Yesterday, Ben and Courtney spent the day together so she could take photos for Ben’s senior portrait. Courtney has such an artistic eye and did an excellent job.
So Mary and I have narrowed it down to two. We don’t have quite the artistic eye, but I know there are quite a few photogs on the forums so we’re interested in your opinions.
All the photos can be seen here. Courtney even took a couple videos of Ben unicycling. (He did nail the hop-on-wheel just off camera )
I’m going to have to go with #2… in #1, how can I put this? The tree seems to dominate the picture. In #2, the setting is much more lovely and Ben stands out in a nice contrast to the setting.
#1 is the better of the two. #2 is kinda washed out from the sun’s refection off the water. #1 has a bit of washed out from between the branches. It seems to me she was facing the sun when she did the shots. Maybe not, but that’s the impression I get.
The tree is a bit overpowering, but if you crop it to have him in the middle, it will look alot better.
As a photographer I agree with everything said here, especially the cropping. Most portraits don’t show the whole body and the environment around them. Its about the face. This cropping still gives a sense of location but has your attention where it should be.
Thanks, Brian. You can grab the large photo at the webshots album Desktop Wallpaper: Free Trial!
If you find the “Full Size” button, it’ll give you whoppin’ big size.
I also prefer #2. #1 is dominated by the tree while #2 is dominated by Ben.
Interestingly, Ben appears to be standing straight up and balanced, but in the background you can see the horizon is tilted quite a bit. Normally I obsessively level my horizons, but in that shot I think I’d leave it as-is.
Here are some graduation shots of my neice Alexa. She can also ride a unicycle but doesn’t do it very much:
Jacquie makes the poses while I do the shots. She’s very good at setting up poses!
Too tight for what? I don’t see any underwear showing, so I assume you don’t mean some kind of distorted form of style?
I also question what’s up with all the trees and scenery in the senior portraits. Back when I was in HS it was a head shot, though usually taken at a nice studio. Assuming they appear in a yearbook at about the same size ours did, you won’t be able to recognize anyone if they’re all like those shots. But I didn’t ask with my niece, I just took the kinds of shots she wanted…
I kind of like the full body shot which would of course include Ben’s hands. I also agree that the tree has to diminish and the center has to be on Ben. Great advice. So here’s what I came up with…without the color balances and other touch-ups applied yet.
I love the beauty of the surroundings in the second photo, but I agree with Mr. Withasock that Ben is standing sort of awkwardly. I also like the fact that Ben is wearing his Senior 2008 shirt in photo #1. Very fitting.
If you look at the first post of the thread, there is a link to the rest of the photos where you’ll find shots of Ben unicycling. Also, there is a link to our Youtube sight where there are a couple videos of him unicycling during this photo shoot.
