CJ reads, loves her dog, has been cheerleading for a very long time and is generally awesome to shoot and hang around.

Equipment:
5D Mark II, 17-40L, 24L, 35L, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 200/2L IS
EOS 3 with expired Kodak Gold 400 (shot at 160)
Holga with Kodak Tri-X 400 at 400, stand developed in 1:100 Rodinal, 60 min

1

Howdy,
My comments or suggestions below are not a criticism of you, your model, your talent or skill. I offer them in a friendly tone of voice and with the sole intent to help you with a second POV and set of eyes. If you read sincere questions and simple suggestions as "criticism" of you, then you will miss how I am trying to help you.

Of course this may be your own "style" or your own "vision" and I suppose we can assume that the images look just like they do because that is exactly how you like them. That is OK too. It just shows that there are differences of "opinion" on what looks good. IF these are exactly what you want and like, then by all means continue making your images look like that and have fun doing it. I can only speak for myself and what I do or do not find appealing in the posted photos. As I always say: "Follow your own muse."
_______________________

That is a LOT of photos/portraits of a person.

Which ONE do you consider the best portrait of her and why?

Steady Hand wrote:
That is a LOT of photos/portraits of a person.

Which ONE do you consider the best portrait of her and why?

Thanks for commenting Steady. It was a 3 hour session. She wanted to document various things. I delivered 215 photos, including duplicates, like B&W and color of same pic. I'm presenting ~1/10th of that set.

My personal favorite depends on the purpose. Yearbook? #5, a bit "boring" because it's a standard photo (although I think it's well done). Fun? Personality? Artistic? Colorful/playful? Sense of style? Creative? Authentic documentary? Different answers for each question, whatever suits my mood.

Andrew Welsh wrote:
Steady Hand wrote:
That is a LOT of photos/portraits of a person.

Which ONE do you consider the best portrait of her and why?

Thanks for commenting Steady. It was a 3 hour session. She wanted to document various things. I delivered 215 photos, including duplicates, like B&W and color of same pic. I'm presenting ~1/10th of that set.

My personal favorite depends on the purpose. Yearbook? #5, a bit "boring" because it's a standard photo (although I think it's well done). Fun? Personality? Artistic? Colorful/playful? Sense of style? Creative? Authentic documentary? Different answers for each question, whatever suits my mood.

OK. Thanks for the reply. Sometimes people on here (FM) never answer a simple question.

That is a lot of shots and potential for a nice portfolio.

Now, what follows is NOT intended to be "argumentative." It is simply a request to see what YOU as the photographer consider YOUR BEST shot of her...only ONE.

Which ONE do you think best shows the girl?

Imagine if ALL the shots were destroyed in processing (chemical) and you could only save ONE image you made of her. Which would it be?

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And...I think you made a lot of nice photos here. Good job!

Hey Andrew, you always have such a clean look to your photos. I also appreciate the variety you are able to incorporate even though I know you've mentioned your market prefers the more traditional type of pictures.

1: has wonderful light and she looks very comfortable.
3: IR? Kinda neat, but I've seen some cooler ones from you.
4: Love the way you incorporate the diagonal lines in this one.
5: Wonderful, I know which lens you used here, without even checking EXIF :-) By the catchlights, it appears you may have lit her? Really nice job.
12: Another one that I'm guessing you had to light them? Really excellent job. The balance and soft light are really good.
14: At first, I thought kinda cheesy. But then I noticed the dog is completely static and I busted up, 'cuz here she is flying through the air with a completely motionless dog. Pretty funny actually.
16: Good mood, dig the processing.
18: Ha ha, retro geek.
19: Not sure I'm sold on the uber dark background. I think I'd like a bit more ambient.
20: Nice, one of the better of these I've seen.

--David

--David

Thanks David for the detailed feedback, I appreciate it. #5 was lit with a silver reflector. #19 it was pretty dark out, not sure how much I can pull up the background. Her grandma said the same thing on FB (too dark) =/ Also, #3 is not IR, it's just a B&W.. the leaves are yellow, which is why they are so light.

Steady:
I do have trouble answering your question. I know what you're getting at.. just pick one photo and promote that one. I have trouble because with senior sessions I'm serving several "masters".. mom/grandma who writes the check and tells other moms, the yearbook, and the client themselves. And as my mood changes I like different ones. #5 satisfies two masters, would be the safest business decision to "save", but is a bit "off brand" for me. #13 is a nice portrait of her and her dog. #11 and #16 are interesting. #20 is fun. Sigh.

You are very good at what you do.....love 16 and 18 don't care too much for 12

Good stuff. 5, 8, and 12 are my favorites. I guess I can see why some won't like 12, but I love it.

I've never thought of using my Holga for seniors. Would you still think it worth the effort if you couldn't develop them yourself?

ScooberJake wrote:
I've never thought of using my Holga for seniors. Would you still think it worth the effort if you couldn't develop them yourself?

Depends on how you use it. I've had color rolls developed for me. I scan them myself, which saves some bucks. Had prints ordered from color shots as well. I generally prefer color w/the holga.. it's expensive though, $12 a roll for the film + processing, so I only use it for my premium senior sessions.

#s 4, 7, 17 in this set:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1139500/0#10874971