Any Tips On Senior Portrait Type Shots?? **Updated With Pics**

[mabas9395]

There is a family in my church who have a daughter graduating from High School this Spring and have asked for my help. Their daughter is very photogenic but her Senior Pictures did not turn out very well at all. I haven't seen them but I'm told they're not very excited to send them out in a graduation announcement. That's where I come in. They have asked me to help them out and have a photo shoot to try to get a graduation announcement photo. Not the pressure of needing a full portfolio of keepers, I just need one good shot. You bring your camera to enough school/church/other functions and pretty soon people assume you know what you're doing.

They want to do it at a local park to get an outdoor portrait. She will be emailing me with some links of some examples of the types of shots they are looking for. At this point I don't know if they want head shots, full-length or what.

Here is what I have to work with:

Canon 50D
50mm f/1.8
85mm f/1.8
70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
Speedlite 430ex
Speedlite 580ex II
24ft ETTL Flash cord
Umbrellas and stands
5-in-1 40 inch Reflector
My wife to assist holding flash and/or reflector

I'm doing this just as a favor (and for the experience), so I won't be charging them and I think I've done a pretty good job of lowering their expectations.

So does anyone have any tips, suggestions, idea, resources, etc to help make this turn out?

Thanks.

 

[elsie7119]

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[bob100]

There is a family in my church who have a daughter graduating from High School this Spring and have asked for my help. Their daughter is very photogenic but her Senior Pictures did not turn out very well at all. I haven't seen them but I'm told they're not very excited to send them out in a graduation announcement. That's where I come in. They have asked me to help them out and have a photo shoot to try to get a graduation announcement photo. Not the pressure of needing a full portfolio of keepers, I just need one good shot. You bring your camera to enough school/church/other functions and pretty soon people assume you know what you're doing.

They want to do it at a local park to get an outdoor portrait. She will be emailing me with some links of some examples of the types of shots they are looking for. At this point I don't know if they want head shots, full-length or what.

Here is what I have to work with:

Canon 50D
50mm f/1.8
85mm f/1.8
70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
Speedlite 430ex
Speedlite 580ex II
24ft ETTL Flash cord
Umbrellas and stands
5-in-1 40 inch Reflector
My wife to assist holding flash and/or reflector

I'm doing this just as a favor (and for the experience), so I won't be charging them and I think I've done a pretty good job of lowering their expectations.

So does anyone have any tips, suggestions, idea, resources, etc to help make this turn out?

Thanks.

nice equipment!
for suggestions on posing and lighting you can check the "stickies" in the lighting/flash and people section on this forum -
www.photography-on-the.net/forum

 

[Steve's Girl]

For outdoor portraits, you typically want to try to take them later in the evening when you have that nice soft golden light. Or, find a nice shaded area that doesn't have spotty sunshine. Or better yet, a nice cloudy day. Try to visit the park ahead of time and have a few spots picked out.

You'll do great!

 

[Frantasmic]

The forums on www.fredmiranda.com are full of senior portrait examples. You seem to have the correct equipment/lenses for a good portrait. I'd suggest an afternoon/near dusk setting as that is when the natural light will be good for atmosphere, etc.

 

[Suburbanmom]

You have the equipment you need and I know you know how to use it (cuz you've posted great pictures here). My tips are going to be relative to posing. It's very important to make your subject feel comfortable, especially if you are going for a casual shot. If she is sitting in an awkward position, you are going to see it on her face. I usually have my subjects sit as they naturally would and then I do little adjustments to help balance the composition. A general rule of thumbs is ... if it bends, bend it. Have a little bend in the elbow or knee, hook a thumb in the pants pocket. Straight arms and legs can look stiff and uncomfortable. If you are in a park, watch out for trees and foliage growing out of her head in the background. I get so mad at myself when I miss this little rule. Look for texture for the background ... stone walls, stucco buildings, wood siding. Avoid dappled light, such as in a tree-shaded area. Full shade with fill flash or reflector is great. It's very disappointing to get a great expression and have a hot spot on the subject's face. I think senior portraits are one of those mediums where tiltling the horizon can be OK. I do more of it with seniors than I do other subjects and they seem to like it. Also, post processing ... vivid colors, strong contrast, soft vingetting ... are all things seniors approve of.

If they have proofs, ask to see what they didn't like about the other set of pictures. That will help you avoid making the same mistakes. I've shot about 10 seniors this year. I'm still learning with each job I get. You are welcome to look at my gallery and see if anything jumps out at you ... Senior Gallery Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[mabas9395]

I've been looking into this a lot online and found a resource that might be helpful here as well.

Now, understanding that most rules are meant to be broken at some time, here are a bunch of rules for good portraits that seem like a good place to start.

http://lumitouch.com/benstudiotutorial/LightPoseGuideRules.html

 

[mabas9395]

Just wanted to give an update on how the senior photo shoot went. Probably the biggest thing I learned is that with a pretty girl and some decent gear, its hard to mess up too bad. The other thing I learned was that the whole posing aspect of portrait photography is a lot harder than I thought.

Anyway, here are a few samples from the day and I would love to hear some comments and critique.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

 

[elsie7119]

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[plyeng2ff]

Nice job on the pictures

 

[Master Mason]

I liked #5 the best, would have liked it a bit better if her arms had been relaxed.

One question, did you PP her teeth? They come across as unrealistically white on my computer, it's possible that it's her teeth, but it doesn't look like it to me over here.

But over all, a fine job IMO.

 

[10dedfish]

Mason,

What did you mean by having her arms relaxed? Im assuming clasped in front of her or something along those lines?

Mabas,

Great job. They turned out really well and I hope that your friends were happy with the shots.

 

[Frantasmic]

Very nicely done. I like the guitar photograph the best as well.

 

[Evad]

Wow, they are all very nice, great work!!! I really like #1.
The guitar shot looks as though you may have cropped it a little to close her head imo.

 

[Master Mason]

Mason,

What did you mean by having her arms relaxed? Im assuming clasped in front of her or something along those lines?

Mabas,

Great job. They turned out really well and I hope that your friends were happy with the shots.

What I meant was crossed arms are not a relaxed position, maybe an alternative is one arm down and one on the wall... not really sure, would have to play with it a bit.

 

[WillowBelle]

My favs are #2 and #6! You did a great job with all of them though. Was she happy with the results?

 

[rtphokie]

Sometimes the best way to learn what to do is looking at what not to do:

• http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=38789
• http://www.justaguything.com/senior-high-school-portraits-gone-horribly-wrong/
• http://firednfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/05/photo-shoot-friday-hemp-necklaces-and.html
• http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com (not senior portraits per se, but bad portrait photos none-the-less

My favorite:

I guess this is how the "I Still Believe" guy on the beach in Lost Boys started.

 

[WillowBelle]

My favorite:

I guess this is how the "I Still Believe" guy on the beach in Lost Boys started.

That was my first thought when looking at the picture, before I saw your note below it!

 

[10dedfish]

Thanks MM. I find myself getting Voluntold by the wife more and more about doing pictures for the preschool that she works at, and there is no such thing as bad information.

 

[BorisMD]

First off, let me just say what a great job you did. I think you were able to connect well with your student.

Now for the critique -- I won't be as harsh as the people on FredMiranda.

#1 -- Nice setting and color. I like the blur of the background. My trouble with this shot is the branch growing out of her head.

#2 -- Very nice pose. I'd like to see the skin tones a little warmer

#3 -- Probably my favorite. I love the contrast of the yellow dandelions and the blue shirt. I would probably crop this to a narrower print.

#4 -- Another great shot. She looks totally relaxed with the guitar. I'm a little troubled by the cutoff from the edge of the barn and the trees behind it -- it's a distracting line.

#5 -- Nice, but as suggested, her right hand looks like it is not relaxed. Also, I'm again distracted by the vertical line from the edge of the building.

#6 -- Tied for my favorite. I love the backlighting highlights on the hair. I would like to see the flesh tones warmed up a little. Best background blur and no distracting elements.

I hope I wasn't too harsh. I don't think I could even come close to doing as well. I'm just playing armchair QB.

Great work!

Regards,

Boris