It’s funny. When you tell someone who isn’t a photographer that you like to take senior portraits, you often get this look. You can see the wheels turning. The person is thinking, “are you going to nursing homes?” No, no, no – high school senior portraits! Oh! I suppose our senior citizens deserve good photographs, too, but that’s another genre entirely!
I had the privilege to shoot photos for a couple of high school seniors recently. They both did a great job, and both took my direction well. And they were willing to try various ideas.
That was in spite of the weather. It was dry – mostly – but colder than I’d prefer, especially for them. On the other hand, we had mostly overcast skies for both sessions. That provides us nice even light. Even light can be great, but it’s also flat. Shadows – which help define shape – fade away. So, it’s not really ideal.
However, it does provide a rather ideal foundation for us to add light. I don’t have to fight the existing light but instead build on it. For me, a key is to work in light so that it fits with the existing light, looks natural, but shapes the face the way I want. This shot of Anthony was one I particularly enjoyed. We had several with the Rochester cityscape in the background. I think it makes a cool setting for senior photos.
Something I’m trying to consider is how can we make photos that aren’t what everyone else has. Some shots become popular and are suddenly ubiquitous. Like the young man or woman standing on railroad tracks. You see it and think, “hey, that’s cool!” Then there it is again. And again. It becomes sort of cliché.
So, I look for something that at least to me looks different. Or at least different for a senior portrait. Mixed in with those are shots I think are more classic, more timeless (well, except for hair and clothes). One of the photos will end up in the student’s yearbook, and I think those should focus entirely on the student and should be a close shot that won’t be lost when printed small in the yearbook.
It’s also fun to explore some newer techniques for one or two shots. Baustin by the Plummer building tower was shot with just natural light but using several shots and tone mapping to pull out the detail. Shooting a human subject with this technique requires the subject to stay as still as possible. Baustin was terrific.
Both Anthony and Baustin are soccer players, so it was fun to take some shots of them on a soccer field. I have a couple action shots that I may show in a future blog post. Especially for Anthony’s shoot, there was a bit of mud to deal with. We had a good field for shooting, though, with a nice background to work with.
I hope they both like their photos. Hopefully, the images will carry memories of the good times in high school, what they did and who they were. Photos are all about grabbing a moment in time and carrying it forward.
