Tuesday Tip: Senior Portraits

Summer is rolling around and for many of you that means.... 

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR PORTRAITS! 

Since I myself am all ready booking, I thought that I would make it easy, for my clients as well as my readers to get some great tips on what to wear, bring, etc to make your senior session a success! 

Today we will be talking about ideas for you, and general Senior Portrait suggestions! If you are having portraits with me... these are my recommendations! If you are having portraits done with another photographer, you should take these as general suggestions and talk them over with your photographer. Since each person uses different tools and creativity to produce your images they may have their own rules, guidelines or suggestions.

1. Think about your location. Are you doing portraits indoors, or outdoors? 
2. Think about your style. This is a session about YOU. Your clothes, accessories and make-up matter. Let them tell your story.
3. Think about who your giving them to. Your grandmother loves you. She may not love seeing you dressed to go clubbing.

Personalize your session.

When you schedule your appointment, I will work with you to find the right locations. I have several "go to" locations, but I want your portraits to be a reflection of you.

Punk, skater, or rock and roll: Graffiti walls, brick, or more urban and edgy locations fit the bill.

More country or casual: Then we can look for a barn, hayloft, horses... railroad tracks, tall grasses and old fences. The more information you can provide during your consultation prior to scheduling the more I can offer personalized suggestions and options. 

Feminine, traditional or classic: Flowers, lakes, parks, green grass. 

BYOP: Bring your own Prop! Skateboard, football, ballet slippers, or an instrument. Bringing something that shares your interest helps tell your story!

What to bring:

Clothing Changes. I ask that you bring 3-5 clothing changes (if possible) to your session and even some extra accessories, shoes, and jackets or sweaters to change the look easily. I will then assist you on what will look best for your shape, coloring and setting.  The clothes will then be edited down to the best of the best!

When selecting outfits I recommend that you avoid large stripes and too many patterns.  Choose clothing that will best fit your shape and body style.   

You should always bring things that you love and fit your personality. However, I also suggest you bring at least one  “classic” look as well. If your a girl and you NEVER wear dresses... don't bring one. You will be uncomfortable, and it will show. Instead opt for a nice shirt or sweater, even a jacket that can be put on to create a "Grandparent friendly" or classic option! I understand that if you are a bold, trendy person it would look unnatural to put you in a baby pink button up! You can however do a solid color stylish cut shirt, in a bold color, or even a classic white with a showcase jewelry piece!

That being said I still love trendy, fashion statements... I love when someone has a unique look and really owns it. I just suggest you create a little balance, a compromise for just a few shots, and think about how your outfit will look hanging on Grandma's wall! I'm a parent, I have to say it!

 I suggest also that you think in layers, bringing along a few simple options like a jacket or sweatshirt that can be slipped on and off can help give you different looks, and be more suitable especially if your on location and walking around! 

Shoes. Don't forget different shoes... if your going formal, bring a formal pair of shoes... casual we can do bare feet, or sandals.... but be sure they are in good shape, and clean. I will do full body as well as close up images, so your feet and shoes will show!

Accessories: If your bringing jewelery, I suggest you pack it carefully so it doesn't break or get tangled. Bring it in a pouch or something that wont be lost easily! 

Makeup/Hair: For most clients I suggest you come with your hair and make-up already done. If you would like me to schedule a hair or make-up artist to do this for your prior to your session, that can be arranged however you will be responsible for covering the additional expense.  

Ladies should remember to bring extra lip gloss or lipstick, and powder to help with shine.

You should bring your own comb or brush, hairspray and small water bottle for location shoots. If we are in the studio, I will have plenty of these items around.

Tip: Verte Photography is not responsible for hair dissatisfaction since we are not familiar with your preferences, tolerances for styles, locks or strands. Retouching is done at the client's expense

WATER! While, again I have this in the studio, you should bring 2 or 3 times more water then you would normally drink when your outside. Being a model for a few hours really is HARD work, if your outside and walking around on location you will be thankful for the extra refreshment!

Bring your own Sherpa: I always recommend a friend or loved one come along with the senior. Not only can they help carry your items on location (because there is a lot!), but it sometimes helps you feel more comfortable to have a friend! They can help check your hair and remind you to fix make-up and things as well! While I am happy to help tote items, and always check your details... I do have my own pack of goods to tote and an extra set of eyes is always helpful! 

Verte Extras:

I offer my clients a portable changing room for location shoots. It isn't glamorous, or spacious but it does provide privacy in public areas. However, I do limit full clothing changes to 3 per hour session so that we don't spend all of our time changing clothes!

If you plan on adding a make-up or hair service contact me directly before you schedule your appointment. We will need to co-ordinate the services and times appropriately.

Typically an outdoor session is 1 hour, depending on location. Some locations may require more walking time to get from spot to spot. I never suggest a shoot last longer then 2 hours. I never limit my clients on a number of images. I shoot way more then you will ever need. Trust me.  

I offer all seniors a free digital yearbook image, or depending on the school 2 wallets. I ask each senior to bring, or email me the school information regarding portraits.

Verte also provides 1 free social media image, for each senior to share online with each package, and a 25% discount for a graduation session, that you can use for announcements or collage applications during the spring the following year.

 

                       

Shooting with Natural Light

Understanding Light vs. Time of Day, is a KEY factor in your photography success.

Lets start by understanding how light works. For the photographer who is shooting next to a window with available light, or even taking products outside time of day becomes OVERWHELMINGLY important. Just like when your doing portraits, the color temperature of your available light, namely the sun, is dictated by time of day. When asked recently "Is it better to use available light or natural light" I very quickly answered... it DEPENDS! A lot of natural light, isn't very "good" for shooting... say late at night or during a thunderstorm.... but the same can be said for available light (house lights) it all depends on your camera settings and understanding how to work with what you have!

As a reminder, anytime I start talking about light... you have to remember that all light has a color temperature, if you remember that from your basic science classes, or my previous posts. (light 101)

Because of the way digital camera's work, we want to find the most "white" light possible in order to produce the most accurate colors. As you can see white, is not on this simple chart, but its closest to the 5000K-5500K temp even tho it is not shown and tends to be the closest  to "noon" time sun. Regardless you will  have to work with your camera to understand your lighting scenario and produce the best results if you are working with sunlight in most cases. This means knowing roughly the temputure or color cast your lighting situation is most likly to produce.

If you shoot like I did here about 2 hours after sunrise, with direct light coming in from a rising sun, you notice the image has a warm almost yellow cast to it, t. The background on the table and leaning on the wall should be white, and the walls a light tan not yellow.

You would get the same sort of yellow orange tone if you were to shoot at sunset, which most of you see when you take images at the park or of your own families I am sure. 


The good news is, all digital camera's have a white balance mode (WB) by learning what kind of light you are shooting in and how to set your camera to see it as "white" you will be well ahead of the curve when it comes time to shoot your images. In most cases, this is set to auto and will function very well for you. You may never need to change this! However, if you find yourself with a yellow, green, blue, or reddish tone to your images (easy to spot on white) you can typically use one of the preset modes to adjust for that sort of lighting situation. The two charts below offer you some assistance listing both the common lightning scenario as well as the icon commonly used for camera manufactures so that you can simply select the one you need to adjust your white balance.

 If it doesn't fully fix the issue , there are other options... like working  with a reflector or diffuser to adjust your light in the area. If you are shooting with light that is more blue, like in the shade, use the gold part of the reflector to direct a warm glow onto your subject. If your light is too warm (like the yellow glow from above, use the white or silver, depending on how cool you need to make it. If your sun is very harsh and casting a lot of shadows... utilize a diffuser and put that between the sun and your product to reduce the amount of light hitting your product. (FYI, I find wax paper to make a great product diffuser if you are in a pinch!)

Look for a great DIY reflector post next week!

Or, use the manual WB settings to make your own adjustments. Either by guessing or by using tools such as a expodisk or white card.

www.expoimaging.com

There is even a simple way to edit for WB within some new Photoshop and editing programs, such as Lightroom, if you choose to do it in post-production... which I find harder, honestly.

To figure out what additional supplies and what studio set up will work best for you, do a test shoot during the time of day that you plan to shoot.  Set up your studio the way you think it will be utilized the best and take some test images. Now, try different WB settings, make a note of what you select on which image. Then, review them on your computer, send them to friends - unedited. Remember we want to shoot correctly (or as correctly as we can) and not count on spending time adjusting in Photoshop. Which ones turned out the closest to an image you would use? Look at what adjustments will need to be made. Can you now adjust your set up to remove shadows, or add a reflector or diffuser to provide an additional light source or to filter the bright light coming in? That will be our next step in creating a functional home studio set up for you!