Deena Riley Photography :: The Blog » Seniors

Week-o-Posts, Day 3 :: Gettin’ Close!

Deena — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:43:45 +0000

Today’s post is a photo tip for you. Come here… no… a little closer… closer… there! NOW snap a photo! That’s what this tip is all about – getting close to your subject. I do it ALL of the time. It’s a way to add interest to your photo and keep it from looking like “just a snapshot.” It’s also a great way to hide less than desirable backgrounds. I do a lot of my senior sessions in back alleys to create that “urban” look – a lot of the time I have them sitting in a doorway with a dumpster on their left and a parked car on their right, but you’d never know because I get in close to the subject! Kelsey here is sitting in a doorway (the door is the red in the background) with a metal pipe just above her head and an air conditioning unit directly to the left of the image… check it out:

Can you tell that we’re sitting in an alley without me telling you? I hope not! I hope it just looks like we found a really cool red background somewhere and Kelsey rocked it model-style!

Does this work for every single shot? No. But it definitely adds something, don’t you think? I think it creates a sense of intimacy with the subject – you feel like you’re practically having a conversation with them because they are right there. Here’s another one:

Again, Brandon is my senior sitting in a doorway. Getting close allows me to create an image that focuses on him and still have some cool texture in the background without it overwhelming the image. It brings the attention all on him and gives an almost “conversational” feel to the image – it’s like you’re there with him.

The good news is, it doesn’t just work for seniors… it works for little ones too!

I know a lot of moms are scared to get too close when taking photos of little ones that are on the move because they’re liable to crawl right out of the shot. That’s ok! Let ‘em go! You’ll be able to capture that movement in a cool way – promise! It may take a little practice with your camera to accomplish this, especially if you’re rocking a point-and-shoot and not a DSLR. Point-and-shoots usually have a little bit of drag time between when you push the shutter button and the camera actually takes the photograph, so you’ll have to play with your own camera to see what works best for you. You may have a bunch of blurry images of a little diapered booty crawling away from you at first, but as you get to know your camera better, you’ll be able to time things *just* right! Don’t get discouraged!

This also brings me to another point about getting close, though. You are going to chop off the tops of heads, parts of limbs, etc. when you do it – and that’s ok. Do you want to have every single photo in your collection be chopped in some way? Probably not – that’s up to you and your taste. However, if you do it from time to time to create a certain look, mood, or sense of movement in a photograph, that’s perfectly acceptable. In fact, I highly encourage it because it will make life just a little more interesting. Here’s another movement shot where I’ve cut off the back of Paola’s (mama’s) head:

Could I have taken one step back to get all of Paola’s head/hair in the frame? Sure! But then you lose a little of the emphasis on the mommy-daughter interaction because I would have essentially shrunk them in the image to make them fit. I’d much rather have the moment of interaction between the two of them front and center rather than worrying about a few strands of hair not making it into the frame.

So, go out there, be brave, and GET CLOSE! Will it freak out a few of your subjects at first? Probably. But in the end, I think everyone will love the results!

Golzar :: Class of 2010 :: Frisco Senior Photographer

Deena — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:01:08 +0000

Miss Golzar is not only lovely and smart, but a trooper to boot. For her shoot this past weekend, she dealt with me and my head cold (which made me a bit loopy) AND I had her sit in something that made us both have a gnarly allergic reaction. I *still* don’t know what it was we sat in (it just looked like there was grass where we were sitting), but it gave me a welt-and-redness reaction spot the size of a softball on my leg and Golzar had patches up and down her arm! YOWZA! So, like I said, she’s a trooper. So she gets a couple of extra previews.

So soft and lovely…

Golzar’s parents are getting ready to celebrate 24 years of marriage, so they asked me to snap a couple of photos of them… it’s so cool to see 2 people who look so in love still after all of these years!

Golzar, the rest of your gallery will be ready soon! Thanks for putting up with all of the crazy I brought to the shoot!

Stephen’s a Graduate!

Deena — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:50:34 +0000

My nephew (yes, nephew…), Stephen, just graduated from the University of Texas! The day after graduation, we toured around campus to get a few snaps of him on campus. He received his BS in Biochemistry and will be attending medical school in the near future… in other words, he’s a bonafide smarty-pants!

We told Stephen to “look smart” while posing in front of the famous Tower…

In front of the building in which he spent so much time:

Stephen and his adorable girlfriend, Hailey (she was a brave girl that weekend – it was her first time to meet the bulk of our family… and there are a LOT of us!)

One more…

Congrats, Stephen! We are so proud of you!!! There are more photos to come… just let me get past the end of school this week!

Felicia :: Class of 2010 :: Plano Senior Photographer

Deena — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:09:36 +0000

I’m so glad we were able to get Miss Felicia’s session in yesterday! I had a last minute cancellation and her mom called at just the right time to get her in for Sunday afternoon! We had a gorgeous afternoon with some simply delicious light – and Felicia isn’t too shabby herself. Ok, ok… I know. I am the LUCKIEST photographer on the face of the planet. I am blessed with consistently lovely and amazing seniors coming my way! Here’s the delightful Miss Felicia’s sneak peek:

Um… hello, Sassy Pants!

A preview wouldn’t be complete without a smile-y one!

Miss Felicia, it was great to see you – I know you will knock ‘em dead next year in college! Your full gallery will be ready soon!

Madi :: Class of 2010 :: Plano Senior Photographer

Deena — Mon, 17 May 2010 03:00:22 +0000

Miss Madi was my gorgeous model on Saturday morning – I’m so glad we went ahead and did her shoot! The weather was looking like it may not cooperate, but she was a total trooper and we got an awesome session on the books!

The Mean Green isn’t going to know what hit them next year…

Madi, thanks so much for such a fun morning (and putting up with my dizzy self at the end!) Your gallery will be delivered soon! *hugs!*

Kelcie :: Class of 2010 :: Plano Senior Photographer

Deena — Thu, 13 May 2010 03:07:29 +0000

Kelcie was one of my Senior Ambassadors for the Class of 2010, and for her bonus spring shoot she wanted to do something “country.” My brain immediately jumped to the perfect location – Mikel’s parents “farm” (? “ranch”? They have an extensive garden, pastures full of hay they sell, some llamas, chickens, cows, etc… help me out here, country peeps!). Anywhoodles, Kelcie and her entire family jumped at the idea of visiting the “Rileyrosa,” as my mother-in-law likes to call it, even though it’s about a 1.5 hour drive down to their place from Plano. I’m so glad they did come all the way down, because I think we definitely achieved the country look Kelcie was going for!

Kelcie’s sisters, Kristen and Kenzie were along for the shoot, and we captured a few of the sisters together – so cute!

Kelcie & Family – thanks again for making the trek down to the Rileyrosa! I hope you had tons of fun! Your full gallery will be ready soon.

Everyone else – if you’re interested in going down to the farm, let me know – it is a haul down there, but there’s a lot to play with and see around the area!

Joy :: Class of 2010 :: Plano Senior Photographer

Deena — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:26:19 +0000

Ok… let’s play a game! Guess which one applies to Joy:

A. She’s a future Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader:

B. She’s the new face of Cover Girl:

or C. She’s a State Champion at raisin’ hogs:

If you guessed ‘C’ – you’re right! But I think she could totally pass as the other two (don’t you?! Gorgeous!!!!).

One more just for fun -

Joy your full gallery will be ready soon! It was great to meet you!

Kelsey :: Class of 2010 :: Plano Senior Photographer

Deena — Mon, 03 May 2010 23:01:44 +0000

We had a go at Kelsey’s senior portraits this past fall, but Kelsey decided she wanted to try something a little more urban – I am so glad she did because we had an AWESOME marathon shoot Saturday evening. Seriously. I can’t even narrow down the previews to just 3 or 4… so you get 7, Kelsey!

We’ll start with a little red door magic…

Ok… I’m glad that I know Kelsey pretty well and that we’ve had several shoots together. Why, you ask? Well… besides the fact that she’s delightful to work with, she doesn’t even bat an eyelash when I say weird things like “You squat cute.” You heard me. That came out of my mouth during this shoot. But she does! Look:

Something a little more artsy-fartsy:

Work it!

Kelsey, your senior shoot part 2 gallery will be on its way soon! Hope you love your preview pics as much as I do!

Brittany :: Class of 2010 :: Plano Senior Photographer

Deena — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 01:35:37 +0000

Miss Brittany is simply delightful… sweet, beautiful, and so easy to work with! She is going to knock their everyone’s socks off in college – I just know it!

I think she looks like she walked straight out of a Ralph Lauren ad in this one…

It’s a shame that she isn’t pretty… I mean… she’d be so much easier to phot… oh, wait! She’s Drop. Dead. Gorgeous!

Miss Brittany, it was so fun to get to hang out with you for the afternoon and meet your parents. You’re going to blow them away when you get to Arkansas! Your full gallery will be ready soon!

Brandon :: Class of 2010 :: Plano Senior Photographer

Deena — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:33:57 +0000

I don’t get the chance to photograph many senior boys men just by pure coincidence, but I love it when I do get the opportunity! Of course, it helps when the senior man I’m shooting is movie-star handsome, like Brandon. Seriously.

Well… not so seriously first… I realized that all of the favorites I had originally picked out were serious faces, but I had to get one of him laughing up here. Brandon has the best laugh and the best smile! We had a lot of fun this morning!

Sorry Ladies – he’s taken.

Brandon, it was a blast getting to know you this morning! I hope you love your sneak peek – your gallery will be on its way soon!