Sax player (images added)

[texkam]

A couple from a set.
1.
2.

[groovyone]

Nice. Great job controlling the glare off the sax.

[Phanee]

Nice. Like the second one.

[danchez]

maybe a bit more fill light, you are losing a lot of detail in the pants and the shirt in the first shot. It's a little better in the 2nd, but I still think you could brighten it up a little.

[arich]

I like #2, I would also use more fill and ease off the vignette some.

[tml]

#2 is more natural. However, I would like to see more dramatic light/shadow, more "emotional" expression instead of "posing." I love taking photos of performing musicians, especially, when they are in the "zone."

[texxter]

I love photographing musicians and artists in general, they make great subjects - glad you see your work with this player. I like the ideas, especially #2, where the aggressive helps convey energy and passion for music. The background is not my most favorite part of the image - a pure white or a medium gray, without vignetting, may simplify the image. Also, on the first one, his size and clothes dominate the more interesting areas of the image, his face/expression and the sax. A composition that reduces how much frame space his body occupies and brings the main focal point closer to the viewer may work. I just find the brown mass overpowering. That doesn't happen in the second image, where the elements of the image, player, sax and negative space seem more balanced against each other.

Thanks for sharing!

[texkam]

Thanks for all the comments. They are very helpful. I apologize for not including my thought process behind these images.

Tri, I agree, more emotion would have been great. This was a rather shy HS senior and I was really trying to coax him into giving me some more. I can really appreciate what a good model can mean to a shoot. Yes, nothing better than shooting performing musicians.

Paco, interesting comment, for this young man is tall, well-built and very imposing. My thought was to play up his size in two ways, first bump up the contrast to simplify his body into one dark mass bringing your eye to his face. Second, I cropped on the right so that you don't get any relief from the black by seeing white space on the other side of his legs, again trying to create a strong dominating mass. Removing the vignette would probably help this image by creating more impact.

Again, thanks to all for the help. It's great to hear how others see an image.

[mmuhlenkamp]

Very nice, I like the angle and composition in the second shot best. I think these might be more powerful in black and white and ditto on bumping up the fill for the dark areas.

Great shots!

[texkam]

I think these might be more powerful in black and white and ditto on bumping up the fill for the dark areas.

Spoken like a true graphic designer. LOL. Thank you Melissa. I wanted to at least explore b/w for these, but after including a few b/w images from a different session Mom and Dad indicated they preferred all images to be color. I'm sure this is something we all struggle with and would probably make for an interesting thread. ....Balancing the photographer's vision with the client's expectations/preferences. I try to get a feel for what my clients want, what their "artistic threshold" is. I also make them aware of the creative product I expect and feel most comfortable delivering. Few of us are lucky enough to have total creative control, however with some we can push the envelope a little further.

[mmuhlenkamp]

Yeah, I know what you mean about working with a client's expectations and your own vision. A lot of times I just do what I like (within reason) and hope that the client agrees, but if they say they want something a little different I'll do it their way. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised and it's a result we're both really happy with.

[tml]

You can also google Steve Huff's photos of Seal in concert in 2009 in Chicago and his European tour in 2010. To me, they are excellent!

[texkam]

Thanks Tri. Good stuff.

[DiskoJoe]

Originally Posted by texkam

Thanks for all the comments. They are very helpful. I apologize for not including my thought process behind these images.

Tri, I agree, more emotion would have been great. This was a rather shy HS senior and I was really trying to coax him into giving me some more. I can really appreciate what a good model can mean to a shoot. Yes, nothing better than shooting performing musicians.

Paco, interesting comment, for this young man is tall, well-built and very imposing. My thought was to play up his size in two ways, first bump up the contrast to simplify his body into one dark mass bringing your eye to his face. Second, I cropped on the right so that you don't get any relief from the black by seeing white space on the other side of his legs, again trying to create a strong dominating mass. Removing the vignette would probably help this image by creating more impact.

Again, thanks to all for the help. It's great to hear how others see an image.

Ahh, senior portrait. That explains a lot. The poses seemed very unnatural but would be for a kid. Of course this kid is huge so that was kinda hard to tell. Did you get any shots of him playing in public trying to earn some tips?

[d2creative]

I think for a sax player I would have went low key with a dark background, playing with light and shadow, giving it a dark nightclub feel. More intimate.

Man, that kid dwarf's that sax.