Senior Portrait

[drew2143]

Hey guys,
I have posted in a long while, but i just shot a senior picture projects yesterday. I don't really do portraits very much so I'm looking for some feedback. These were shot at midday. I was just curious if these are much good or not. I have little portraiture experience. Are any of the shadows in the portraits problematic? Does anyone have any suggestions?
thanks
drew

[drew2143]

Oh and these were shot with a canon 20d.

[phoenixbob]

Drew, these are pretty good images. I think your best bet would be the waterfall portrait. That seems to capture the girl pretty well.

[jgredline]

Do you have some larger images you can post. Hard to tell from those as they are small.

[drew2143]

Here ya go, these are a little bigger.

[Frog]

The lady on the bridge is best because you there isn't the contrast between bright sun and shade on the face.

[SpeedingSphere]

Shooting mid day is tough because it casts harsh contrasts and often makes the model squint. It is also very revealing of skin detail which is usually unwanted as well.

I agree with Frog, the bridge is the best because it looks as though you used a fill flash which eliminated the harsh shadows.

If you shot these again in the same places at say around 3 or 4pm, or 9 or 10am if you need the sun at a different angle, you'll find the images to be more smoothly lit.

I haven't gone into portraiture yet, just learned a few tips from reading and watching videos on youtube. Those are some tips which I've tried a little bit and have seemed to have worked.

Hope that helps! :-)

[jgredline]

I do not know much about portraits either, but would like to try an edit if it is ok with you. By the way, I agree about the harsh sun, I have learned that the sun is my enemy when it comes to photography.

[Alison]

I agree with the points that have been made here.

Although, it's not always possible to shoot at 3 or 4, or 9 or 10am, if a client requires their shoot to be at 1pm.

Therefore, I would say to you to find some open shade.

Or have the subject facing away from the sun. To prevent squinting make them shut their eyes until you are ready to take the shot. Count to 3, open their eyes and shoot instantaniously. That's one of the tricks my girls use.

The best shot is of the lady on the bridge.
Not only because you have her facing away from the sun. Not only because you have used flash for fill but, (wait for it everybody lol. I know, me and my rule of thirds haha), because I LOVE your composition on this one. Your subject is on the right of the frame with something of interest going off into the background and to the left using perspective without detracting from your subject.
The depth of field is also lovely seperating your subject from the bg and giving the whole image a 3d feel.

[MB1]

Bigger is better.

Does she have teeth?

I agree that your bridge shot is the best of this batch but I think the images with the blossoms have the most potential if you can go back and reshoot in better light.

[open_shutters]

i also had a problem seeing with the smaller photos. the bigger ones are better! i like the place where you made pose for this shots! i love your eyes!

[frleal70]

Those are great pics. I agree the bridge turned out good, and the blossoms shot has some really fantastic color.

I'm somewhat of a noob, so take this for what it's worth, but from what I remember, when shooting mid day with the sun in full force, we would shade the subject with a big umbrella and use a fill flash.

I'm curious to hear what the pros think of this technique.