My son is about to start his senior year in high school, which means, its time for Senior Portraits. Since I have recently been blessed with an awesome camera, I'd like to attempt some pictures on my own. Here's my ideas.. He is a big ol country boy!! Everything is camo, hunting, fishing, boots, caps, cowboy hats,etc. I want to go out in the woods near our house and shoot pictures of him in his camo clothes, take him to a local pier and get some fishing shots and maybe some on the beach. My question is, what is the best time of day for pictures in these places? I don't want him to be squinting because of the sun. In the woods, I don't want his face to be dark because of the shadows. Also, if you have suggestions on camera settings, that's be great too (I haven't quite mastered my camera settings. I still have to play around until I get a shot that looks good). If you have similar types of pictures that you have taken, feel free to post them so I can get ideas!
I would do it either on a cloudy/overcast day (so that sunlight is diffuse, not direct) or at sunset (so you get that beautiful golden light).
With sunset shots, generally NOT having the sun behind your subject is a good thing! You don't want a silhouette photo (generally xD).
To prevent shadows/darkness on the face, you could try using a fill flash - a flash that is directed towards the subject to 'fill in' the light that isn't there due to shadow. But if there is enough ambient light, you shouldn't need to do this.
In terms of settings... opening up the aperture will isolate your subject from the background, but you could also try a narrow aperture to bring his surroundings into focus, which would be good for the theme you're going for :)
@froggie0628 Awesome :) Those are both great lenses to work with! Just remember to keep your focal length longer than 50mm, as longer focal lengths are more flattering for facial features (the wider-angle you go, the more distortion occurs, and the less flattering it is).
And, make sure you take a group of shots where he is looking down or away from the lens. Sometimes you can get a great contemplative look without the stare at the camera.....@froggie0628
I'm reading an interesting book on flash that might help with the woods and shadows. It's called Understanding Flash Photography: How to Shoot Great Photographs Using Electronic Flash by Bryan Peterson. There are a lot of other books out there too, I haven't read others yet. I also read Bryan's Understanding Exposure which was super helpful. Anyway, I was just reading last night about using off camera flash for portraits outdoors to prevent shadows.
Since no one has mentioned it yet, I think the one thing to keep in mind for portraits is the eyes. Make sure they have light. I saw a set of senior portrait pics just the other day, and that was what was missing. With that in mind, I just found this nice little write up on eyes: http://paintthemoon.net/blog/2012/04/finding-light-making-eyes-pop/
@m9f9l if i recall correctly, she actually used to be a 365 member
funly enough, we dont use the same terminology in australia, so everytime i read "senior", I think old, retired people :)
As for what time to shoot, i would start about 2-3 hours before sunset. If you're shooting in the forrest, you really dont need diffuse / overcast conditions since the forrest canopy will stop direct light getting to him. The important part about starting this early :
1. So you can pick a place in the forrest and start shooting
2. Get him used to having a camera in his face
3. Have him (and you) learn which poses are good
4. Move to the beach / unshaded areas just before golden hour - lets say about 1.5 hours before sunset. This gives you time to set up, try a few things before you get to golden hour. You DO NOT want to be wandering around, setting up your camera and trying a few things as the sun starts to drop. You'll end up feeling rushed and just not in a position to catch what you want
If possible, bring a stand, a reflector and a clip to hold the reflector to the stand. You can buy these on ebay and make sure they all fit together and you can adjust them correctly.
As @m9f9l mentioned, eyes are a HUGE part about making a portrait seem lifelike. BUT - it gets less important when you zoom out. Ie if yours shooting a close up headshot or half body then absolutely make sure that catch light is there. When you're shooting full body or even someone as part of a whole forrest scape, then the catch light isnt really important, its more body lannguage and environment.
@toast Nice post. Agree on the importance heirarchy, I think it still should be paid attention to in the "less" important shots especially though, because as you say it's less important but not NOT important,LOL. I think because it's less important, sometimes people forget about it entirely as though it's not important at all. Your second pic has very nice lighting on her face. And i think for graduation pics, number 1 and 2 are more the norm than number 3.
@m9f9l@toast Thanks so much for all the wonderful advice!! I'm studying up on all the different settings and playing with the camera. @toast Your pictures are beautiful!!
@froggie0628 thankyou :)
good luck with the pics!
Also it helps if you check out some examples on the internet that you like and download them to your phone / ipad so you can refer to them as you shoot. When you get started, you may run out of ideas of how to pose him, so just keep referring back to your downloaded images to refresh your brain
I like to take a step stool to get a variety in POV, although with a male subject maybe you'll be inclined to shoot more upward than downward. I also like to shoot with a very low f stop for portraits. And I love shots with natural smiles if you can get the person to laugh. I had fun taking my niece's portraits earlier this year. Sounds like you have some good ideas - Have fun!
dont be afraid to let him naturally put his body into a pose. my best images from sessions have been when i step back and just let them do their "own thing"
@tbats22 He's a 16 year old boy. His own thing will be just standing there with his arms crossed. Lol!! I will have to tell him what to do. Thanks though!!
@tbats22 very good point made here... most people will go back into a fairly natural and relaxed looking stance - however the one exception to this is that they cannot see what they look like and if part of it looks strange from your angle.
I usually try to give rough ideas of what i want or even a "stand there" and let them do their thing. Then its my job to tell them if their hand looks funky, flyaways etc
When I photographed my 14 year old niece, I showed her with my body what I was picturing in my head and just let her interpret it how she felt most comfortable. Also giving pointers if something needed adjusted. Don't feel like you have to be so strict in how this arm looks or tilt your head more this way, it gets frustrating and takes the fun out of it. That's what I was getting at ;)
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
With sunset shots, generally NOT having the sun behind your subject is a good thing! You don't want a silhouette photo (generally xD).
To prevent shadows/darkness on the face, you could try using a fill flash - a flash that is directed towards the subject to 'fill in' the light that isn't there due to shadow. But if there is enough ambient light, you shouldn't need to do this.
In terms of settings... opening up the aperture will isolate your subject from the background, but you could also try a narrow aperture to bring his surroundings into focus, which would be good for the theme you're going for :)
funly enough, we dont use the same terminology in australia, so everytime i read "senior", I think old, retired people :)
As for what time to shoot, i would start about 2-3 hours before sunset. If you're shooting in the forrest, you really dont need diffuse / overcast conditions since the forrest canopy will stop direct light getting to him. The important part about starting this early :
1. So you can pick a place in the forrest and start shooting
2. Get him used to having a camera in his face
3. Have him (and you) learn which poses are good
4. Move to the beach / unshaded areas just before golden hour - lets say about 1.5 hours before sunset. This gives you time to set up, try a few things before you get to golden hour. You DO NOT want to be wandering around, setting up your camera and trying a few things as the sun starts to drop. You'll end up feeling rushed and just not in a position to catch what you want
If possible, bring a stand, a reflector and a clip to hold the reflector to the stand. You can buy these on ebay and make sure they all fit together and you can adjust them correctly.
As @m9f9l mentioned, eyes are a HUGE part about making a portrait seem lifelike. BUT - it gets less important when you zoom out. Ie if yours shooting a close up headshot or half body then absolutely make sure that catch light is there. When you're shooting full body or even someone as part of a whole forrest scape, then the catch light isnt really important, its more body lannguage and environment.
Ie important..
Less Important
Not important at all
Good luck!
good luck with the pics!
Also it helps if you check out some examples on the internet that you like and download them to your phone / ipad so you can refer to them as you shoot. When you get started, you may run out of ideas of how to pose him, so just keep referring back to your downloaded images to refresh your brain
I usually try to give rough ideas of what i want or even a "stand there" and let them do their thing. Then its my job to tell them if their hand looks funky, flyaways etc
When I photographed my 14 year old niece, I showed her with my body what I was picturing in my head and just let her interpret it how she felt most comfortable. Also giving pointers if something needed adjusted. Don't feel like you have to be so strict in how this arm looks or tilt your head more this way, it gets frustrating and takes the fun out of it. That's what I was getting at ;)