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Question: Advice/Tips for senior pictures !?
A friend of mine wants me to take her senior pics and i've agreed (because she doesn't want to go to a professional photographer ) so we did some practice shots and they turned out not -too great !. My question is , What would be the best time to take them !? What would be the best type of background !? A plain background or should we go somewhere nature-y and take them !. The shots we tried were outdoors by some Daisy's somewhere around 6 o'clock and i don't know , but something was missing from that shot !. I would post it up but my friend told me not to post them up anywhere !.
Thank you :) Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Hello Anna:
This is going to be a good experience for your and your friend and you will have a good time!. Keep in mind, these are pictures that she will look at from time to time until she is an old lady!.!.!. so you want the pictures to reflect who she is now at a very important time of her life!.!.!. you want them to be of a memorable and wonderful time in her youth!.
Before the shoot, you and she should just get together to talk about what things have been important to her!. Did she have a special outfit or costume that she wore to an occasion!? What about props!? Does she dance!? Play an instrument!? Was she a cheerleader!? These things should be incorporated into the photos!.
I have taken senior pictures in the afternoon and in the morning!. I like to go to a park or garden where the colors accentuate the skin and eyes!. I get pictures of seniors with their school jackets, in their band uniforms, with their instruments, with favorite stuffed animals!. I ask the kids to bring three or four of their favorite outfits!.!.!. and these can be dressy or casual!. I have even taken photos with the seniors and their GF or BF at the time!.
Just remember!.!.!.!. this shoot is not about you!.!.!. it is all about your friend!.
About the actual photos!.!.!.!. Your camera is absolutely fine!.!. very nice one really and it should take great photos!. One thing you want to do, for perfect pics, is to select the correct WB (white balance) for the lighting conditions and you might have to change from time to time!.
Set your ISO at 200 which should be fine!. You are going to be taking photos of your subject!.!.!. so don't put in more of the background than needed!. Try to crop the subject nicely in the camera!. If you have a laptop, it would be ideal to bring it and set it up so that every 10-20 pictures you can look at them and decide if everything is going well, or if you have to make some adjustments!. Be sure and allow enough time so that you and she are not rushed!.!.!. as the pictures will reflect that!.
So!.!. everyone here has some really good suggestions!.!.!. and these were mine!. Hope they are going to help you get some good photos and make your friend happy!.
Thanks for reading :))Www@QuestionHome@Com
flash, lighting, bg,
bg needs to be back lit or coloured so its not negitive, if its to noisy its not good either!.
if you set your shutter for ambient light use your f/stop and flash as key/fill,
i would shoot change of light, tripod, expose for the ambient light with a slowish shutter and use flash as key and or fill, soft fill will give nive dimension to the image, some shadow is needed to aviod flatness,
so flash, flashs, or flash and reflector/s
try youtube for some techs and bg etc tutorials
aWww@QuestionHome@Com
Does your friend have any interests or hobbies- use some props to bring that aspect of the personality out!. For outdoors, early morning or twilight at the local park or some place your friend likes to go!. If you have to take them mid-day- go some place shady and use fill flash!. Www@QuestionHome@Com
Go look at the last dozen images uploaded by Pooky!. Look at his settings and try a few like this!. http://www!.flickr!.com/photos/little_pook!.!.!.
Or, how about one of your famous "up-flower" pictures with your friend behind the flowers!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Well try and bring your friends personality out!. I would go to a place that she picks (lake, railroad tracks!.!.!.) and do the shots 2 hours before sunset!!Www@QuestionHome@Com
doesn't seem to hard a task!.!.
you say you're having trouble with the composition of your shots!. The most important job of the photographer is to properly compose the shot to make it looks a best as he/she can!. If i were taking a picture of a graduate, i would take the pictures:
a) On the beach, with a sunset, oh, the shots you can get with the sun settings on the shore, it's absolutely beautiful!. Although it's not in relation to school, it's look really nice in your shot!. It'll look really nice like how photographers do shots on the beach!.
b) if you couldn't get on the beach, just be creative with your shots, just try to visualize, shoot where it's sunny, bright, and there's a really nice background, with loads of colors!. You can do this any time of the day, but i like sunset photography best with portraits, and you can use the flash to manipulate the colors in the background!.
i'd love to help you with your shots, feel free to email me, and i can give you some more suggestions!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com
Ohhhkay, for my friend's Senior picture, we went to a small field behind our church and there were some tallish wheat looking plants, so she went into the middle of the field and had the photographer take pictures of her, at sunset, well, like the person above me, two hours bnefore when you get the glow!.
The train tracks would work as well, having her pose on them, or thebeach would be fun too, spashing in the water or laying in the sand!.
You could also do it in her car, that would be fun, or at a lake, with her dog, anything really, as long as i's special for her!.Whatever she wants is key!.You should go somewhere like Macy's to get her makeup and hair professionally done if you are gong to take the pictures unprofessionally though!.And remember, a digital camera won't have the same results as a high quality camera meant for professionaly photographs!.
And don't forget, there is always re-editing the pictures if it's just a small bump or something stopping an otherwise perfect pictureWww@QuestionHome@Com