Pics of Britney (senior portraits)

[dave_borg98]

I am trying to gain experience and help a friend out. I tried to take some pictures of a couple previously (before I realized how important posing and composition were) and tried to build on the critique I received. So I came up with this. Britney wanted to have the car in at least one picture (she loves that car). What are your thoughts? Thanks,


http://daveborg.smugmug.com/photos/87260801-M.jpg

http://daveborg.smugmug.com/photos/87260815-M.jpg

http://daveborg.smugmug.com/photos/87260835-M.jpg

http://daveborg.smugmug.com/photos/87260854-M.jpg

http://daveborg.smugmug.com/photos/87260878-M.jpg

http://daveborg.smugmug.com/photos/87260902-M.jpg

[Monkeymicra]

i am by no means an expert but i feel that the pics with the car all look to "staged", her pose doesnt look natural and her smile seemed forced. but the next 3 are great, more of a natural pose

[ashleymcnamara]

I love #4 and the last one.

[dave_borg98]

I felt the same way about the ones with the car. Those were the first pictures we took and I think she could feel me not being comfortable telling her what to do. That was my fault for not being more confident. I really like that 4th and last one myself. On the last one, do you think I should soften it a little?

[ashleymcnamara]

I have a hard time giving direction too.

I am with you on the last one, I think it would look even better softened up.

[dragulaz]

Giving direction is my biggest weak point as well, I can definitely empathize. I think the last two are great.

I thought the last one, with the nice textures of the wall, might look good in a monochrome as well. There are a bazillion different ways you could go, but here's my feeble attempt at it, with channel mixer, a slight sepia tint, and a bit of softening.

Hope you don't mind the edit, if you do I will delete it immediately.

[dave_borg98]

I like the monochrome. All edits are fine by me. I can learn a lot from others. Thanks.

[PEACHMAN]

Ya ...most work very , very well, especially the ones against the barn wall...pretty lady as well...

[Noelle8818]

I think they look good. I think she will really like the 3rd one, with the car. The 4th 5th and 6th look great! I love the last one.

[Okiewan]

Only comment would be, the nasty wheel wells are distracting.

[dave_borg98]

Only comment would be, the nasty wheel wells are distracting.

I see that now too. I will have to try to clone that out.




What are the thoughts on lighting and composition? I used natural lighting with some fill flash. This is really my first attempt at paying attention to lighting. Thanks for all the replies so far.

[Sp00ks]

First of all, I suck at post processing but I thought I would play with this image for a few mins. I came up with a couple renditions. I don't know that they look better but just different.

I toned the color of the barn down a little in this one.
http://www.clanmage.net/~spooks/Images/Misc/87260902-M-3.jpg

I added a little halo effect to this one.
http://www.clanmage.net/~spooks/Images/Misc/87260902-M-2.jpg

[TexKen]

I like the 5th one - she looks relaxed, less staged and good composition.

[deadpass]

I like the third car picture, it just pops, but tends to make the car more the focus than the model.

[dave_borg98]

Thanks for the comments. How would you suggest I make her more of the focus in the 3rd car picture?

[jngo]

How would you suggest I make her more of the focus in the 3rd car picture?
I had the same issue a few years back with someone wanting a picture of them with their car as well. I resolved it by putting the car further in the background while moving my subject closer to me. That put the focus back on the person while the car was still in the frame as a backdrop. I can't find the actual image, but I was able to find another picture using the same technique. Here, I had to take a picture of a teenager in her room. In this example, imagine that the dresser or her bed is the car. The only change would be that I'd probably wouldn't shoot as tight and I would want to shoot from a slightly higher position, shooting down.

[dave_borg98]

Awesome, thanks jngo. I will have to give that a try next time.

[Jcharro]

I like the last one, very relaxed and natural.

[jngo]

sure thing. let me know how it works out for ya.

[Titus213]

I really like that last one, it doesn't need anything IMO. The first few look more like car pics than senior pics to me.