p.1 #1 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
My long-time friend and business partner has four children - all daughters. The youngest, now a senior in high school, has always been a complete "daddy's girl," always eager to go with him on hunting trips, which is her greatest passion.
When she asked me to shoot senior photos for her, I told her I really wanted to try to capture the real Taylor - who is both a beautiful young lady, and quite the badass hunter. She was instantly very excited about what we might be able to capture.
We finally were able to get some time after school yesterday afternoon, and the weather was pretty cooperative, though a little breezy. We found a nearby spot that seemed like it might work well, and had a really fun shoot. My goal was to give her a nice variety of poses and looks. Here are some of the images we were able to produce. Feedback always welcome.
p.1 #3 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
Really like these as well. I can't think of any thing to pick on except in #10 the pose makes her look "pigeon toed". Otherwise a great set.
As a father of two daughters I can really appreciate these. I think that the strongest element of this set of images is that you have perfectly captured the quiet and humble confidence of this young lady. She looks great in every shot.
p.1 #4 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
I'm generally not a fan of the typical senior shots that try to capture the personality of the senior by including one of their activities as a prop because usually it just looks silly because the prop is totally out of place (ie. Violin while the person is sitting on a bridge, or basketball while the person is wearing a suit.) However, your shots are an exception. By putting her in the proper element (woods) and having her wear clothing to match, these photos look real. I like most of these shots very much with a few minor quibbles (the white tree branch she is standing on is distracting for example.) Nice work.
p.1 #6 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
9, 11, 17 FTW. Nice shots!
The only one I really dislike is #6 - that log really got cooked and is a huge distraction.
#19 that scope is a big distraction with the black hole so prominent.
PS: In #17 it looks like the focus *just* missed the eyes. A minor nit.
p.1 #7 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
Thanks so much for the nice compliments, I really appreciate it! Yes, I was really hoping the one with the log (#6) would work out better, but the sun was really blasting the light, smooth surface of the log, and she was in a dark spot and there was no way for me to get enough light on her to compensate.
p.1 #9 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
Great shots, Brian. I'm sure she's quite pleased with the results as well. These work well and she looks quite comfortable as you captured her in her natural environment.
p.1 #12 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
photolovers wrote:
Nice set but some pictures I think a bit soft
I think they all look a little bit soft.
On the other hand I think you did a great job capturing her personality......at least it seems so. If I were her and her family I would be very pleased with these.
p.1 #13 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
Beautiful set! I think the slight softness (may be related to the upload compression, and not your original images) creates a really nice overall character to these images, especially given the subject matter. I am sure the family is ecstatic with these!
p.1 #14 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
Thanks very much! Yes, the young lady and her family are really thrilled with them. Her mom sent me a nice text yesterday saying they were "amazing and beautiful" - but that they made her cry, because her little girl was all grown up!
p.1 #15 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
I think you did a really nice job with the lighting, which is definitely the hardest part. There are several shots that you took wide open that IMO do not have enough depth of field and should have been stopped down - #1 is especially noticeable. A soft background is great but not at the expense of having an eye soft, etc. Nice work overall though!
p.1 #16 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
I think you did a great job, and I agree that occasionally props look a bit silly and out of place, but you've managed that very well here.
On the softness of the images, it appears that either the lens you have is a bit soft at its max aperture of f/1.8, or that you might need to check you AFMA. It looks like the shots are front focussed on quite a lot of occasions. Look into that.
p.1 #18 · My First Senior Session - Taylor the Huntress
Thanks for the feedback. Another learning experience for sure. I didn't recall shooting quite that wide open so much during the shoot, but apparently I did. I'll be more conscientious of it next time.
She was instantly very excited about what we might be able to capture.