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It's been a really busy fall season, so haven't had time to post pictures. But I like to share and get feedback, so here we are. Mom is referred to me by another of my senior portraits, and while looking at my website, realizes I've also photographed a close family friend's daughter's wedding this summer. Loves my pictures, wants to hire me, but I'm more expensive than what she was thinking. Her daughter's the captain of the cheerleading team, so I offer to make her a rep and explain the benefits of the program. Done. She's sealed.
We go out the first day and unfortunately, it's cloudy. Mom really likes my shots shooting into the sun and we obviously weren't getting any. With a normal session, that's just the breaks of the game. But Sarah is a gem to work with, she's gorgeous, she's easy in front of the camera, and so I offer a second golden hour session to be scheduled when we know it's sunny. A week later, we do the session and we rock it.
13. Had to wait for the breeze to stop blowing to get some still water. The mom really likes water reflections, but they had no idea I was pulling this out. It's funny as you look behind her directly, there's a shopping center and parking lot. But because of the angle, I'm just getting the blue skies behind her. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7579/15709934845_212221f324_b.jpg
16. One of three different looks with shooting into the setting sun. I arrived a little early so was able to scout this second location. A park with a hill that gave a nice view into the setting sun. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3954/15089990454_10575283c0_b.jpg
20. Okay, I don't even know why I'm including this. She was so excited about the full moon. I asked her to lean over and pucker up her lips, and she had no idea what I was doing. As dumb as this is, this was one of their favorites. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3948/15090577893_ea79700405_b.jpg
Terrific photos. Great job with the cheer set and capturing that part of her life too.
#17 the graffiti on the bench grabs me eye, and #19 the con trail does also.
Looks like you have a great sr rep too!!
Ron, I really like your work.....very creative on all accounts! One question I have to ask about the young lady jumping in the air doing the splits in front of the stands....did she really get that high or was there magic at the computer PP? I have to ask......
coreybell wrote:
Terrific photos. Great job with the cheer set and capturing that part of her life too.
#17 the graffiti on the bench grabs me eye, and #19 the con trail does also.
Looks like you have a great sr rep too!!
Thanks, Corey! Yep, I looked and looked and looked at that grafitti. I thought about creating some grafitti that said 2015. But in the end, I stuck with what was there. It definitely does catch the eye, tho, and I'll continue to think about it.
As for 19, I hadn't really even noticed the con trail since you mentioned it. I'll probably get rid of it as it doesn't really add anything to the shot. Originally, the branches extended to her head, so her hair and the branches got mixed together. I cleaned that up without ever really noticing the con trail. Thanks for mentioning.
Herb wrote:
Ron, I really like your work.....very creative on all accounts! One question I have to ask about the young lady jumping in the air doing the splits in front of the stands....did she really get that high or was there magic at the computer PP? I have to ask......
Zero pp magic on lifting her, Herb. I'm laying on the grass to give the perception of her being higher, and if you notice, a football field slants off to the sideline, so there is an incline to the middle of the field where she's at. That helps give the impression of her being high, too. Plus, she just got up there. Good jumper!
You captured her personality well, Ron. Nicely done. #12 is my fave, followed by "cheesy" #20 (the moon is made of green cheese, after all). Locales are great; color pops; images are sharp; movement shots are frozen (good, no blur), despite the clouds (no harsh shadows).
yoshidude wrote:
I agree with Mike. I will learn from looking at these shots.
Could I ask what length of lenses you used? And how wide an aperture for both the close portrait and the wider environmentals?
Really nice.
Scott
Thanks, Scott! I generally only use two lenses during these senior portrait sessions: my 85mm f/1.4G and the 70-200 f/2.8. The close portrait of her in the cheerleader outfit is the 85, but I also used the 70-200 to get the tighter shot of her in the prom dress. On that latter shot in the prom dress, I'll shoot wide open at f/2.8 because she will be completely in focus for that shot, and then I'll get a little bokeh coming in from behind. On the cheerleader portrait, I'm shooting at f/4 so her entire face is in focus. I can shoot that shot at f/1.4 and create a razor-thin DOF but I prefer to have her whole face in focus. As I pull back, such as the shot with her sitting with the reddish flowers behind her, I'm far away enough now to shoot wide open (f/1.4) and not really lose focus on her face. So it's all relative.
