Unique Senior Portraits

[abril1127]

What can I do to make these better? I'm still trying to work with them. Any tips would be great!

[texxter]

These are great, I love the surreal mood of the first one! The second one has a lot of negative space, which may or may not be needed - also seems to be composed oddly, perhaps placing him parallel to the lines may help. The third one is cool also, and I'd like to suggest a stronger diagonal composition for a stronger effect and perhaps include all fingers.

Nice job!

[kula23]

WOW that is so cool. What kind of camera is that you suing? I love first and last!

[abril1127]

hehe ya, I couldn't keep up with this guy, even with my flippers on (& 30 lbs of scuba gear) He swam so fast I barely got the picture...hence no fingers.
I had cropped the second one in more but it cropped out the blue all together, with just white, it was hard to understand he was underwater....if that makes sense....but here's a thought, verticle...what do you think. Please keep them coming....I don't LOVE them and with the amount of time I've already put into I need get them fixed so I love them!

[mmuhlenkamp]

I was a swimmer in high school and would have loved underwater senior pics. Great idea! If I had some underwater camera gear I'd market myself off to my old swim teams.

[texxter]

April, here is another idea.

[texxter]

And one more variation on the top image - the gree bottom is a reflection, but it could also be perceived as algae - not sure if you like a less saturated bottom, but here you go.

[abril1127]

Wow I really like the de-algea effect. How did you do that one? Did you paint it? I think the additional lines help too....but the space between him and the above still needs something. Thanks for playing around with these.
I posted some on my blog and the kid is more than thrilled! Apparently half the team and the coach has already seen the blog ones. LOL
Here's one more I was playing around with...I was trying tome of that texture that those fancy guys are doing. It was a splash I got by accident...What do you think?

[kula23]

That's pretty cool, April. But what kind of gear did you use underwater? I love to swim!

[texxter]

Originally Posted by abril1127

Wow I really like the de-algea effect. How did you do that one? Did you paint it?

April, glad you like it - I used the quick and dirty "Replace Color" and selected all the green at the bottom half, did a desaturation and brightness adjustment. It helps to do a selection of the bottom of the pool so as to not contaminate the top. Really simple.

[abril1127]

geeeze and I even used the replace color on his hair. Sometimes you just can't think!
Believe it or now I shot these with a point and shoot Olympus C-4000 and a underwater housing that fits it. It was my first digital camera back when I used to live in the Caribbean, Underwater is my total passion...but here in Lubbock there's not much...I just lucked into this guy!

[texxter]

I like the last one - here are some potential creative enhancements in addition to yours. Really nice job, April!

-Paco

[kula23]

LOL that is so cool April. I was born and raised in Tampa, FL. Love the beach all my life. You got that right there is not much in Lubbock! Other than that nice portraits underwater, girl.

[abril1127]

wow yours makes mine look really orange! I need to learn to walk away and take breaks. Thanks for the help Paco!

[jamesw]

Great concept April,

As you found out there is a lot of blue/green light in a swimming pool. I recommend shooting in RAW and then use the white balance eye dropper to set the WB. Click it on something white and voila. This only works if you have a decent balance of red light in the photo though - but should work for shallow water.

Another thing that may help is using a lower exposure (higher f-stop or faster shutterspeed) and using an external flash to light the swimmer. That will give you some pop.

These pool swimmer photos of mine were taken that way:

http://www.reefpix.org/v/underwater/...+732_.jpg.html

Cheers
James