Diane and I did our first senior session of the year. I first met Emma when she was 2 days old. Her father is a good friend and I have been planning this for some time. Emma is less than 3 feet tall and is self conscious of her body.Before we began she indicated that she didn't want any full-body shots. Just from the shoulders on up. We said we could do that but we also said that we could try some poses that might flatter her shape and she could choose to keep them or toss them. She indicated that she loved all of them.
Anyway, she was incredible to work with. A beautiful, natural smile and she was willing to show us some attitude even. I feel like this was our best shoot to date. I would love to know what others think.
These are great. I always try to remember (but not say out loud around those I am photographing) that you can take a good picture of someone's face, what you are really looking for is what is going on inside their head. Her comfort level with you shows through in a major way, and I liked reading the story of that connection. It sounds like you enjoyed taking these very much. You liked the process, she liked the result - You can't ask for any better!
One thing that sticks out is the color looks a bit cold, and it seems to show especially in her hands. I'm a Nikon guy, but the colors and contrast remind me of what comes through my 35 1,8- Just a bit blue-ish.
The "grunge" look seems very sharpened, and especially in this one, the hand look cold/almost grey.
Don't let my nits outweigh my earlier comments though. These are really nice!
Nice job, Greg! My fave is probably No. 2. You did a really good job of working with her body, and it's really obvious how comfortable she is with you.
A couple suggestions. You probably already did, but do a normal edit of No. 3. I like the grunge look, but she might like the normal look better. I really, really like the look you got in No. 5, but the light is coming from the wrong direction, and the shot is exposed for the light. I would either put her in the light (which is on her left, our right) or away from the light and expose for the shadows. I think a number of your shots have the natural sunlight crossing her body, and then you added a flash for fill.
Overall, tho, no doubt she's got to love these! Great job!
#2, the swing photo, really works well. You did a great job getting nice photos of this young lady.
I'm not a fan of the Grunge look or of #5. Also, the WB in #4 looks like it's leaning towards cyan, you might want to tweak it a little. I don't know if you have any longer lenses, but I think she'd benefit from being photographed with a 200 or even a 300mm lens.
Be that as it may, the connection you have with her transcends minor technical issues to create wonderful photos for her.
Thank you all for the great feedback. I thought I would share a non-grunge version of #3. (You are correct Ron, I did give her both versions.)
I'm still going through the originals. It is so much fun to edit when you have a set that you feel good about.
I am going to take a good look at the white balance before I deliver the final edits.
Thanks again for taking the time to give feedback.
great work Greg, you did an excellent job all around from taking the photos to interacting with someone and making them feel comfortable in front of the camera.
