Christian Photographers Community

This is one of the shots I took in April, of my daughter, for her 10th. grade school pictures.

That's cute. 

Thanks, Misty. 

Here are so more from the same shoot.  I'm not a portrait photographer, but I do like to practice on my family and friends now and then.  We had a good time shooting these...





These are the two I actually got prints of:

Really fun session!  It just takes practice!  If you'd like some suggestions on how to make these already cute pictures even better, I have a couple of thoughts.  Since you didn't ask for CC, and we don't know each other, I didn't want to offer it right away.

You do better at portraits than you give yourself credir for.  These are really good!

What a great series of photos!  It does look like you had fun and I'm sure your daughter was very happy with results. 

Quote from: love.bears.all on June 18, 2010, 12:30:23 PM
Really fun session!  It just takes practice!  If you'd like some suggestions on how to make these already cute pictures even better, I have a couple of thoughts.  Since you didn't ask for CC, and we don't know each other, I didn't want to offer it right away.

Sure, fire away!    I do have many more from this shoot, just didn't want to bore you all with too many. 

Quote from: JudyB on June 18, 2010, 01:37:48 PM
You do better at portraits than you give yourself credir for.  These are really good!

Thank you, Judy!

Quote from: Jeanne Lee on June 18, 2010, 02:10:45 PM
What a great series of photos!  It does look like you had fun and I'm sure your daughter was very happy with results. 

Thank you, Jeanne!  Yes, she really liked them.

I must mention that my daughter does not normally wear hats like the one in the photos.  The hat she's wearing has special meaning to us all because it's a Mini Tonka that my mother-in-law (wonderful lady, by the way!) gave my husband many years back.  She died of cancer in 2001 and my daughter was in rare form in the hat that day. 

The country background was out of necessity because everything still looked like winter here, in April.  No flowers or anything, so I suggested since she had the hat, we use a country type background.  It wasn't too hard to find in the stix, where we live. LOL  It worked out fine. 

I love the country background!

A few things I would change if these were mine....

-When photographing people it is generally best to use an above camera angle.  This will thin out any subjects that have a bit of weight, and also open the eyes for better catch lights.

-Try to include all body parts when taking the shot from the side.  Missing arms and ears are common, and you'll see how much better the photo can be if you turn them just a little more toward the camera to get those back in the shot.

-Have subjects sit/stand up straight (no slouching) and girls arch their backs.  This is not to "enhance" their chest, but just to get a nice feminine curve and avoid that tummy poof.  Whether they really have one or not, it can look that way if the shirt is crinkled just so or they are slouched down in just the right way.

-Choose spots that are either completely shaded or completely sunny.  Patchy light can be distracting.

-Catch lights make a BIG difference.  Use a reflector or flash if the sky can't do it for you.

Okay, I'll stop now.  These are great shots and what a wonderful gift for your husband to honor his mother.