FullmoonRoses Loc: western UP of Michigan

Some advice, please. My grandson and a friend of the family are graduating from high school next year and have asked me to take granduation pictures of them. Neither has the money for formal pictures. Now, I can take pictures of animals, the countryside and casual pictures of people. But formal ones of kids!! Any suggestions as to good places, camera settings, lighting, etc?

dasloaf

what equipment do you have? camera, lens, etc?

Frank T Loc: New York, NY

Well you're actually very lucky they've given you plenty of time to practice. With high school grads, the senior portraits are more than just a formal portrait, they like them to be a reflection of who they are. The actual portrait in the gown and cap are pretty straight forward and you can look at lighting setups on a lot of websites. KelbyTraining.com has three excellent tutorials on senior portraits and you can join for a month, 12 months or whatever. Take a look at the introductory videos, they'll give you a good idea of what they cover.
Good Luck.

joe west Loc: Taylor, Michigan

go to a park, where there's a waterfall, small pond,you can take alot of nice pic's there....

eglide02 Loc: Titletown USA

have an old car or truck for a background, railroad bed, graffitti on a train car , depends on where in the UP you are old mine or equipment, even the taconite docks in Marquette would be a great background.

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

Just google senior portrait photography and you'll find loads of site. All you have to do is try and copy the poses your grandson likes, have them tell you what they want as you look through the examples.

If you have to ask questions here like you have, I doubt you will have the expertise to recreate the lighting used in these hi-end photo examples (no disrespect meant to you by the way). It is just that if you were at the expertise level to create such images you would not be on here asking such questions.

Lighting, either in a studio or outdoors for such images, requires a certain skill level and knowledge and that is why good senior photographers demand the higher pricing you will see. Then there is the post processing of course, to create the really great grunge looks or other special effect you may see and there is another reason why people have to pay what they do for this caliber of photographer.

I would suggest looking at a few good web sites showing great senior photography, printing out the ones the boys like and then going out and trying to duplicate what you see and have them practice the poses in the mirror as well.

Afterwards, you might find that your grandson may know someone in school who happens to be a little photoshop expert and he can let that person have a go at creating some magic on a few shots that came out particularly well.

Photoman74 Loc: Conroe Tx

:thumbup: Do your best, ask what they want, cass or form.

PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

A number of people have hired me to do graduation pictures because they want to replace the studio look with outdoor scenes. An attractive park, possible with a fountain might be a good place. If anyone wants the traditional studio look, I shoot them on a blue screen, then create and affix the background in Photoshop. Lastly, it is a good idea to encourage your client or grandson to be prepared for a few wardrobe changes. At least a few of the shots should be in the graduation robe and hat.

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

There is a great site with lots of info for you at:

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/our-best-portrait-photography-tutorials-of-2011

Good luck :thumbup:

LEIGHANNE

I took my son grad pictures and had never done it before and they turned out great. we took them outside . at several locations. park by lake we had ones with wooden fence . brick wall .old rustic buildings . took some on fishing dock.lake in the background. and my best advice is to do it on a overcast day. no shadows or glare from sun or squinty eyes. good luck.

Bunny-Jean Loc: Wisconsin

Please have them printed at a quality lab, my son graduated 2002, daughter 2004, another son in 2008, each has their photo in a collage (spelling???) in the hall of the school with their classmates for the year they graduated. Some kids could not afford pro photographer, and had their photos done by non pros.....Pictures were printed cheaply and now faded....so sad, pics looked good when they were assembled.....

dasloaf

Since I don't know what type of equipment you have and everybody is telling you that setting makes the picture, the lens can make or break or picture. I use a rental lens from Lens giant for my 7d. It is a 24-70mm f2.8 and it is awesome for portraits.
As for printing, Meridian Pro is the best of those I have tried. Wherever the pictures are taken, you need the right equipment and pro printing outfit!

FullmoonRoses Loc: western UP of Michigan

Thank you to everyone for the advice. No, I'm not a professional and that is why I asked on here. I knew I would get some great advice. I never thought of having a professional print them, thought I'd do it on my photo Kodak printer, but now am having seconds thoughts about that. As for my camera, I have a Fujifilm Finepix S,18X wide with just the on-camera lens with zoom. It has both manual and auto settings for a lot of scenes and lighting. I'll try several different ones. There are quite a few outdoor settings I've been thinking of: a waterfall near here, lots of lakes and wooded areas, my grandson with his first car, etc. I'll just have them think of what they might want. Thank you all again for all the great advice and for taking the time to answer my questions. As always this is the greatest site and people to talk to about photography!!