STICKY:  How to photograph a high school Senior

locky wrote in post #12157366
I was wondering since I still cut my own corners on my wallet prints. What is the best corner cutter you have found?

what kind of cutter are you using?

Just one from a scrap booking place. Here it is at Hobby Lobby http://shop.hobbylobby​.com …ts/corner-rounder-348680/

umphotography wrote in post #12154567
Kent Chambers

2nd image looks soft, slightly OOF on my moniter plus her arm is clipped. Im hoping that these are the proofs. If not, you need to get some help/advise with post processing, skin smoothing, ect. Not trying to be mean at all, but as the images are presented, they do not appear to be a finished product.

While i prefer sleeves as BoneJj suggested, bare shoulders shots work for most any HS senior girl when they are posed right. Look at some of the posts in here and look for the subtle shoulder turns, twists of the shoulder to waiste ratio, get them to lean into your shot and more use of the hands helps distract some areas and makes for lovely shots. The bare shoulder shots that Aaron Woodhall just posted will give you some really good ideas. I appreciate your candor. Thanks.

Hope that helps.
Mike

Mike,
Thanks for the response and advise. Your right, I do need more knowledge and education with PS to progress my work in the right direction. I am not a great fan of the over processed skin smoothing though, would rather have the clients look a little more natural, but thats just me. Some smoothing though is a positive.

jmalonear wrote in post #12157341
I agree....I have to mask off the topaz effects from the skin usually!

Thanks Guys

Thats what i thought as well. You start to work with new stuff and its like WOW, Cool,,this is awesome. then you look at it the next day and go, What the heck was i thinking. Got to experiment a little

P226kc wrote in post #12157917
Mike,
Thanks for the response and advise. Your right, I do need more knowledge and education with PS to progress my work in the right direction. I am not a great fan of the over processed skin smoothing though, would rather have the clients look a little more natural, but thats just me. Some smoothing though is a positive.

here is a link to a great skin technique. I highly recommend his technique and its fairly straight forward and works well

http://abduzeedo.com/p​erfect-lie-photoshop-2

mike great info again

---------------

not your typical senior

the wind was created with a 50 dollar fan, held by my friend Cory..

Hair and Make up was done by Cassandra Alsop for Elements Spa

lighting was 3 lights.

1. key light was Elinchrom Quadra with Deep octa @ 2.3 power about 4 feet away

2. left and right side kickers were AB1600 with Softlighters 60 inch @ 1/3 power

all triggered by Cactus V5's

CameraCanon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperturef/7.1
Focal Length85 mm
ISO Speed100
Exposure Bias0 EV

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/-phamster-/5592054558/

beautiful Pham!!! She looks like a super model

very nice one Phamster.

Pham her eyebrow on viewer's left looks quite unruly - maybe due to the wind in her face. But, do you not clean up that sort of thing in post? I know as a female I would hate to have my eyebrows look like that in a photo.

umphotography wrote in post #12161270
here is a link to a great skin technique. I highly recommend his technique and its fairly straight forward and works well

http://abduzeedo.com/p​erfect-lie-photoshop-2

thank you Mike for all your help and advise.

phamster wrote in post #12161284
mike great info again

---------------

not your typical senior

the wind was created with a 50 dollar fan, held by my friend Cory..

Hair and Make up was done by Cassandra Alsop for Elements Spa

lighting was 3 lights.

1. key light was Elinchrom Quadra with Deep octa @ 2.3 power about 4 feet away

2. left and right side kickers were AB1600 with Softlighters 60 inch @ 1/3 power

all triggered by Cactus V5's

CameraCanon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperturef/7.1
Focal Length85 mm
ISO Speed100
Exposure Bias0 EV

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/-phamster-/5592054558/

Nina Model ~ Glam

Working with Nina in the Spa again.

the wind was created with a 50 dollar fan, held by my friend Cory..

Hair and Make up was done by Cassandra Alsop for Elements Spa

lighting was 3 lights.

1. key light was Elinchrom Quadra with Deep octa @ 2.3 power about 4 feet away

2. left and right side kickers were AB1600 with Softlighters 60 inch @ 1/3 power

all triggered by Cactus V5's

CameraCanon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperturef/7.1
Focal Length85 mm
ISO Speed100
Exposure Bias0 EV

Can't say I'd reccommend an "implied topless" photo for a senior in high school. We're talking about kids here. I'd defnintely tone down the sexuality about a million notches.

It's a great shot though, but not one for shool kids.

Im not so sure i would agree with the "implied topless" remark. It a bare shoulder shot, very common IMHO. I see nothing wrong with it especially in the content that pham put it in. he clearly stated that it was a glam session.

Glam is the look that 90% of the girls want. Plus this girl is a model. Parent are probably very use to these shots and may actually prefer it. You have to be careful with that line as it can be easily crossed. Parents, especially mom, is always a must have at these types of sessions where the guidelines are quickly established.

Pham,,great stuff as usual. You know im a huge fan. We all can have the same issue with this type of photography. I had a mother with this senior that i had to draw the line on. Here is the shot. I felt the look was too big for a HS senior. Apparently so did the yearbook staff. They wouldnt let her use it

umphotography wrote in post #12165836
Im not so sure i would agree with the "implied topless" remark. It a bare shoulder shot, very common IMHO. I see nothing wrong with it especially in the content that pham put it in. he clearly stated that it was a glam session.

Glam is the look that 90% of the girls want. Plus this girl is a model. Parent are probably very use to these shots and may actually prefer it. You have to be careful with that line as it can be easily crossed. Parents, especially mom, is always a must have at these types of sessions where the guidelines are quickly established.

Pham,,great stuff as usual. You know im a huge fan. We all can have the same issue with this type of photography. I had a mother with this senior that i had to draw the line on. Here is the shot. I felt the look was too big for a HS senior. Apparently so did the yearbook staff. They wouldnt let her use it

I totally agree.. Pham's picture looks a lot tamer compared to your your senior picture .. I did not see a "topless" girl... in Pham's shot.. Also.. usually, the parents are there right?

I also dont get the implied topless? Couldnt it be implied tube top? :LOL

shankarhokie wrote in post #12171083
I totally agree.. Pham's picture looks a lot tamer compared to your your senior picture .. I did not see a "topless" girl... in Pham's shot.. Also.. usually, the parents are there right?

I've run into a few situations that have resulted in the parents not being able to make it to the session but the "child" was able to make it. I have a strict rule that a parent or guardian must be present for anyone underage for myself. I'm not going to deal with any possibilities of any issues to arise. Now if they are 18, I don't care. I get a number of seniors that have just turned 18 and I have no issue with them coming on their own as long as I know that mom or dad will still be taking care of the payments.

If in doubt, just don't do it... IMHO. I don't want to leave any room for anything.

To date I have only done one underage person without the parent present and that was only because I am really good friends with the mother and the rest of the family.