One of my best friends is graduating from NC State University with her Ph.D. this coming weekend – that’s right people…I have smart friends! My friends and I have been calling her DOC for years, but she can now officially write Dr. before her name. Impressed? I am.
A few weeks ago, I sent her a note asking if she’d be up for a portrait session in full regalia – it’d be my gift to her (and a chance for me to work on my skills). Fortunately, she’d been thinking about asking me to do take a few photos for her anyways. Sweet!
We headed over to the university after work for a few shots. Can I be honest? I was sooooo nervous! For months now, I’ve been practicing, reading, practicing, reading…trying to get myself prepared to shoot anything other than my cat, my husband, my nieces and nephews, etc. And for the first time, I really wanted to do a good job…for her…for her parents…for me. And I know I’ve gotten fairly decent at post-processing and editing, but let’s be honest people…if you don’t have a good shot to begin with, no amount of work can SAVE the picture. The library shots were the toughest…no natural light. I started to freak out when my external flash wouldn’t attach (I nearly started sweating) then every shot I took was blurry. So, I threw it into manual and there it was…much better.
Although I’m still in the process of editing (and deleting the unfocused shots), I wanted to share a few of my favorites. I’m showing a combination of my “clean” edit as well as my “vintage texture” edits in this set (well because I’m still defining my style). Oh, and I have to mention this…there was absolutely no retouching to her face – flawless! Enough of my rambling…here’s the goods:
Congratulations Jenn! I’m so proud of you and can’t wait to see you walk across stage on Saturday. I’ll have my camera in hand for sure. To everyone else….how did I do on my first real portrait shoot?
