senior portraits

Image captured handheld 9/3/10, 2:43pm • Canon 5D, Canon EF28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM • 90mm, f/5.6, 1/100, ISO 100 • adjustments made in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop

I finally did it! With the help of many encouragements from some of my dear friends and family members (and especially my hubby!), I finally worked up the confidence in my skills to test the waters of portrait photography. One of our friends, Liz, was willing to be my guinnea pig for senior portraits at the beginning of September.

There were a few challenges that arose (thanks a lot, wind...), but we still had a good time. Chad and I worked together to get some really nice shots of a gorgeous senior. The overcast afternoon sky made for great diffusion & we really just needed to bounce a little light to fill the shadowy areas.

About a month ago, I purchased some new photo equipment that was much needed for nice portraits: a couple of Canon speedlites, a softbox, diffusing/reflecting disc, and a couple of light stands with umbrellas.  I've been practicing with it all here and there to get the hang of using it together, which definitely helped when we shot Liz's photos. 

I used Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to retouch and edit her final selects. I learned a lot in this first session—of course I'm very critical of my own work, but still pretty happy with the results of my first go. View more of her senior photos »

The following weekend, I took some more senior portraits of our friend, Nick. I haven't had a chance to sort & edit though those yet, but stay tuned. His turned our really nice, too! Definitely liking this gig so far...