New Senior New Location!!!

jeffreaux2 · October 8, 2007

Wow, I just got done looking at Elaines family shots from this weekend and they are awesome!!! I think it is wonderful to know that while I was fretting over poses and lighting yesterday, so was one of my fellow dgrinners.

Anyway, my truck had to go to the shop last week and on the way home I spotted a vacant lot full of....I think....black-eye-susans. I had just closed a deal to shoot one of my daughter's friends Sr pics. I called her mother up and explained that this sitting was on me, and that she could still choose the location of her choice later, but that I HAD to take advantage of the wild flowers here. So yesterday after I got off work, I met them...along with my daughter... to grab a few shots in this vacant lot. We began about an hour before sunset. I had gone there Saturday to check the light, and found about half the lot in sun, the other half in shade. I was excited that I might be able to get some good backlit shots using reflectors, but on the day of the shoot it was overcast and threatening rain. I still haven't decided whether to reshoot them. I had difficulties with shadows and flash balance, and had to up ISO to 800 for some of the other shots. Not my idea of a successfull shoot.

Anyway, although I am really fighting the WB on these shots I decided to post a few that I had a chance to edit today.

C&C is definately welcome!!!

1

2 Monotone of 1

3

4 This has a different treatment, but I am afraid it is too yellow....

5 I wish the hightlights had held together better here

6 That is a LOT of flowers!!

7

Icebear · October 8, 2007

Bet she's happy
Numbers 5 & 7 do it for me. I like what you did with 7, but I'd turn down the exposure maybe a third of a stop. Just me.

jeffreaux2 · October 8, 2007

Icebear wrote:

Numbers 5 & 7 do it for me. I like what you did with 7, but I'd turn down the exposure maybe a third of a stop. Just me.

Thanks,

I think the whites are awful hot on this one too. I am going to leave it alone for now....I am wondering if it will be a third or so darker on paper?.....we shall see!!

Thanks for looking.

Elaine · October 8, 2007

Great eye for the flowers! They make a wonderful backdrop here! I really like the treatment on #4, but I do agree that it looks a tad yellow. I really like the comp on #6 and I love her expression in #7. I wonder what would happen if the midtones were dropped just a bit...just going for a little more oomph. But it's a beautiful shot! I also like the almost painted look of the background in #1. The eye on the left has a touch of red where the flash light is catching...maybe they both do but the left is more red? Her eyes are very striking!

Very nice job, especially dealing with your adverse conditions! And thanks for the very nice promo at the top of your post! :curtsey

jeffreaux2 · October 8, 2007

Elaine wrote:

Great eye for the flowers! They make a wonderful backdrop here! I really like the treatment on #4, but I do agree that it looks a tad yellow. I really like the comp on #6 and I love her expression in #7. I wonder what would happen if the midtones were dropped just a bit...just going for a little more oomph. But it's a beautiful shot! I also like the almost painted look of the background in #1. The eye on the left has a touch of red where the flash light is catching...maybe they both do but the left is more red? Her eyes are very striking!

Very nice job, especially dealing with your adverse conditions! And thanks for the very nice promo at the top of your post! :curtsey

Thanks Elaine. I meant to desat that spot in the eye on 1. Can't figure out how that even happened!! My biggest problem here was trying to pump enough light in with the flash to light her eyes and not blow the shirt. Her eyes are deep set and dark and of course the shirt is white. She brought a second shirt and changed half way through. It was also white. It would have been easy to get more light in there, but on the ones where I did I had hard shadows under her chin from the flash....which I do not like to see. And new for me is a height issue. I plan to buy a short step ladder...like a three footer. She is slightly taller than me which kept causing me to be shooting up at her. This isn't very flattering either. I may redo the yellow one...I think it may be worth saving!!

DavidS · October 8, 2007

Nice shots. I love the flowers.

jeffreaux2 · October 8, 2007

DavidS wrote:

Nice shots. I love the flowers.

Word to the wise....
I made sure the girls sprayed with bug spray, yet I did not. Luckily, they were not attacked by the chiggers as I was. I think it was worth it though. I will definately mark this spot and my calender for future use. I am not really sure how long they have or will continue to bloom. I was dumbstruck when I first spotted the place.

wxwax · October 8, 2007

I like this one a lot, nice smile, nice compo. I think it would better if you lightened up her eyes.

Scott_Quier · October 9, 2007

No question for me - my favorite is:

You have enough context to make sense. The expression is kinda cute. The pose leaves very little to be desired - I really like the pose. Composition is good. There's enough there to re-crop to 8x10 should your client want to without loosing anything.

As with most of your shots here, I believe a little lightening of her eyes would be in order.

jeffreaux2 · October 9, 2007

Scott_Quier wrote:

No question for me - my favorite is:

You have enough context to make sense. The expression is kinda cute. The pose leaves very little to be desired - I really like the pose. Composition is good. There's enough there to re-crop to 8x10 should your client want to without loosing anything.

As with most of your shots here, I believe a little lightening of her eyes would be in order.

Ahhh the expression!! I did some cheerleader pics of her earlier this year....so before we went out Sunday I told her that all the pros who saw those pics said her fake smile was very apparent. So I tell her no fake smile and that I want her to smile just a little, the no thats too much, no thats not enough, etc until she is maybe a little preturbed but mostly trying really hard not to laugh. I have several variations of expression with this pose, and may be able to post those examples this evening. Thanks for the feedback, it is not only my favorite, but it was the sharpest and best exposed out of camera. My only gripe with it is.....does it look like one of those pull down backdrops at JCPenny's?

Scott_Quier · October 9, 2007

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Ahhh the expression!! I did some cheerleader pics of her earlier this year....so before we went out Sunday I told her that all the pros who saw those pics said her fake smile was very apparent. So I tell her no fake smile and that I want her to smile just a little, the no thats too much, no thats not enough, etc until she is maybe a little preturbed but mostly trying really hard not to laugh. I have several variations of expression with this pose, and may be able to post those examples this evening. Thanks for the feedback, it is not only my favorite, but it was the sharpest and best exposed out of camera. My only gripe with it is.....does it look like one of those pull down backdrops at JCPenny's?

For getting "just the right amount of smile" I like to get them to laugh. I time it and I shoot off a string of exposures, starting when they first start to react until they are finished. Somewhere in that mix there will be a real smile where their eyes are smiling as well as their mouth.

The biggest benefit of using this technique, aside from photos that the client likes, is they have fun - it's hard to not have fun when one is laughing.

jeffreaux2 · October 9, 2007

Scott_Quier wrote:

For getting "just the right amount of smile" I like to get them to laugh. I time it and I shoot off a string of exposures, starting when they first start to react until they are finished. Somewhere in that mix there will be a real smile where their eyes are smiling as well as their mouth.

The biggest benefit of using this technique, aside from photos that the client likes, is they have fun - it's hard to not have fun when one is laughing.

This is true.
I am also envious of the serious looks that Yuri is able to get from his subjects.....like they are alone with their thoughts and he isn't there.

New Senior New Location!!!

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