Your Opinions on a Photoshoot, Please. (page 2)

SixofNine

Thanks for all the great feedback, both pos and neg. As with any kind of "art", it's subjective and I know that some people will love a certain style that others will either dislike or be neutral about.

I'll respond individually later.

At this point, I'll say that the "unique technique" found in these photos, is simply a device that gets the child (or animal, or actor, or any subject) to give all their expressions directly to the camera lens. The thing that is different about this is that you would never get that many pics of a kid looking directly at the lens w/o such a device. I think (hope?) that parents will see real value in this, as it kind of captures the soul of their kid in a way that a picture of a kid emoting with their eyes away from the lens does not.

LouBelle

The pics don't do anything for me, no mood, no setting. Pretty much the same look, plus taken too close, no room to 'breathe' around the child. I wouldn't be impressed if a professional handed me those pics. Need to be more creative, add colour, props, more natural in order to capture the essence of the child. Black & white, sepia, so much to play with.

LouBelle

Oh there was black and white.

Vinny

If your print prices include the photo shoot then I guess that might work. But if they don't buy any photos you are out of luck. If you are charging a fee in addition to those print prices, then IMO, your print prices are too high. People can buy 4x6 photos for .13 cents today at Costco or Walmart. You are charging $10 for one 4x6. My opinion would be to charge a sitting fee and adjust your prices so that you can sell more of the prints themselves.

The actual photos themselves have some good ones. But you need much more variety than what's presented, if you hope to sell a large quantity. Full body shots, props, different outfits and more. Even with the head shots, which is about all you have right now, you should change up on the aperture settings to create a variety of depth of field. Sharp facial features with blurred hair and background can have a really strong effect. Try using some softening filters, warming filters as well to give the one buying more selection as well as to show off your photographic skills.

Here are some truly outstanding portraits that you can check out for ideas.

http://photo.net/gallery/photocritique/filter?period=5000&rank_by=avg&category=Portraits&store_prefs_p=1&shown_tab=0&start_index=0&page=1

http://www.usefilm.com/Pictures.asp?S=0&CY=&CN=&ID=0&BIP=&A=3&B=&C=15&D=&P1=1&F=&imageField.x=34&imageField.y=12

I'd also suggest posting some of your own photos on those sites as well and ask for honest critique.

I am a landscape photographer, but have learned more from using sites like those than from anything else.

Happy Shooting!

Vinny

SixofNine

Here are some truly outstanding portraits that you can check out for ideas.

http://photo.net/gallery/photocritique/filter?period=5000&rank_by=avg&category=Portraits&store_prefs_p=1&shown_tab=0&start_index=0&page=1

http://www.usefilm.com/Pictures.asp?S=0&CY=&CN=&ID=0&BIP=&A=3&B=&C=15&D=&P1=1&F=&imageField.x=34&imageField.y=12

Vinny, I so totally agree. Check this out from your link:

I couldn't get the mom to let me give the girl a ciggy or a tattoo for the life of me. Prudish wench, sheesh.

Vinny

"I couldn't get the mom to let me give the girl a ciggy or a tattoo for the life of me. Prudish wench, sheesh. "

**** Well, looks like you got some sales skills yet to work on too.

: )

SixofNine

Right?

Vinny

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3844569

Here is a pretty good example of how you can soften an image as well as adjust the lighting.

Vinny

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7552379

And this is a good example how adjusting your aperture can strengthen a photo. By using a larger aperture (smaller number), notice how the face is tack sharp, but his feet in the background are not. Which accentuates the most important part of the portrait and improves the image overall.

Just my .02...

JWdaughter

The last b/w was the best. Really beautiful.

I am not a huge photo purchaser, but my younger sister is, and she has two kids that age. She is really into the artistic kind of shots, with the kids doing something(real) and getting them in a cute moment. That seems to be a trend with a lot of the photos I see these days. A lot of those looked like a very cute child who is 'a natural' getting photographed by a very 'workmanlike' photographer. The background and placement of the child in the picture seemed kind of school photo-like, though the poses often did not come across that way.

Parents and grandparents would love them because the child looks like she is really smiling, really happy-but the natural-ish poses against the very neutral background seems a bit off. To me it seems like it needs to be one or the other-if you know what I mean.

Personally, I am glad if I have actually been given the paperwork so that I know a photo will be taken on the day, and if the child manages to get to photo time without spilling his chocolate milk on his shirt. My expectations are not really high, but that is what struck me about the pictures you shared.

Now I am going to read everyone elses opinions and hope they were honest too, otherwise I will feel like a schmuck!

Your Opinions on a Photoshoot, Please.

Share this