Senior Photos

[speedneeder]

My wife's friend has asked that I take some senior photos of her daughter for her.
Anyone have any suggestions for what kinds of poses or wardrobe or locations to do this?
One pic will be submitted for the year book, so I plan to find out what requirements there are for this.
I have an idea for a pose in front of her high school for keepsakes - need to scope out the school for info. I am also starting to look at some stuff on yahoo and YouTube for ideas.
I have 4 flashes, a couple stands, and a reflector for use as wanted.
I know this is kind of a broad question, but that's all I have so far - just a request for help.

[rpcrowe]

Gosh I must be getting old. When I opened the post "Senior Photos", I thought it would be pictures of geezers like me!

[ddp4me]

Richard,

Don't feel so bad. I thought the same thing!! Guess I'm feeling my age as well.

And Brian,

I really like "natural" photos versus posed photos. May I suggest just shooting some candid type and see what you come up with and then maybe some posed more traditional types. Maybe some outside and some inside with more controlled situations?

Just a suggestion, and maybe others will have better ideas.

Thanks, Darlene

[LoveYosemite]

I'd suggest 2-3 outdoor shots/scenes of her leaning against a tree or sitting on a bench etc, and then 2-3 indoor shots next to any high school memorabilia (e.g. varsity jacket, pom-poms, sports trophies) or if she wasn't into sports, see what she spent most of her time doing & ask her to bring something related to that subject to the shoot.

In terms of location, from a quick online search, Panther Creek Park looks like it could have some pretty scenes; hopefully the autumn leaves in Kentucky haven't dropped yet.

Regarding wardrobe, let the daughter pick, but tell her to bring 3 different tops/outfits.

Thanks,
Elizabeth

[speedneeder]

lol@Richard.

Thanks for the suggestions, I hadn't thought of wardrobe changes!? Candid is my middle name, so I don't think I'll have too much trouble with that. She will need to bring some makeup too I imagine.
I agree that I need to know what she enjoyed most about high school and incorporate that into at least one photo.
Thanks again for your help.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Brian,

You might get a few ideas from my outdoor portraits gallery, as I seem to end up doing a lot of that kind of stuff. Bacsically, all you really need to do is keep the subject out of direct sunlight - look for a background with colour / shape / texture - and fire some fill flash at the subject to add some direction to the light, and to make them POP.

A shoot through umbrella with a couple of flashes firing into it does a good job,

Other than that, just nail the basics (focus, exposure etc).

[speedneeder]

Colin,
Thanks for the suggestion.
I don't have much in the way of off camera flash - just some cheapo manual stuff. I haven't tried my 430exii off camera outside while using my 60D as the commander. Maybe I could give this is a try?
Not sure I would get much success leaving the 430exii mounted on my camera, though I have seen some photogs doing that at kids sports pics and what not. That said I did take a gander at some local 'pro' samples, and while some are pretty good, some are less impressive. Yours are consistently good. I'm not sure I could achieve this with a single 430exii! I could probably do better with the manual flashes, but this would likely try the patience of all those involved, lol. I noted your comment about color and texture, this may be difficult as the trees have mostly lost their leaves and color.
Whatever I come up with, I'm looking forward to giving it a try!
Any suggestions given my limited equipment? (3 manual flashes, 4303exii, 2 stands and umbrellas, a white card and a reflector

[Colin Southern]

Hi Brian,

If you throw the background far enough out of focus then even leafless trees can look just fine.

In terms of flashes, you really need a few basics ...

- It needs to be off-camera to impart a direction to the light

- If needs to be soft (so a shoot-through umbrella)

- It needs to be triggered somehow.

I can't see any reason you couldn't do it manually / on the cheap - if you can't do it wirelessly, just grab 1 or 2 3rd party off camera shoe cords. You can also pick up cheap/nasty adaptors for firing more than one flash at once and even mounting more than one together with an umbrella (I might add that there are also much better ways, but they cost big $$$).

[speedneeder]

Hi Brian,
...You can also pick up cheap/nasty adaptors for firing more than one flash at once and even mounting more than one together with an umbrella...

You mean like rubber bands?
All my flashes have optical slave capability.
I have a radio trigger for my manual flashes.
Haven't tried to use that on my 430? I'll have to google that.

[Colin Southern]

You mean like rubber bands?

Sigh,

All my flashes have optical slave capability.

So long as they work reliably when the flash is obscured from the master controller by the umbrella, and everyone is watching you

I have a radio trigger for my manual flashes.

Manual is fine - you'll just need to invest a little time getting the levels right. If you're using 2 flashes into the umbrella, start on 1/8th power each, and go up to 1/4 power if need be (or higher). It's easy to "adjust" them by moving them a little closer or a little further away.

Haven't tried to use that on my 430? I'll have to google that.

Just go buy 4x 580EX II - 4x PW TT5 - 1x PW TT1 - and a 4-Square - you know you want to

[speedneeder]

Just go buy 4x 580EX II - 4x PW TT5 - 1x PW TT1 - and a 4-Square - you know you want to

But of course! And I might need a good divorce lawyer to go with that!
Hey, good reminder about the flash distance. This is the fastest way to adjust my YN-560's!

Would you recommend any gels for this sort of thing? I'm guessing not.

Thanks for your input.

[Colin Southern]

But of course! And I might need a good divorce lawyer to go with that!

Easily negotiated with jewlery to the same value

Would you recommend any gels for this sort of thing? I'm guessing not.

It really depends on how you want to interpret the shots. It's it's evening - and you're including sky or water - then a full CTO cut will do wonders for the sky -- just be sure to just a gray card for a reference shot so you at least have an accurate starting poing to white balancing.

I used full CTO on this series ...

[speedneeder]

Thanks for your input Colin. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Colin Southern]

Thanks for your input Colin. I'll let you know how it turns out.

We'll be waiting with baited breath

[speedneeder]

Lol too funny!

[speedneeder]

Well the timing didn't work out for outdoor stuff, and my 'client' seemed more interested in some indoor shots today. I shot some with a blue gel on the beige wall behind her and a some with a black cloth hung against the wall.

#1 A Little Country


#2 don't know what to call this one, I thought she looked a little elegant in this dress, which was cool, because I don't think she saw herself that way at all. I didn't quite get the catch light like I wanted, but not bad IMO. They eyes look sharper in the full size image??? Especially her left eye.