Senior Boy

From a senior shoot we did Saturday. Constructive critique welcomed.

This is only the second shoot I've done with my AB800 (using a 550EX and a 430EXii for key & hair/background lighting in some shots). Getting the hang of it, although I can see I need to get a grid for the softbox and for the standard reflector. Lot's of light bleeding around the set from that giant softbox!

Thanks for looking - and commenting!

#1

good shots but i think you should really clean up his skin as its not flattering to him. the processing looks good in most of these

Skin was cleaned up a lot already. I took out the fresh blemishes and elected to leave the deeper marks (although they're softened a bit too).

I appreciate the comment, though. And I did spend quite awhile agonizing over how far to go with it (or not go)... I really wanted to avoid making him someone he's not, if you know what I mean. I didn't want to do so much work that it would make him feel bad (i.e. so much that it would be terribly obvious; giving the impression I felt he needed a lot of work). I wanted to give the impression that he's a handsome guy, if not entirely smooth.

I'm still pretty new to the game, so I don't have a lot of experience in making these decisions. He was totally thrilled with how they look, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

You say the processing is good in "most" of them. Do you mind elaborating? I'd love to get the feedback.

Thanks again.

I think in some I would remove a bit of the red leave the marks if you like just remove the red. I find one is a bit underexposed on his face not the best shot. I like number 2 number three is not a great pose in my opinion I might have come in closer and still had the neon and all but git rid of the yellow it does not seem to go. Number 4 and 5 are the best in the bunch in my opinion. Number 6 the pose looks too feminine to me. Number 8 is fairly nice I think I would not have had the fist clenched though maybe a little looser on the hands.

Thank you for the feedback, man! I agree with your points pretty much across the board.

I have another shot of the elevator, just as you described, but he liked the full length better, so I worked on that one more. The tighter crop did look better to my eye, though. I was using a speedlight with a purple gel inside the elevator, and I couldn't get the wireless receiver to trigger unless the flash was immediately behind him. So in the image shown above (full length), I had to remove the stand and associated shadows. Which really sucked! Another reason I preferred the closer crop (wasn't visible at all).

The pose in #6 is a little on the 'soft' side, isn't it? And yet I like it more than others from that series. Can't really explain why, though.

How is #7 showing on others' screens? On my calibrated monitor, it's almost entirely blocked up, with just a hint of detail across the half of his body nearest the window. But on a couple other monitors, I've seen the image showing MUCH lighter (where detail is visible across the entire image).

Thanks again - I appreciate your time.

I tend to lean more towards leaving the skin. I do remove some blemishes on the models and so on but like to leave some. Its who they are at that time in their life. Unless they ask me to completely clear them up I usually will not do much.

The only "nit pick" I have with these are they appear far too "staged" for a senior session. I personally do not believe the subject has to be looking at the camera in every frame, I think a couple of these would be far better if he were looking past the camera or off to the side like in 1 and 7.

I do however like them overall.

Thanks for the comments RichardA. I'm exploring who I am as a photographer still. I got quite a few with him gazing away, but I tended to prefer the direct eye contact images. He definitely preferred to be looking away from me, though, when I let him choose his pose. Now that you mention this, I suppose I should have taken the cue and given him more of those to choose from...

jsvphoto wrote in post #11795289
How is #7 showing on others' screens? On my calibrated monitor, it's almost entirely blocked up, with just a hint of detail across the half of his body nearest the window. But on a couple other monitors, I've seen the image showing MUCH lighter (where detail is visible across the entire image).

Thanks again - I appreciate your time.

On my screen it appears as you mentioned it here. Only a few details on the side closest to the window the rest in shadow.

Not a shot at the POTN but I think you did the right thing with the post work. Clean it up a little. Soften it up a little. And let the rest go. He and family are aware of what he looks like. I have seen much worse and since you made him look better than he actually does, they should love them.

It's like removing the 10 #'s the camera adds. People don't notice it. But when you take off an extra few lbs, they love it and you have taken the best picture of them ever. Do you mention it, no. But they know they look great. That's all that matters.

As for the rest. Good job. #7 is a wall hanger. Just my opinion. If it was worth two cents I would have sent you a contract before giving it.

Ha! I might have to steal that line

About #7 - he actually asked for that pose. I had my mind so set on capturing the other shots I got with the windows in the background that I would have totally missed this one.

He also asked about using the elevator as a prop. Again, I really would never have thought of it on my own. Once he mentioned it, though, we opened the door and I knew I had to use the gel in there. Had a lot of fun during the shoot, and learned a lot. What more can you ask for?

Oh yeah - I guess it would be cool if they place a big order...