She acts the part, she dresses the part, she lives the part.

That’s the number one thing that came out about her at her senior pictures design consultation. And that’s what we tried to capture as we went through her senior portrait session.

In every session, we create some of the more traditional type photographs, all the time trying to incorporate the personality and style of each subject. But I think my favorites are always those unique photographs – the ones that don’t look like the typical smile at the camera senior pictures.

We’d photographed Ariana in some great places downtown, because she has a downtown style. But for the last part of her session we went to her home out in the country and worked with what we saw there.

What you see here is the very last image of the session. We were passing by this old chicken coupe when I spotted the framed window opening. Knowing her personality, her off-beat nature, her “wack-a-doodlieness” I told her to do what you see here.

It’s her parents favorite picture. Why? Because it so captured her personality, her nature.

Of course, it’s not the only one they chose. The also chose some of the more traditional types of photographs as well. But when they chose the photographs for her graduation announcement, this was the main picture, because it was SO HER!

The rest of the photographs show her style, her look, but this one really showed her personality.

That’s what we try to do – figure out a way to put the essence of who you are in a photograph. It takes knowing you as an individual, and watching for just those opportunities.

Just like we did for Ariana

Senior pictures – not just how you look, but more importantly WHO YOU ARE!

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Ben’s a guitar player – a musician.

Based on his senior design consultation, we decided to do a Nightscapes session for him, simply because it seemed to fit him and his style the best. We were looking for a more dramatic, more funky musician look for his senior pictures.

Working in the downtown at night is quite an experience. There’s all kinds of interesting lighting, all kinds of interesting settings to work with that look totally different than they do during the daytime.

We came across this location, and I immediately pictured a scene with a performer emerging from the back of a smokey jazz club after his set. The harsh spotlight, the shadows, the alley wall all made for a rather mysterious feeling to the picture. The way Ben was dressed, especially the hat, just added to the story.

So we set him up with the open guitar case (street musician, playing for tips?) and created a series. But for one, I had him look down, almost as if wondering where his musicians life was going to take him next. He reach up to adjust his hat, and I said “DON’T MOVE”. It was the perfect final touch.

The upper image is what it looked like to the human eye, and what the camera saw and captured. I liked it, as far as it went. But my vision was for something even darker, more moody, more mysterious to really tell the story I wanted to tell, so we worked with the image in Photoshop, experimenting with different looks until I came up with the one you see in the bottom.

Ben and his parents LOVED this shot, along with the others we created. But this is the showcase, because is so essentially captured who he was at that point in his life. It told a story. It wasn’t just what he looked like – but WHO HE WAS!

This is an example of how the process works, from concept to capture to final artistic enhancement. Maybe a lot different than you thought it worked. So many people think it’s just a matter of putting the camera on automatic, and pointing it in the right direction.

But it’s not. It’s SO much more than that, and that’s why it can take YEARS of experience and training to really become an accomplished portrait photographer, producing artistic finished wall portraits, not just “pritty pitchures”

At Encore! Portrait Design, we’re dedicated to creating photographic art for YOU. And now you know why.

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Zach is a driven kind of guy.

So much so that he had his future planned out in detail.

“I’m going to go to college, get my real estate license, become a broker and then go into business with my grandmother. And buy a BMW” He told me at his consultation.

These words guided how I photographed his senior session. I knew I wanted to capture a series of images that captured no only what he looked like, but his driven, focused personality. That’s in fact why we DO the design consultation; why we really get to know our seniors BEFORE we set out to create photographs.

His grandmother brought her BMW down so we could photograph him with it, which we did. And then we photographed him around town in various locations, including the one you see here.

We were getting ready to work, and I happened to look up and see that Zach had naturally fallen into this pose, all by himself.

“DON’T MOVE” I told him, and then I capture this one. (I always tell my seniors that we’ll hope for some “DON’T MOVE” moments, and that if they hear me say that, they are not to change ANYTHING because they’ve done something so natural, so wonderful that we could never consciously recreate it).

The beauty of this image is that it’s all naturally Zach. I selected the location for both background and lighting, but what he’s doing is all him. That’s one important aspect in how we get those “THAT’S SO YOU” COMMENTS.

This was his moms FAVORITE image out of his session. Because it captured exactly what she wanted to remember about him at this point in his life. Focused, thoughtful, contemplating where he was going in life.

By the way, Zach is studying Business Administration at U of O, just like he’d planned.

Hey Zach – THAT’S SO YOU! Senior pictures from Encore! Portrait Design

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But only part of the magic is in the capture process.  An experienced photographer knows what they’re trying to create, and is able to use the elements of background, posing, lighting and expression to create the raw material from which the final product is created.

I’ll talk about these four elements in separate articles.  But in this one, let’s talk about the second half of the process – all the magic that occurs in Photoshop.

Let’s start with basic retouching.  Every face needs it, even one as pretty as Kristina’s.

Skillfully done, Photoshop can do wonderful things for a portrait.  But in the hands of someone who isn’t so skillful, it can make you look rather silly and aritificial.

Photoshop is like makeup.  It should only enhance what’s really there, perhaps hide a flaw like a zit, but still look natural.  Overdone Photoshop is just as bad as overdone makeup.

We always start by removing any facial imperfections, and believe me, we all have them.  And WOW can they come through with the resolution of today’s cameras.

But not to worry, a skillful Photoshop artist can remove just about anything that you don’t want to see in your pictures.

Then, we always smooth and blend the skin.  This can very easily be OVERDONE.  You’ve probably seen pictures on some websites where the people look like Barbie or Ken dolls – plastic skin with absolutely no texture.    Completely unnatural.

But skillfully blended skin really enhances the look without making the subject look artificial.

We enhance the eyes, including both the whites and the iris, making them just a bit brighter and full of life. And once that’s done, we generally whiten the teeth.  For some reason digital cameras have a tendency to make teeth look yellower than they really are.

And then, we apply the finishing touches, with the results you see in the bottom picture.

This is all basic retouching, done on virtually every photograph that goes into the hands of our clients.  We want EVERYONE to look the best they can look.  That’s part of our job.

This is the first of a series of articles.  Watch for the coming ones which show you some other examples of how we start with a raw image and turn it into a finished artistic piece you’ll be proud to have hanging on your parents wall.

Senior pictures from Encore! Portrait design – now you know why we so often hear “That’s So YOU!”

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But should you use them before your senior pictures?

In general, I’d say no.

First of all, overly tanned faces tend to look oily and unnatural in photographs.  Tans tend to come our darker in pictures than they appear to the human eye, so you’ll end up looking very unnatural (not to mention the fact that indoor tanning is TERRIBLE for your skin, and frequently leads to skin cancer later in life – I know, I’ve had two bouts of it, and you don’t want to mess with it.)

Spray tans are no better.  You’ll look orange.  And Fake

And laying out in the sun will leave you with tan lines, which will look awful, and require a lot of retouching, which will probably cost you more.

Natural is always best.  Mother nature doesn’t make mistakes in combining hair, skin and eye color.

If you think you need some color, use some skillfully applied bronzer or makeup.  Most girls will wear some makeup, but don’t overdo that either because the camera captures everything, and your overly done blue eye shadow will look like a neon sign.  (I’ve actually had that happen)

If you think you need color, and you don’t know how to make that happen in a way that will make you look your best, find a local Mary Kay consultant.  Not only can they teach you how to take care of your skin so you’ll still look 17 when you’re 60, most of them are very good at teaching you how to use makeup to make you look your best.  And they’ll do it for free – they call it a facial.

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Most of us have not been asked to sacrifice at all to support either the actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.  The sacrifice has fallen mostly onto those families with members in the military.

My son-in-law is an Air Force Officer, but he’s been relatively safe as a Jag Officer serving in Italy, and now Alaska.  However, I’ve seen him only twice in the last four years, and seen my daughter and granddaughter only four times since she was born three years  ago.

The separation hasn’t been easy.

But I can’t even imagine what it must be like for someone in high school to be separated from a parent for a year; to have them miss all the football games or choir concerts, or plays.  To have them miss you birthdays, or the time when you came home from the DMV with your drivers license, or your prom.

And I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to have someone I love serving in a war zone.

But you’ve experienced many of these things yourself.  Your family has born the brunt of the sacrifice, and we’d to say thank you, and to honor you and your family for your dedication to your country.

So, once again this year, we are offering to give any senior who’s mother or father is serving on active military duty in either place a free basic senior pictures package, worth $305.

Other military families get a 10% discount.

This includes our Basic Senior Portraits Session, an hour long and prints of your choice, up to that value.  If you want a longer session, or more prints, simply pay the difference.

No strings attached.   You pay nothing for either the session or the prints (up to the $305 value of that package).

When you call the studio (503-588-0902) to set up your consultation, simple tell us that you’re calling about the Military Family Special.  Remember, this is for CURRENT ACTIVE DUTY IN EITHER LOCATION ONLY.

However, since we’re bearing all the costs of these sessions, we do reserve the right to limit the number should the response be greater than we can handle.

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Every summer, we schedule specific days to be at the beach and photograph.   Where other studios charge you EXTRA to go to the beach, if you take advantage of one of our schedule days, there’s no extra charge for your session.  Our dates are changing, so call the studio to find out the current dates.

We’ve discovered a fantastic beach where it’s rarely windy, unlike most of the Oregon Coast. Most of the time, it’s shorts and t-shirts weather, not sweatshirts like most of the coast.

Plus it’s got everything you might want for beach pictures, and a whole lot more.

You can have beach pictures for all or part of your session, but in order to schedule a session, you’ll need to get in for your design consultation ahead of time.

If the beach is special to you, and you’d like part of your senior pictures there, then call us at 503-588-0902 to schedule your consultation.

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Are you an athlete, and darn proud of it? Want to celebrate all your accomplishments and your love for your sport?

Then the Varsity Edition is for you.

One photograph just isn’t enough to capture what it’s like to participate in your sport.  That’s why we created these custom designed composites.

We’ve created them for every imaginable sport.  But they’re not for sports only – any activity that involves equipment, movement, special clothing is a great candidate.  We’ve even done one for a Cello player.

Every one is completely unique, and individually designed.

Learn more on our Varsity Edition page.

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This is an updated version of a document I wrote about a few years ago, which was for several years circulated all over the country and read by those trying to figure out how to choose a studio.

Feel free to download this if you want, and share it with your friends if you find it helpful.

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Well, we’ve scheduled our first beach trip for Saturday, July 2. The mornings full, but we still have room in the afternoon.

We’ve discovered a fantastic beach where it’s rarely windy, unlike most of the Oregon Coast. Most of the time, it’s shorts and t-shirts weather, not sweatshirts like most of the coast.

Plus it’s got everything you might want for beach pictures, and a whole lot more.

You can have beach pictures for all or part of your session, but in order to schedule a session, you’ll need to get in for your design consultation ahead of time.

If the beach is special to you, and you’d like part of your senior pictures there, then call us at 503-588-0902 to schedule your consultation.

The post Senior Pictures at the Beach – Class of 2012 appeared first on Thats So You! - Unique Senior Pictures Salem Oregon.