Whitney-Pre Senior Shoot

This is Whitney. She is my little sister. I took some pre senior pictures for her to see if I am good enough to shoot her senior pictures in a year.

Let me know what you think, only processing was a quick run through lightroom.

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Nice series, 3, 5 & 8 are very nice. It seems to me as if her smile is forced, just my thought. Your sister should be very happy with these as well as your mom. Nicely done.

Great job with these! She better sign you up now! One thing... I'd like to see her other arm in #7

Some nice stuff number 6 is the best of the batch. Overall they are very flat are you using a flash or a fill card on any of these. I would like to see more form in her face. Also the posing in these is somewhat stiff. This being said these are not bad and I would think in a year's time with practice you will be more than ready to take her senior pictures.

I agree, 1 and 6 are my favorites. What lens did you use? Typically with senior shots, you want to use a lens that can produce a lot of bokeh to blur the background out.

Off to a good start for sure though!

Petes Prints wrote in post #8884065
=Pete's Prints;8884065]Nice series, 3, 5 & 8 are very nice. It seems to me as if her smile is forced, just my thought. Your sister should be very happy with these as well as your mom. Nicely done.

The smile was very forced. Mom wanted some shots before she went to cheer for a game last night, so she was kinda there against her will.

jdaly wrote in post #8884100
Great job with these! She better sign you up now! One thing... I'd like to see her other arm in #7

I didn't catch that. Thanks!

Slaterza wrote in post #8885570
Some nice stuff number 6 is the best of the batch. Overall they are very flat are you using a flash or a fill card on any of these. I would like to see more form in her face. Also the posing in these is somewhat stiff. This being said these are not bad and I would think in a year's time with practice you will be more than ready to take her senior pictures.

I was using a 430ex on camera in all of them but the first. I guess I dont understand what you mean by more form in the face. Posing is my weakness for sure. Thanks for the comments.

B.Miller wrote in post #8885864
I agree, 1 and 6 are my favorites. What lens did you use? Typically with senior shots, you want to use a lens that can produce a lot of bokeh to blur the background out.

Off to a good start for sure though!

I used my 85 f/1.8 on all of these @ around 1.8-3.5. 7 is the only one that didnt have solid bokeh and that was due to her proximity to the background. Can you elaborate?

I think you're off to a good start and with some fine-tuning throughout the next year, you'll really see some good progress. A previous poster mentioned that the photos are a little "flat" and could use more "form" on her face. The on-camera flash, while providing decent exposure, tends to make the light look flat. You'll also notice the pin-point catchlights in her eyes. The light, because it's coming directly from the front, doesn't sculpt the face. The lighting on the first shot is the best, because the shadows on the right side of her face provide "form." I would suggest practicing more with reflector and/or off-camera flash, and I think you'll notice a significant difference. Keep up the good work!

Tim

Tim Park wrote in post #8886087
I think you're off to a good start and with some fine-tuning throughout the next year, you'll really see some good progress. A previous poster mentioned that the photos are a little "flat" and could use more "form" on her face. The on-camera flash, while providing decent exposure, tends to make the light look flat. You'll also notice the pin-point catchlights in her eyes. The light, because it's coming directly from the front, doesn't sculpt the face. The lighting on the first shot is the best, because the shadows on the right side of her face provide "form." I would suggest practicing more with reflector and/or off-camera flash, and I think you'll notice a significant difference. Keep up the good work!

Tim

Thanks Tim! For example, how would a large reflector have been used to improve the light with the on camera flash?

I have a senior shoot today, and everyone that has seen these or similarly lit senior pictures from me has really enjoyed them so I am trying to iron this out before another shoot.

I was referring to 3.7.8. idk, the senior shots that catch my eye the most are the ones w/ extreme bokeh.

I think you will do good next year

Here is a link to example of proper lighting you notice that the shadows give form to the face rather than having the whole face all the same brightness which tends to flatten and make the face look more broad than it really is. Also as was mentioned it is doing nothing for the eyes of your model. Move the flash off camera or put a reflector on one side to get better light. The reflector needs to be large enough to get enough light reflected in the shadow side of the face. Check the off camera flash thread in this section for some great ideas on doing lighting outdoors.

Slaterza wrote in post #8886282
Here is a link to example of proper lighting you notice that the shadows give form to the face rather than having the whole face all the same brightness which tends to flatten and make the face look more broad than it really is. Also as was mentioned it is doing nothing for the eyes of your model. Move the flash off camera or put a reflector on one side to get better light. The reflector needs to be large enough to get enough light reflected in the shadow side of the face. Check the off camera flash thread in this section for some great ideas on doing lighting outdoors.

Thank you! I will be using my 4 in 1 reflector more to enhance the light a bit. Im still a little cautious about using ocf with paying clients. I live on that thread, but im still not confident enough with it. Thanks for the link, that helped a lot.

4, 5, 6, 7 are nice, you did just fine. Watch the background on shots like #3 (which you already realized). Also, your Mom is a lovely lady, you should get her to pose for you too.

jZ

#1,4,6,8 - really good.

OK.. #1 is just plain awesome.

You're well on your way...

Thanks for posting.

zelseman wrote in post #8886136
Thanks Tim! For example, how would a large reflector have been used to improve the light with the on camera flash?

I have a senior shoot today, and everyone that has seen these or similarly lit senior pictures from me has really enjoyed them so I am trying to iron this out before another shoot.

I was suggesting using a reflector instead of on-camera lighting, but of course, it'd be helpful if there was some sun.