Debutante days

[wilgk]

My young friend Aaron, (whom I have mentioned here previously, with reference to his sunrise series) have been busy with some Debutante groups recently.

We work in tandem, I instruct the group to watch me and I give them direct instructions, taking group images with a wider angle aspect. Meanwhile Aaron is shooting with a 70-200 getting candid 'not looking at the lens' shots.

We find this works well and gives the young people (and their parents!) a nice range of images.
Other times we split up and take either the Boys or the girls and just work with them as we choose, no set rules of focal length choice etc.

Here are a few of my images from our joint Debutante Ball group work.

Thank you for any viewing and any comments you have time to make.

This group was the most couples we have ever worked with at once!










A more manageable sized group for both days, on this weekend.







And we did actually go to the Ball as well!

[Mike Buckley]

Such a nice set, Kay! I especially like that every photo displays something about the subjects' emotions so much more than the typical shot of people simply smiling toward the camera.

[FootLoose]

Good set, Kay. I like the light on the gowns in the 4th. That is well captured. And again, the light in the 7th. Wonder what they are all looking at.

[Minerva]

Gorgeous. nicely composed and superb atmosphere. Well done Kay.

[purplehaze]

Great series, Kay. I agree, these show so much more life than the standard, posed portraits. Well done.

[rpcrowe]

Nice selection, Kay... Lovely young ladies... I cannot believe it but, when I visited Australia, I would have been interested in ladies of this age and furthermore, ladies of this age might have been interested in me Talk about feeling old It pains me to realize that was over fifty years ago...

[dje]

Very well done Kay, you have this sort of thing down to a fine art now!

Dave

[Shadowman]

Nice series, looked like a fun event to capture.

[bje07]

Nice series, difficult to manage so much people !!!

[wilgk]

Such a nice set, Kay! I especially like that every photo displays something about the subjects' emotions so much more than the typical shot of people simply smiling toward the camera.

Thanks Mike, much appreciated.

[wilgk]

Good set, Kay. I like the light on the gowns in the 4th. That is well captured. And again, the light in the 7th. Wonder what they are all looking at.

Thanks Greg, the weather was dodgy that day, & yes I see what you mean, not sure maybe comparing shoes ?

[wilgk]

Gorgeous. nicely composed and superb atmosphere. Well done Kay.

Thank you Carol.

[wilgk]

Great series, Kay. I agree, these show so much more life than the standard, posed portraits. Well done.

Thank you Janis, we have fun with them, I think that helps.

[wilgk]

Nice selection, Kay... Lovely young ladies... I cannot believe it but, when I visited Australia, I would have been interested in ladies of this age and furthermore, ladies of this age might have been interested in me Talk about feeling old It pains me to realize that was over fifty years ago...

Ah Richard, never mind, we are all of us in the same boat

[wilgk]

Very well done Kay, you have this sort of thing down to a fine art now!

Dave

Thanks Dave, my niche market

[wilgk]

Thanks John, yes it is always fun.
Thanks Jean, yes I was kept very busy on my toes with the really big group.

[William W]

. . . busy with some Debutante groups recently. . . I give them direct instructions, taking group images with a wider angle aspect. . . Thank you for any viewing and any comments you have time to make.

Interesting Assignment.
Not many Debuts nowadays.
Nice idea using the wide. That is an ambitious task, especially with a big group and the direction of it.

I am more critical of Portraiture made with a Wide Lens than any other style of Portraiture: you asked for feedback so receive these few comments as a challenge for you and (IMO) such will forward your style and the impact of your W/A Portraiture.

You have an habit of tilting your camera downwards.
This habit is evidenced in Image #1 and Image #4
- in #1 the splaying outward of the vertical architecture at the edge
- in #4 the distortions of the heads; shoulders; arms (and bottoms) of people at the end of the horseshoe

This habit is usually a result of managing the COMPOSITION, to the detriment of the TECHNICAL aspects of the image.

There are a few easy ways to overcome this habit and still maintain the COMPOSITION that you want. Firstly you can move farther back; secondly you can drop your Camera Viewpoint; thirdly you can correct in Post Production.

*

Shooting into the Sun – WITHOUT Flash as Fill

In image #1 EXIF reveals the Flash Fired – if that was intentional, then (assuming an Hotshoe mounted Flash) there is no way possible that the Flash had enough power to fill those faces at F/7.1 and at that Subject Distance. The image posted is very low resolution so this is general advice:

EXIF reveals the shot was pulled at: F/7.1 @ 1/640s @ ISO200.

That’s F/11 @ 1/250 @ ISO200 . . . i.e. close to the ‘correct’ exposure for a Scene at about EV = 14.

If your time and date stamp is correct, then at 1530hrs in Melbourne shooting into an afternoon sky in Winter, you could easily have pushed a 5D MkIII at least One Stop, probably 1½ Stops and recovered the Highlights in Post.

Even if you blew some unrecoverable highlights in the white areas of the clouds, it would be easy to clone those small areas: and on the upside you’d have a really close approximation to the 'correct exposure for skin tones' on all the boy’s faces.

*

I am curious - on what SPOT did you take your Light Meter Reading?

WW

[madcrow]

Great series, good WB and sharp a very well done.

[William W]

Visuals for you reference. The originals are on the top.-

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Here is quick redo of #1 correcting the splayed verticals at the edge of the scene:



*

Here is a quick redo of Image #4, correcting the distortion - (interpretation referenced the upper body physicality of the two girls and two boys on the left and right ends of the horseshoe) also “added a little Fill Light” to mimic Flash Fill which was not obviously apparent:



WW

(Kay - if you want to down load these two for your reference, please do so quickly: there are problems with the server holding them and they will likely disappear and in any case I clear that server monthly)

[wilgk]

Thank you so much Bill, firstly for the detailed advice and suggestions & then going to the trouble of showing me what you mean with an example.
This is really terrific!
I will try and download now.

I can really see easily what you mean in the first example, it's not quite as obvious in the next pair.
With reference to the spot metre 'spot' reading, I guess I would have tried for a skin tone - as opposed to a black suit or white dress.
Other than that I could have tried for a neutral gray area even if not in the scene, at the least under the same lighting conditions.
Or as another alternative, someone once told me green grass is pretty much the same exposure setting as neutral gray - no idea who told me or when that was!
Thank you again, I will take some time now to read over the advice.