I was just asked by a friend of mine to do his senior pictures. I have never photographed someone professionally before. Just any tips or advice would be helpful, thanks!
Seniors can be really easy or really difficult, but mostly it is just about getting them to relax in front of your camera. Probably the worst thing you can do is to try to show that you relate to them. Either you do, or you don't, but you need to be yourself - they are EXPERTS at detecting fakers. And believe me when I say it doesn't matter if you're only a year or two older than they are. Conversation is key, more than amazing photography skills, so that they will show some of who they are in your photographs. Build their confidence by telling them that they make your job easy, show them the back of your camera often (if shooting digital) so that they relax into it more when they see that you're making them look good, and definitely don't show any kind of frustration with anything, or it may shatter their confidence and ruin the rest of the shoot.
A basic posing guide is helpful if you're not experienced with posing. They will rely a LOT on you to tell them what to do, and if you just tell them to relax they will probably look awkward. If you're lucky to have a really confident one, this may not be as much of an issue, but most of them are at least a little insecure. You need to make up for it by being confident yourself (or at least, seeming as though you are).
Look for good light and clean backgrounds. If you're shooting them alone (as in, single person subject) use shallow DOF a lot - you want them to be the focus of the shot in most of your frames, without any attention going to the backgrounds. Of course, you'll want a few environmental shots too, but those are a minimum and while they might be your favourites at the end of the day, they probably won't sell many prints like the close-ups will. Go for cowboy and close-up framing for the most-part, and don't be afraid to frame really tight if that's what you like to do normally.
Lastly, go with what they like. If they like grassy fields, go for that. If they like grunge, look for textures and brick walls and broken fences. Get them to bring some things (at least one thing) that is "them" - if they play baseball, get them to bring a baseball shirt and a ball or bat, if they play guitar get them to bring it (or at least the case), and since you know your client this should be easy done. If they smile a lot, great, but if they don't, well, don't tell them to - I rarely ask someone to smile, but they usually give me a few great smiles just because of conversation (and if they don't, it doesn't matter, at least for my style of photography).
Above all, I suggest sticking to your style. Not only will the shots be better, but you'll be more relaxed if you're not trying to emulate someone else's style.
Well, that's how I shoot, and I'm sure others will have other ideas (some likely totally opposite to mine), but if there's something in there that might help, great.
@lachapaudie They are just photos students get done their senior year to give to friends and family. It might be a US thing I'm really not sure. What country do you live in?
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Don't go below 1/125th shutter speed
Don't go below f5.6 so everything is in focus
And most of all make sure you white balance is correct
Asside from that, have fun :)
Seniors can be really easy or really difficult, but mostly it is just about getting them to relax in front of your camera. Probably the worst thing you can do is to try to show that you relate to them. Either you do, or you don't, but you need to be yourself - they are EXPERTS at detecting fakers. And believe me when I say it doesn't matter if you're only a year or two older than they are. Conversation is key, more than amazing photography skills, so that they will show some of who they are in your photographs. Build their confidence by telling them that they make your job easy, show them the back of your camera often (if shooting digital) so that they relax into it more when they see that you're making them look good, and definitely don't show any kind of frustration with anything, or it may shatter their confidence and ruin the rest of the shoot.
A basic posing guide is helpful if you're not experienced with posing. They will rely a LOT on you to tell them what to do, and if you just tell them to relax they will probably look awkward. If you're lucky to have a really confident one, this may not be as much of an issue, but most of them are at least a little insecure. You need to make up for it by being confident yourself (or at least, seeming as though you are).
Look for good light and clean backgrounds. If you're shooting them alone (as in, single person subject) use shallow DOF a lot - you want them to be the focus of the shot in most of your frames, without any attention going to the backgrounds. Of course, you'll want a few environmental shots too, but those are a minimum and while they might be your favourites at the end of the day, they probably won't sell many prints like the close-ups will. Go for cowboy and close-up framing for the most-part, and don't be afraid to frame really tight if that's what you like to do normally.
Lastly, go with what they like. If they like grassy fields, go for that. If they like grunge, look for textures and brick walls and broken fences. Get them to bring some things (at least one thing) that is "them" - if they play baseball, get them to bring a baseball shirt and a ball or bat, if they play guitar get them to bring it (or at least the case), and since you know your client this should be easy done. If they smile a lot, great, but if they don't, well, don't tell them to - I rarely ask someone to smile, but they usually give me a few great smiles just because of conversation (and if they don't, it doesn't matter, at least for my style of photography).
Above all, I suggest sticking to your style. Not only will the shots be better, but you'll be more relaxed if you're not trying to emulate someone else's style.
Well, that's how I shoot, and I'm sure others will have other ideas (some likely totally opposite to mine), but if there's something in there that might help, great.
Good luck!