- This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 4 days, 5 hours ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hello everybody! One of my friends is a high school senior this year, and she would like me to take her senior photos. This is new for me as I have never done senior photos. I know that senior photos is a special part of your senior year, so I want her to be especially pleased with the outcome of the photoshoot. If anyone has any suggestions on poses, camera settings, websites or blogs that you have found useful, or just tidbits that you have learned from past photoshoots please let me know! Any and all info would be appreciated. We are both looking forward to this experience! Thankyou all!
-Joanna
P.S. we are planning on doing an outdoor sessionHey @joannapotter !
I assume this is your first portrait shoot (so congrats!). I think you’ll have a lot of fun.A huge part of getting good portraits is good lighting. If you’re doing this outdoors, you’ve got two options: shoot within an hour of sunset or sunrise (golden hour!) or shoot whenever you’d like when it is overcast. If you’re going the golden hour route, I really like backlighting my subjects by having them face away from the sun. It’s a good way to get an airy look to your pics and it can look quite good. If you’re shooting when it is overcast, there will be less light, but it will fall evenly on your subject without harsh shadows. If it’s bright and sunny outside and it’s during the middle of the day, either reschedule your shoot or find some even shade.
Camera settings depend on what you’re going for. When I’m shooting portraits, I like to use a wide aperture (think f/2.8 or however wide open your lens will allow) and a fast shutter speed to avoid any motion blur. If you’re shooting headshots, focal lengths around 85mm look very nice (so bring your telephoto lens if you’ve got one!). I think the last time I shot senior portraits, I was using my 50mm f/1.8 a whole bunch, which would be another good choice, especially for head-and-shoulders or half-body shots. Don’t be afraid to change it up and try different lenses for different poses!
I find posing to be one of the hardest things to do, and usually I find that looking at other photographer’s work can give me ideas. I know Lenspiration does have a posing database if you have a paid account (https://www.lenspiration.com/proposing/). Looking up “senior portraits” on the Internet would probably yield some results that would not be Lenspiration-appropriate… but I’ve found that looking up things like “family photo posing” or “how to photograph your kids” tends to yield better results (I really like clickitupanotch.com but it’s more geared towards photographing small kids). You really want your subject to look as natural as possible. Giving her something to sit on or to lean against can go a long way! Try a lot of different poses and shots and get creative. Maybe try to incorporate her interests and activities too.
Have a few jokes ready or do something else (or have her do or say something odd) to make her laugh… you can get some really genuine smiles this way.
Editing goes a long way in giving photos that extra pop.
Good luck to you!
—Logan
Hi Logan! Thank you for the tips, I really appreciate it. I have done a couple of portrait photo shoots, but your advice is helpful to keep in mind. We are already planning on doing an outdoor photo shoot, and are aiming for golden hour (because of the great lighting) if possible.
The camera setting tips are helpful, since I have trouble consistently getting the subject tack sharp while having nice background blurr. Thank you! I just completed Mr. Staddon’s Mastering Composition course, and that was helpful. I have a Nikon DSLR 5600 if that helps for camera settings, however I only have one lens, the NIKKOR 18-55mm.
As far as posing goes I regularly look through the Lenspiration pro posing database for new ideas. I did come across clickitupanotch.com while looking for posing ideas… good to know that it is an appropriate site. I agree, that natural poses look better.
Do you have a certain editing program that you like to use? I don’t currently use one, so it would be nice to know what others have found to work for them. I have noticed that a light editing job can really improve a photo.
Thanks so much for your input!!! I am really excited for this new opportunity.
-Joanna
I find posing to be one of the hardest things to do, and usually I find that looking at other photographer’s work can give me ideas.
Another place you can go to get ideas is lenspiration.photos.
James’ wedding portfolio and, to a lesser extent, his People and Places portfolio could give you some inspiration.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.