Girl and Horse

[echoback]

My sister asked me to do her senior pictures the other day since she couldn't bring her horse and her dog into a studio lol. This is what I got: the third one is a bad attempt at a background blur lol and sorry about the small size of the B&W but it was taken in RAW format and I am still figuring out how work with those. Does anyone have any other suggestions? how can I improve these shots? thanks!

[jbaldocchi]

Your sister makes a good model. My favorite is the last print. Good composition and colors. CS2 has some pretty good tools for working with RAW images. Your first image could use a little more room at the top of the frame. She's a little tight at the top. I think the profile feeding the horse is ok but not my favorite.

Cheers,

Jim B.

[OBie]

I think for a senior picture, you want her to look at the camera. Is this college or HS? I as an equestrian studies major in college (yes, they really offer that!), and used a photo similar to the BW you took.

I would prefer more focus on your sister, and have her horse and dog as secondary objects. If her horse could stick his head into the shot of her and her dog, that would be great.

[echoback]

jbaldocchi-thanks for the comments! i think i cropped a bit tight, but that's easily fixed lol.

OBie-this was high school graduation for my sister. she got her regular profile pics taken in a studio, but she wanted some "interesting" photos with her pets so she asked me to photograph her. It was kind of fun. That is pretty cool that you are an equestrian studies major. she was thinking of that, but decided to go the veterinarian route instead. but anyway, thanks for the comments!

[jbf]

I agree with everyone else. The last one is the best. Here's an attempt to brighten her face. I also cloned some of the yellow field.




I like it with the tight crop and the wider crop. I'm not sure which I would choose.

Beautiful image,
jbf

[OBie]

I agree with jbf - a tighter crop allows you to focus more on her, less on the pretty flowers behind her.

[echoback]

jbf-i like what you did with it! i guess I liked the flowers so much that i wanted to include them, but maybe they do detract a bit from my subject. i also liked how you lightened her face a bit.

[jbf]

jbf-i like what you did with it! i guess I liked the flowers so much that i wanted to include them, but maybe they do detract a bit from my subject. i also liked how you lightened her face a bit.

Thank you very much for the compliment. One thing that I considered but didn't have time to do was to clone some of the flowers from the wide crop into the tighter crop. You may want to give that a try.

jbf

[Sebastian]

I think the two shots with the horse suffer from her facing the sun. The squinting makes her look very uncomfortable. Backlighting her would have helped, and would have made for dramatic rim lighting.

Good stuff nonetheless, just some ideas to try in the future.

[echoback]

jbf-that's a good idea! i'll give that a try. i think that would enhance the shot a bit, plus, I really liked the flowers LOL

seb-thanks for the advice! I took these shots in the evening right when the sun was going down, hoping to get that "glowey" sunset look. unfortunately, she did complain a lot about the sun being in her eyes.

[GB1]

I agree with the cropping comments from a normal photog standpt, but I think that as a graduation shot, the flowers etc add to the aura of 'looking ahead' instead of just a zoom into someone's face, which doesn't add context in the least bit. She's a good model btw, but should learn to move her head back a little and straighten her shoulders up a bit, cause it appears that she is hunching just a little. Yoga and stretching can help here.

GB

[jbf]

I agree with the cropping comments from a normal photog standpt, but I think that as a graduation shot, the flowers etc add to the aura of 'looking ahead' instead of just a zoom into someone's face, which doesn't add context in the least bit.

Good point. The crop on the bottom of the original is a little distracting (where the arm and dog are cut off), but it's a good enough image that it probably doesn't matter.

She's a good model btw, but should learn to move her head back a little and straighten her shoulders up a bit, cause it appears that she is hunching just a little.

She's a very good model and looks relaxed in front of the camera. Plus, her eyes are stunning. But I'm surprised the dog didn't get any props. It's posing like a pro.

Yoga and stretching can help here.

Does a photography forum and exercise mix?

[echoback]

GB1-yep, I was sort of going for a different look than the normal graduation close-up shots. I'm glad you like the shots! She does tend to slouch a bit, I think it is more a self-confidence issue lol.

jbf-LOL, I think the dog does deserve some praise, she was being a VERY good puppy for those shots.