My buddy's son...

[Rick Meyer]

I was at a birthday party yesterday for my friend's 1 year old daughter...

Our other mutual friend was there with his kids. He said he has been approached to get his kid involved in print work and commercials, etc.

As a favor, I took a few random pics of his kid so he could pass them along if he likes...let me know what you think...

Very little color correction...I wanted his natural bright red hair to come through...

And

 

[HorseFilms]

Nice work! The kid is a natural.

 

[Rick Meyer]

Thanks and yes he is. The kid has been 'a natural' since he was a baby. So, I think he will have no trouble getting work.

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

I would recommend investing in a flash unit, something that you can trigger remotely off of the camera. These images are pretty good but I would certainly recommend a little fill flash to deal with the shadows.

 

[Isaac_Brody]

The framing is decent but the background is random and needs better selection. Ditto what Jeremy said. The shadows overpower the subject. You should use the sun as a backlight, or use a big piece of diffusion to take the harshness off.

 

[x002657]

A natural, indeed. Green eyes, red hair,

A natural, indeed. Green eyes, red hair,

and a great smile to boot...what more could a mag/photo editor/marketing person want? (I'm guessing the cherry-red lips are from whatever he's eating, but they enhance the overall look, even though these were obviously snaps and not portraits),
At this stage in his life, he's real cute...his parents should consider giving it a shot before his body starts growing too much, too fast. As a male child model, I think he's got lots of potential. As an adult model, it may get more difficult, unless his hair color changes. Not to squash any enthusiasm, but you don't see many red-headed male models in the adult arena. He should grab the $$ while he can and save mom/dad the cost of college tuition, or a car, or whatever, later in life.

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

Also, check out the tutorial on 'rule of thirds' (it's a sticky) and then open a magazine and check out the framing for general headshots/fashion work.
Your on the path with a good subject, now you just need to get the technical aspects down and you're going to be golden.

 

[Rick Meyer]

Thanks guys. I will definitely consider getting a separate flash unit. I just never do portraits and since these are more or less snap shots (I was only expecting to take pics of the 1 year old) I was ill prepared.

I was concerned about the shadow. Especially if these were going to a client or for $. Luckily, they will just more or less work to give a potential agent an idea of what this kid looks like.

x002657- Yeah, hes a cute kid. When he was just 2 or 3 he looked like a male version of Cindy Lou Who from The Grinch. But I agree with you about taking the money and running. Normally, I would never think to get my kid involved in modeling or acting. But, he isn't my kid. His parents are pretty good looking so even though he will probably grow up to be a good looking kid, you are right about the red hair usually being a knock for an older model. If he can get work, I'd be all for him paying his way for college!

One more thing...I understand the Rule of Thirds...I am just not 100% sure how to apply that to pictures of this kid. If anyone wants to take one or two of these pics and re-crop to give me an example how it would help the image to pop...I am all for it!

Thanks!
Rick

 

[Rick Meyer]

Here is my hand at re-cropping and attempting to respect the rule of thirds. I found it to be a little tricky. But let me know if it helps or harms the comp. Thanks.

EDIT: One more question...I appreciate the distinction between these being snapshots vs. portraits because thats what they are...but I was wondering about that Flash Unit and how it would work in this 'off the cuff' environment. I understand that it would fill in the shadows but would it look too unnatural? I really don't have much experience with this type of photography so I am really curious to see examples of this flash unit, being used outdoors, underneath harsh noon-time lighting, such as these photos. Can anyone point to a pic or website that has really good daytime examples of a flash unit?

Thanks!
Rick

 

[CharlieG]

Flash fill is a techique on it's on.... and you can do it even with the onboard flash you have with your camera (if I remember you have a Xti) and since its a fixed straight on flash you can't bounce it well but you can diffuse it to soften the harshness, but I recommend getting a Canon flash .......
One thing I try to never shoot at noon since the shadows come from direct overhead & cause more problems than I can deal with even with flash fill. And if I do I find shade and put my subject there where the shadows are even simular to your 1st two shots (see the even lighting or almost even) and with your pop up flash it would give you a little snap to your photos (especially the 2nd one)
Here's an example of a fill flash using a Canon 550EX that I took last fall. It was shot around 1-2pm and I found shade from the building (camera left) and even lighting (notice the harsh sun in the background). I wanted to get a good catch light in her eyes to give it that added snap, and I have a newton bracket that keeps in flash always on top of my camera in the vertical position and used a lunaQuest diffuser.

 

[Brandon Rice]

I just started using flash for a fill light, and I've been very happy with it. Here's a pic I used flash on...

 

[Rick Meyer]

Looks good guys. Thanks for posting those.