I love this shot and the post-production look I was able to give it! |
For Christmas, one of my presents was the opportunity to take my daughter's senior pictures. She HATES getting her picture taken, and so for Christmas, she agreed to let me do that. It is now the end of March, and we finally got it together to get it done during Easter vacation. I scheduled it for late afternoon, the supposedly 'golden hours', but instead we got clouds. I figured it would make for at least some interesting lighting, so we went ahead with it. This was a learning experience for me, since I hadn't done much portrait work before. I had so much to think about.
The first location (at what we call Tooth Mountain) did not go too well. I thought it would look better than it actually did and my daughter was still not in the greatest mood about having to do this.
This was an old abandoned house with some outbuildings that were pretty ramshackle. This was a much better shooting location. The sun was a little lower and more dramatic through the clouds and the buildings were really cool-looking.
We had a lot more fun there, despite the wind, which really picked up (and of course she was wearing a dress!).
We got back and I put all the pictures on my computer, just over 200 of them. We ended up with about 50 that I liked, and 25 of those that she liked, out of everything. Some were my fault with bad exposures or poor focus, and some were her just not being happy about doing it and looking like it on camera. Such is life.
I had a lot of fun in post-production, fixing things like lighting, skin issues, color, and playing with Black & White and Sepia as well as other creative pre-sets. I could do that for hours - it appeals to the artist in me. It is one of my favorite parts of photography - playing with the pictures afterwards!
Before |
I am including a couple of before and after shots so you can see the difference. Sometimes it is very slight and other times it is quite dramatic.
After |
After |
Before |
What I learned from the whole shoot was that I need a lot more practice doing this to be totally comfortable with remembering all the things I need to remember - basic camera settings, lighting, angles, setting up shots, and making the client feel comfortable. It will help me get less bad shots and save me time in post-production! So....if you know anyone who wants some pictures taken, I can give them a really good deal while I am still learning. They will get some great pictures, and I will get some much needed practice!