I started Kylie's Senior Portraits today. *Day Two now added*

[DVC Jen]

I took 150 shots and got 7 I am keeping. I love that girl to bits but man oh man is she difficult to get decent pics of. She is really stiff in front of the camera. And since we did them outside she was always on the lookout for BUGS



I can only imagine how she would be with someone she is not comfortable with.

Tomorrow we are heading out to the arboretum and try some more. Here is a link to the gallery with the 7 best out of the 150. Kylie's Senior Portraits Below are my 3 favorites from that 7 (in order). I love the way her face looks in number 4, but I am not so crazy about the background.

She normally wears glasses - and when they are off she has a lazy eye. So I spent hours with photo shop correcting it. I had her take the glasses off because of glare and because she looks so much better with out them. Hopefully soon she can get contacts.

 

[thompson princesses]

You did a great job. I personally like #6. I would take the red leash out of the pic though. I know about the bug thing. My daughter is even afraid of butterflies!?!?!

 

[DVC Jen]

You did a great job. I personally like #6. I would take the red leash out of the pic though. I know about the bug thing. My daughter is even afraid of butterflies!?!?!

LOL Kylie is too. What is up with that?

I am thinking about trying the pics with the dog again tomorrow. I am not 100% happy with the centering on them. So if she is not at the point of wanting to toss something at my lens I might force her to endure that all over again.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

I like the one with the fence background and the green sweater. Very nice. Great work.

 

[tinksdad]

Those are looking good! I too, like number six, with the dog. Does your daughter like them..... (the million dollar question?)

 

[Steve's Girl]

I like the dog ones too. They look more relaxed and natural.

 

[jann1033]

i like number 3 the best, very nice photo( sideways on the step)... and also like 1..her smile looks really genuine in that one( brick background).. her eyes are a little bit shut but it's still nice...nice job so far!

here i go being a pain but i wonder how it would look if you widened the aperture just a tad to blur the back a little more...( not that they aren't nice i am just wondering, like if you could get a little less sharpness to the grass clumps behind her in the step one if it would be even better) or maybe go pull that one little clump on the hill in the dirt out i think cause it's level with her face it catches my eye...or photoshop!

 

[DVC Jen]

Thanks everyone. I really took everything everyone said to heart and paid extra attention yesterday. Hopefully I will remember to do that today as well. LOL

I went back and looked at the practice sets I had taken and even I can see improvement. So that is encouraging.

here i go being a pain but i wonder how it would look if you widened the aperture just a tad to blur the back a little more...( not that they aren't nice i am just wondering, like if you could get a little less sharpness to the grass clumps behind her in the step one if it would be even better) or maybe go pull that one little clump on the hill in the dirt out i think cause it's level with her face it catches my eye...or photoshop!

I see what you mean Jann. That is one thing that I like about having all of you available. Different people seeing things I didn't. I never noticed that lil clump of grass but now I can't miss it. LOL

I went with a f/4.5 with that one because I didn't want to lose the steps into a blur - yet didn't want it all in sharp focus either. I will have to play with that lil pesky clump in photoshop now.

I also like the shots with Lily (one of our dogs) but I took like 20 of them and because Kylie was giving me attitude (imagine that from a teenager) and I was tired I wasn't as careful as I should have been and she is cut off. I am going to try some with Lily (and maybe Eli if I can get him to not fear the camera so much) again this afternoon and see if I can get some without cutting Kylie's back off.

 

[DebbieinWA]

Good job on the pictures! Your daughter is very pretty! I know what a challenge you are facing - I did my daughter's senior pictures last year (after she was unhappy with the professional ones we had done - grrr!). We ended up going to multiple locations and took literally hundreds of pictures to get a few she was happy with.

 

[DVC Jen]

Good job on the pictures! Your daughter is very pretty! I know what a challenge you are facing - I did my daughter's senior pictures last year (after she was unhappy with the professional ones we had done - grrr!). We ended up going to multiple locations and took literally hundreds of pictures to get a few she was happy with.

LOL I am so glad to know someone is understanding my pain. Were you frazzled and exhausted at the end of each shoot?

Yesterday there were times I was about ready to say "forget it"!

The comment about her being pretty is appreciated too. I had to call her in to see that. Whenever I tell her how pretty she is - she just rolls her eyes and says I have to say that because I am her Mom.

Most of the time she wears her hair down in her face like she is hiding behind it. She is so incredibly shy and presents herself that way. I have been telling her for months to stop hiding behind her hair - hold her head up and have some confidence. I think seeing herself in these photos after I did her hair and make-up gave her a light bulb moment. At least I hope it did.

Now my youngest on the other hand... exact opposite and I have to actually try very hard to hold her back a bit. At 13 most people take her to be the oldest. Not her 18 yr old sister in the photos above.

 

[DebbieinWA]

Definitely frazzled after each photo shoot! And after getting some good shots that I liked, I let her just goof off and pose however she wanted - with her sunglasses on, talking on the cell phone, etc. It's fun because those are the ones that really show her personality. And we did some in black & white as well. The other ironic thing is that the poses she made the most fuss about doing ended up being the cutest pictures. Go figure! Keep reminding your daughter how beautiful she is - and that it's not just mom who thinks so

 

[AbbysFamily]

I like 1 & 3 the best of the 7.. Definately nice poses.

I guess I have 1 big question - Does she PREFER with or without her glasses? You talked about hours of photoshop correction due to removing her glasses.

If she actually prefers wearing her glasses, there are some tricks to eliminate the glare (the most simple is pushing the part up behind her ear to angle them down a bit). If she prefers without, then you have to do what you can.

One smaller other question - since you are going for all outdoor shots (that you've shown us at least), have you thought about shooting on a cloudier day or at a different time.. The light seems a little harse, which causes issues with squinting.

We'll thats my 2cents.

 

[DVC Jen]

Here are 3 of Kylie from Day Two. I had battery issues so we weren't able to get as many as I wanted to. Not sure what was up with the battery. It was freshly charged.

I managed to get one of our youngest DD as well..

I want to get a few indoor shots - but I am not sure when that is going to happen. Then Kylie and I will choose our favorites and have them printed up for her portraits.

 

[Spinning]

I really like the black and white one.
Will these be going in a year book? Or just on your wall? How neat if it is for the year book, so different from the old days!

 

[AbbysFamily]

Excelent composure.. I think the b&w would probably be on of the best in B&W or in color.

I still think the lighting is a bit harse, but it looks like she is warming up to the camera a bit more on day 2.

 

[tinksdad]

The pic of her in the blue blouse is really nice, with the exception of the chopped off thumb ( so much to think of....). I like the composition with the tree and blurred background to the left.

The sepia tone pic is one of the best composition wise. The background looks a tad over exposed thou. Would love to see the color version as well!!

 

[DVC Jen]

The sepia tone pic is one of the best composition wise. The background looks a tad over exposed thou. Would love to see the color version as well!!

Boy is that the understatement of the year! It was EXTREMELY over exposed. I mean BAD!

-hey at least I can admit to it and laugh about it.

I had to use the magic lasso and seperate her from the background and then darken it up as much as I possibly could.

I was thinking about just saying forget it when I saw that set but I loved the way she looked so much I played with it until it was passable (at least in my families eyes).

Yesterday was a nightmare at the Arboretum. It was insanely crowded. There were so many people there taking photos - and some were incredibly rude. There was one photographer that decided he didn't need to stand in line with everyone else. We were all waiting to get pics in front of this little cottage, probably about 5 people in line - all being very polite. Then he walks up with a bride and walks right past everyone else and set up IN FRONT of the people who were currently taking photos.

My jaw dropped! Everyone else just backed off and let him do his thing. Well of course I couldn't do that. I had to make a sarcastic remark about how SOME people are just so much more important than others.

Then he left his bride and his equipment standing there and went off to scout out his next location. I couldn't believe it.

There were several times I had people walking between me and Kylie - directly behind her - bumping into me. I tried very hard to position her in a place that would not be inconsiderate to others - and I always made sure we were very patient and considerate of ohter people taking photos.

The hours they were open were from 9 - 5 and there was no way I was going to get 2 teenaged girls up before 10 on a Saturday morning - then they had to shower and do their hair and their make-up and then we had to get there - my DH got lost.

So by the time we actually got there and were taking the shots it was the worst time of the day.

I am really getting frazzled with taking her pics. She is not the most cooperative "model". Now her sister on the other hand is a total ham and will never ever ever admit to liking her Mom taking pics of her - but she sure doesn't fight me (for very long) when I ask her to pose.

The photo with the tree I didn't even realize her thumb was cut off to tell you the truth. I fought with her just to get her to touch the tree. "BUGS"

I came so incredibly close to packing it all in yesterday and calling a lady here in town who does photography and beg her to rush Kylie through. I am going to keep going though. This has been an incredible learning experience for me. And like the saying goes - what doesn't kill ya - just makes ya stronger. Right?

 

[tinksdad]

I came so incredibly close to packing it all in yesterday and calling a lady here in town who does photography and beg her to rush Kylie through. I am going to keep going though. This has been an incredible learning experience for me. And like the saying goes - what doesn't kill ya - just makes ya stronger. Right?

You made me laugh!! Bugs!! what a girl.......


I think that the experience, with all it's trials and tribulations (rude people, uncooperative models and weather) does make you a stronger photographer! I read somewhere about folks saying that the pros get all the good shots. Maybe, but what does that tell us? The folks that put in the time and effort are eventually rewarded!! we can all hope anyway!!

I think that you are doing GREAT!! Lots of improvement in a short time.

 

[DVC Jen]

I really like the black and white one.
Will these be going in a year book? Or just on your wall? How neat if it is for the year book, so different from the old days!

No they won't. The school has a contract with a large national chain and we had to take her in this past fall and get the "traditional" pose for the yearbook. The girls all wore that horrid black drape and the guys had the black jacket.

I was going to take her back there and have her senior portraits done. The studio was amazing. Boy would I like to get in there and use their sets. But the photographer was so cold and dry and just lacking in any personality. He did nothing to help Kylie feel at ease. In fact it was just the opposite. He made remarks about glare on her glasses and when she took them off and her eye wandered a bit he made remarks about what a "challenge" she was - in front of her!

I just kept thinking - this guy is supposed to be a professional. He is supposed to be good. And he can't figure out how to not get a glare on her glasses and or fix her eye with photoshop?

After that day I knew there was no way I was going back there. I had thought about having my best friend come down with her equipment because she and Kylie get along pretty well. It just didn't work out timing wise for either of us - then we kept hoping they would get her braces off and never did. So - I got the harebrained idea to try them myself.

I am not hating my results - to be honest I am actually surprised with them. I can clearly see what is not perfect and what I am doing OK with.

I did ask Kylie - do you want me to take a -pardon the pun- shot at taking the pics or do you want me to get a photographer to do it. Without hesitation she said she wanted me to try. She said she would feel much more comfortable with me. So - I am trying!

 

[DVC Jen]

I think that you are doing GREAT!! Lots of improvement in a short time.

Thank you. I really needed that today.

I really am not unhappy with what I have done. I know I have a long way to go - and a lot to learn. I just keep reminding myself that I have only had the camera since December 7th. When I bought it I was 100% clueless. I didn't understand anything - aperature, shutter speed - the rule of thirds. I had VERY limited experience back in the early 80's with a high school photography class.

I know I have learned so much and come so far in a few short months.

I just want to do really well for her. Without boring all of you with details she hasn't had the most charmed life. She has had long intense struggles with medical issues - brain surgeries. Lots of hills to climb - walls to scale. And after being told when she was young that she would never be able to even go to a regular school or function in society as an adult - knowing and seeing her now - as an early grad - an honor roll student - it is very emotional.

She is without a shadow of a doubt - my hero.... and I don't want to let her down with these photos. So I am really trying my best with my limited knowledge and her shyness, adversion to bugs and constant eye rolls directed at her Mother.

So thank you - that "you are doing great." and "lots of improvement in a short time", means the world to me.