Farm Boy

kdotaylor · September 15, 2014

These are from a senior photo shoot of a boy who wanted the photos taken on his family's farm. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated.........thanks!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

ian408 · September 15, 2014

I think you did great at getting natural looks and making your subject comfortable in front of the camera.

Only comments would be a bit more punch in all of them and maybe work on the exposure for the first.

D3Sshooter · September 16, 2014

Its a great set , although I would like to have seen some additional farm attributes.... and maybe a bit more contrast. But besides that a great job, I like especially the DOF.

kdotaylor · September 16, 2014

ian408 wrote: »

I think you did great at getting natural looks and making your subject comfortable in front of the camera.

Only comments would be a bit more punch in all of them and maybe work on the exposure for the first.

Can you tell me what you mean by "punch"? More dramatic lighting? Better posing? Any ideas?

Dooginfif20 · September 16, 2014

I agree with Ian. What I would like to see is just a little bit more contrast. The foreground, background, and subject are all at the same exposure which doesnt create as much separation. What I like to do (I learned it from Scott Kelby) is create a duplicate layer and set the blending mode to multiply. Then just adjust the opacity to get the background where it has good color and saturation and then just apply a layer mask and paint it off of the subject with a soft edged brush. I think the set and the poses for the most part are great just needs a little punch!

kdotaylor · September 16, 2014

Dooginfif20 wrote: »

I agree with Ian. What I would like to see is just a little bit more contrast. The foreground, background, and subject are all at the same exposure which doesnt create as much separation. What I like to do (I learned it from Scott Kelby) is create a duplicate layer and set the blending mode to multiply. Then just adjust the opacity to get the background where it has good color and saturation and then just apply a layer mask and paint it off of the subject with a soft edged brush. I think the set and the poses for the most part are great just needs a little punch!

Thank you. Will have to look into learning how to do that...sounds like it may come in handy time and again.

Dooginfif20 · September 16, 2014

kdotaylor wrote: »

Thank you. Will have to look into learning how to do that...sounds like it may come in handy time and again.

I actually use it on about 75% of all of my work.

ian408 · September 16, 2014

kdotaylor wrote: »

Can you tell me what you mean by "punch"? More dramatic lighting? Better posing? Any ideas?

In LightRoom, you would adjust Contrast, Vibrance, Saturation. In this example, I've added more of each just so you see the difference. Maybe a little less-it's strictly a matter of preference.

kdotaylor · September 17, 2014

ian408 wrote: »

In LightRoom, you would adjust Contrast, Vibrance, Saturation. In this example, I've added more of each just so you see the difference. Maybe a little less-it's strictly a matter of preference.

Well that looks better; and easy enough....thanks!

ian408 · September 17, 2014

kdotaylor wrote: »

Well that looks better; and easy enough....thanks!

You're welcome! There are different ways you could do it. Apply the correction only to your subject leaving the background alone is one. Just depends on the look. The washed out vintage look is pretty popular these days so that's another thing to try.

alaios · September 18, 2014

Hi,
is it just me but I see that there was a bit of movement in some of the shots (perhaps not fast enough shutter speed)

Alex

kdotaylor · September 18, 2014

alaios wrote: »

Hi,
is it just me but I see that there was a bit of movement in some of the shots (perhaps not fast enough shutter speed)

Alex

Movement? Really? Which ones?

alaios · September 20, 2014

#5 for example. When I see it carefully it looks fine but when I have a very fast look the face is conceived a bit blurry... Hmm.. my brain?

kdog · September 20, 2014

You're not going to like this, but 1, 4, and 5 are tossers. You turned your senior into an 11 y/o boy by shooting down at him like that. Contrast those to 2 and 3 where you've shot pictures of a fine young man there (3 could have used an even lower POV actually, but it's close.) Also, #4 looks like you caught him on the loo. #5 is the dreaded taking-a-dump pose. Just my opinions of course.

alaios · September 21, 2014

intresting opinion. can you explain a bit more why "You turned your senior into an 11 y/o boy by shooting down at him like that. "
I guess we are not all get agree on that but I hope there would be as many arguments as possible.

Regards
Alex

kdotaylor · September 22, 2014

kdog wrote: »

You're not going to like this, but 1, 4, and 5 are tossers. You turned your senior into an 11 y/o boy by shooting down at him like that. Contrast those to 2 and 3 where you've shot pictures of a fine young man there (3 could have used an even lower POV actually, but it's close.) Also, #4 looks like you caught him on the loo. #5 is the dreaded taking-a-dump pose. Just my opinions of course.

No, I DO like to hear this...it's what I asked for! I never thought about shooting down like that as being making him younger, but I see your point...and also about the bathroom pose!

jonh68 · September 22, 2014

alaios wrote: »

intresting opinion. can you explain a bit more why "You turned your senior into an 11 y/o boy by shooting down at him like that. "
I guess we are not all get agree on that but I hope there would be as many arguments as possible.

Regards
Alex

I got this feeling too, and the reason it evokes that response is shooting from a higher vantage point. Most parents when photographing their kids do it while standing up. Most photographers when doing portraits don't shoot any other angle than their eye level when standing.

By shooting high with the subject being low, it invokes a lesser position.

alaios · September 23, 2014

thanks john68, I liked the explanation you gave

StueveShots · September 23, 2014

I rather like #6 -- I, too, live in a rural area and I suspect this shot captures the young man's lifestyle well--but I do wonder this: What if you crop out the two black cows? Make it a portrait orientation rather than landscape, keeping the focus on him so that the lifestyle is truly part of the background and doesn't compete. The lines of the gate will only help direct the eye to the boy. Just a thought!

kdotaylor · September 24, 2014

StueveShots wrote: »

I rather like #6 -- I, too, live in a rural area and I suspect this shot captures the young man's lifestyle well--but I do wonder this: What if you crop out the two black cows? Make it a portrait orientation rather than landscape, keeping the focus on him so that the lifestyle is truly part of the background and doesn't compete. The lines of the gate will only help direct the eye to the boy. Just a thought!

I WILL try that...good idea!

Farm Boy

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