Senior Pictures

[kmarie93]

My Grandma and I went out today to take my senior pictures. Here is what we came up with, constructive criticism appreciated

Please comment here rather than my Flickr- Thanks!

Settings (majority)
Shutter: 1/4000
Exposure: -4 or -5
ISO: 200
Aperture: 1.8
Nikon D90
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
All taken today



Senior Pictures - a set on Flickr

[tyasa81]

Hi kayla... i'm assuming you are the model in the pictures? congrats.. so i'm assuming it's your grandma who took these pictures?

from what i see the pictures..

the good:
the poses are good
the scenery is great
the model is pretty

the bad:
-lighting is quite bad for a portrait i'm afraid... harsh sunlight... and i guess it can be quite seen that lighting direction/intensity/etc is hardly thought about.. you are lucky that the model can pull the weight of the photos, but it could be better.. try shooting later in the evening or earlier in the morning... it makes a huge difference
-colour inconsistency... maybe due to being in and out of shade so often... plus your main pic in your flickr set is too yellow imho...
-please rotate your horizontal and vertical pictures, no one likes a strain neck looking at those
-i checked one... 50/1.8, 1/4000 shutter iso 200... and still blown highlights... you really got strong sun wherever you shot these... aint it a hot day indeed... maybe time to get into shade? the lighting will be better as well if you do this...

sadly the more you learn about photography, the more you realise that obtaining great pictures isn't just having a good lens and camera (d90 and 50/1.8 is good) and snapping away... it most probably mean, getting up early, eating dinner late, bringing accesories (cpl, reflector, speed light, etc) and the worst part is... you most probably want an assitent to hold the stand so the wind wont blow it down...

hope that helps

[panys]

First of all I am still new to photography, but as I own a 50/1.8, just want to talk a little about the lens you use.
From what I found, for 50/1.8 it is not always the choice to use f1.8. The DOF is too shallow, so it is very hard to keep focus.
Can try different aperture. I normally use f2.2 or f2.8 for portrait.

[kmarie93]

Thanks for the tips

This was kind of a spur of the moment thing, and we knew the sun was super bright, but we thought we'd try anyway. We aren't pro's or anything, just wanted to figure out how to pose and figure out good spots to take pictures (since this is our backyard)

Tony, what do you mean by the model can pull the weight of the photos? Are you talking about proportions or what? Kinna confused

We're going out again today, it's bright outside but pretty cloudy, hopefully we'll have some better pictures to post.

Happy Monday!

[fais54]

I agree the lighting could be better, but these aren't a bad set of photos in any way! I love the scenery...is that your backyard? Beautiful.

[kmarie93]

Originally Posted by fais54

I agree the lighting could be better, but these aren't a bad set of photos in any way! I love the scenery...is that your backyard? Beautiful.

Thank you very much! I know the lighting could be better, it was a spur of the moment thing. We went out again today, it's overcast and they turned out better. We were just trying to get an idea of what looked good the first time.

Yup, that's our backyard (well, not mine, my Grandma's- She's the photographer )

[yulchick]

hehe, thats one big backyard! I think you did good for the shoot in such sunny weather, sure helps that you'r so pretty! Keep smiling in those pictures

[kmarie93]

My Grandma and I went back outisde today and tried taking more pictures, I think we did better!

Again, thanks for the advice and tips. Go look at the new ones and tell us what you think :P

The link is the same as above, we just added on to the set

[tyasa81]

hi again kayla... you have a nice big backyard...

i think you can tell by the lighting that it's much softer now due to being overcast... it's much nicer than day 1 pics obviously... but you still can do better if you want... again... try the golden hours (early in the morning/ late in the evening) so the sun is lower in the sky... right now you still have some racoon eyes (eyes being dark circles) due to the sun being so high up in the sky... look at day2#6 and 7... they dont have racoon eyes because you are looking up into the sky... now compare that to day 2#9 which have very obvious racoon eyes... if the sun is lower, you can get pict like #6/7 without having to look up into the sky...

composition wise... watch where you crop... day 2#10 will look better if the bottom isn't so closely cropped.. most of the pic is still a little too centered... you have very nice scenery.. .why dont you use some of it to complement the portrait? try leading lines, arches (from branches) and doorways for a frame... etc etc.. you have lots of time so you can experiment more

and about the weight of the photos thing... i'm sorry but i'm not a native english speaker... i'll try to explain here... most of the photos from day #1: i can see lots of distraction, the lighting being the most obvious, etc... in most pictures this will result in a somewhat sub par viewing experience... but then, your different poses, lovely smile, looking pretty, being obviously comfortable in front of a camera and seems like having lots of fun, helps lift the viewing experience from sub par quality to a better level... hence why i said, most of the weight (the enjoyment value) of viewing the pics from day #1 is mostly being carried by the model... the distractions/errors are lessened in a sense...

please note... even though i offer suggestions for improvements, doesn't mean that i dont find the photos enjoyable to view... they are esp day 2... but since you ask for critique, there is more room for improvement...

if you want more detailed critique on a particular photo, try putting your most favourite photo here, then i'm sure you'll get much more varied replies from more people...

hope that helps