Beautiful girl... did her Senior photos Friday night. Here are some of my favorites from the session:
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I consider these "proofs". They have all had small amounts of tweaking via Lightroom, but none have been "edited" yet. The complete set of proofs are viewable on my web site, here: //www.dterryphotography.com/gallery/4849973_B65CH
What a difference a year makes....... In the photo below, Lisa is the bride's maid on the right:
While it's hard to tell from just this one picture, a year ago she seemed awkward and shy. And now look at her. A beautifully mature, self-confident, young lady.
These are great. The shots are so sharp and clear and the colors so vivid. What lenses did you use? Also, did you use any extra lighting other than natural?
These are great! What did you use to add light on this one?
A Canon 580EX II on camera serving only as the master, then a Canon 420EX on a light stand with a shoot thru umbrella as the slave. Very much a "strobist" approach. :-)
These are great. The shots are so sharp and clear and the colors so vivid. What lenses did you use? Also, did you use any extra lighting other than natural?
Mostly I used the Canon 70-200 2.8L IS lens. I think I may have overused that lens because I felt that, after looking over the images, I came away with too many "tight shots" and not enough full body shots. But I did switch to the Canon 24-70 2.8L from time to time.
See the message I just posted on lighting. I tried to do most of the images using natural light (with maybe a -2 or -3 flash compensation in some cases just to get a catchlight in her eyes). But in some cases, where you can tell there is artificial lighting, it's off-camera lighting that I'm using.
I'm going to go a little bit against the grain here but to me, even though you said you haven't done much to them, she appears to be over sharpened. Do you have sharpening turned on in your camera? The other thing is the lighting. You are running into a contrasty situation with her clothing (the white shirt), her face and her hair. The close ups look much better because you only see a bit of the white and don't have the conflict between the white, her face and her hair. The contrast and probably when you used the flash also has some of them looking like they are pasted on a background rather than the background looking natural.
Cute girl, good poses and looks like you two had a lot of fun. I'm sure she is going to be thrilled. I would have guessed she was older than a senior though.
You are right ... sorta. I haven't done anything "special" to the image (special as in, something out of the ordinary, something specific to the image).
I have a Photoshop action which reduces the size of the image, sharpens and adds a border. I use it on everything (check my portfolio, just about everything is handled the same way). Nothing is customized. So for some images it ends up being too sharp. On others, not sharp enough.
If I were doing this for the customer I would spend a lot more time on each individual image. As I'm not being paid to post images on DPC (and the customer isn't likely to ever see the images here), I simply don't take the time for it. I don't have the time for it. Too many other things to do.
Very nice lighting, backgrounds and exposures. Overall, she seems to be too posed. The best portrait is one where we forget the presence of the camera. I've found you have to get someone really relaxed and comfortable in order to get a portrait that brings out their personality.
Thanks for the explanation. I'll know better next time.
Hopefully I've not offended in my attempt at explaining why I don't spend time refining the images I post here. I *do* appreciate your feedback. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Very nice lighting, backgrounds and exposures. Overall, she seems to be too posed. The best portrait is one where we forget the presence of the camera. I've found you have to get someone really relaxed and comfortable in order to get a portrait that brings out their personality.
edit: IMG_1420.jpg is the nicest of the bunch.
I find some people are just a lot more comfortable in front of the camera. She wasn't one of them (well, she became more comfortable as the evening wore on). I'd love to shoot with her again though. I think the more time she spends in front of the camera the less she'll worry about being stiff. I do, however, think she has already come a long way from where she was a year ago (see picture posted earlier in the thread). Makes me look forward to the possibility of shooting her wedding some time down the road. :-)
Good shots, but isnt it way to late for senior photo's, graduation is in a month, are these for next year?
It's even funnier than that... she graduated early (a couple of months ago). But most of the senior pictures I've shot have been in the spring. (to be honest, I really don't know what is appropriate, I just shoot them when they ask for them)
Getting a nervous model to relax can be very difficult. I've had some success by tricking them into thinking that I'm just messing around with the gear. I'll say something like, "I'm just going to take a few quick shots to setup the camera and lights. You don't need to pose or anything. Just sit there and relax while I check the focus, yada, yada..." Then I take a few shots, pretend I'm adjusting the lights, take a couple more. Soon I have a bunch of "test" shots and the session is almost done. Using a remote switch is another trick. I'll look up from the camera and start talking to her and when she least expects it I fire the shot. It doesn't always work, but some times I get a few nice relaxed poses.
