems comfortable - not forced. Nice job.Originally Posted by thenimirra
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You are 100% correct, she was WAY more comfortable on the soccer field. It's not that she was nervous in front of the camera, just awkward. She is one of the top soccer players in her age group, and has a chance to make the national soccer team. She already has a full-ride scholarship to CU.
Thanks for the comments.
those are the kinds of shots I strive for all the time. Some people are naturals (or have watched way too much America's next top model) in front of the camera and can turn on that glamour look at the drop of the hat.
Maybe it's a good idea to take shots of seniors doing something they really like to do first to get them relaxed and having fun. Then do the typical headshot type. hmmm
If you think about it though, you only need one headshot for the yearbook, and that is generally a fairly standard pose (requirements imposed by yearbook admins).
But outside of that, I think it is essential to capture the personality of the person. I am starting to follow a few Flickr groups again that have good examples of this:
Senior Pictures
The New Senior Portrait
Creative Edge Senior Portraits
Wow! CO4x4 shutterbugs became the "critical crew"! lol
These are great Chad! I do agree with the masses that some feel "awkward" but for the most part, you nailed it lighting and composition wise. #4 and 10 are by far the best as far as her looking comfortable and i really like those two...4 would be perfect for the parents\grandparents\rest of the family and 10 would ideal for photos to pass out to her friends IMO.
The soccer ones are great too! 11 does need a slight rotate clockwise to straighten out the horizon and 12 would have been a little better if she was rotated a tad to the right and you just a tiny bit more to her left to get the road and houses out of the background which is a little distracting...but really, thats just nitpicking. Otherwise, these are great!
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[QUOTE=Steve]I was WRONG![/QUOTE]
I didn't mean to be, I feel bad now.
lol, dont...most photographers secretly like having their photos torn to shreds...makes em better!
I don't! My skin isn't nearly thick enough for that.
It's definitely something I need to learn how to do though.
lol, let me rephrase that...
Posting a picture and then having everyone ooooh and ahhhh at it makes you feel good inside but really, you dont gain anything...but having someone critically dissect your photo and tell you what you could have done to better it makes you a better photographer.
I know when someone rips into one of my photos it makes me feel like a dumbass...but you have to look past that and take some of their advice and try it out and see if it works. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesnt. All photos are subject to interpretation and no matter how good it is, someone will always think there is a better way to do it...some are right, some arent. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to photography!
I am happy with all of these, aside from number 5 being my least favorite (because the pose doesn't work as well with that outfit). Even though one might think the "formal" shots don't bring out who she is, this is who she is in that setting. Sure, it might seem foreign to her, but that is her personality. As photographers, it is our job to make them look as good as we can through lighting, posing and style. She was an awkward and slightly goofy kind of girl (and I don't mean that in a negative-she was really fun to work with). At the end of the day, if the client is happy, then all is good. Print and frame any one of these and you have a wall hanger. As far as the soccer shots go, it's only natural for her to open up there. The soccer field is her home away from home and that's why we did that set. You could never get away with just shooting something like the soccer shots without including standard shots. Only 25% of her order came from the soccer shots and it took twice as long to set-up and shoot.
Sheba,
Don't sweat the critiques. Photography is too subjective to have any one person tell you what is right and wrong. For me, it is nice to hear insight from others (regardless of their own level of photography). The extra eyes and suggestions sometimes help with creativity for future shoots. It is rare that you will actually get a critique from a successful working pro (whose work you admire) because they are usually out making a living. So we must sift through critiques from the armchair quarterbacks who think just because they see room for improvement in your photos, they could go out and produce images of the same quality. When I get a harsh critique from someone, I will often go to their website (if they have one) and see what kind of work they are producing. If their galleries are filled with poorly lit and composed "snapshots", I usually disregard what they say. I have always been, and will continue to be, my biggest critic. I have never taken a photo I have been 100% happy with but that is how we grow.
Jocko
See, that amazes me in a way. Your photos (and most of them posted in this forum by others) are so far beyond anything I could do I really appreciate them all and don't see how many could be better. Of course, I have an engineer's logical mind and not an artsy bone in my body. That just makes me appreciate what you do even more.
For the record I like #9 above the best.
Thanks Steve!
Nine is one of my favorites too.
Jocko
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