Charletonchurchill.com/myblog » Senior Portraits

Senior Portrait Sessions are on like Donkey Kong!

Charleton Churchill — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 07:50:33 +0000

Seniors portraits are on like Donkey Kong! Seriously I’m changing up the packages this year and this year, you will be blown out of the water with what’s going on in town! Seniors will have their chance to look stylish and fashionable with their favorite Amador County photographer with a few easy session options! A 1 hour session and a 2 hour session. Both sessions give you (get ready for this) a free shampoo, haircut, and style by Jackie Mattingly at the Bella Lei Salon at New York Ranch Rd. before your session! Yes, that’s right, I said it, FREE because Jackie is that amazing! Also, our prints are affordable this year, which is good for mom and dad’s pocket books! Plus, you will get unlimited outfits and unlimited locations. So, you have your chance to bring 10 outfits if you want, although, it’s probably unlikely you’ll need that many. This year is going to the best for seniors! Get ready to look like you’re in a magazine with awesome ART.

Schedule your session before August 31, and get $25 off your senior session fee, AND…. before spaces fill up this season!!

Check out our Senior Website for prices and information:
www.charletonchurchill.com/seniors

contact Charleton at
info@charletonchurchill.com

Fashion Senior Portraits – Before and After – Photoshop RAW Touch up

Charleton Churchill — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:45:34 +0000

Here are a few images from a recent senior portrait session. I wanted to show you the before and after shots from a session in my home studio last month. I shot these images in RAW. I had my flashes set up, and a plain gray backdrop hanging behind our senior, Haley. I used my Canon 85mm lens and fired off some images for about thirty minutes, as she had brought different outfits.

If you’re a photographer or aspiring to become a professional photographer, and you want to be successful, you have to master at least three areas in photography. First is composition, second is lighting, and third is post-processing. There are other areas, but these are fundamental. The best in the world have mastered these all too well. Just look at the WPPI winning competition images. They are perfect! The images below show from beginning to end of my post-processing. You can see the first image is plain. From my camera, this is what I achieved. I was shooting in manual, and everything was dialed in correctly. We have a pose from the senior that I happen to like. Haley’s doing an amazing job. With some instruction, every senior can look good, just like out of a magazine, which is how I love to shoot! I think sometimes seniors get a little intimidated because they think they’re not a model! If you’re a senior, and you’re thinking this in your head, then it’s time to get over here and book your session! I’ll change your thinking!

After I fixed the color to what I liked, and adjusted the lighting on the background and foreground, I tweaked her eyes and facial features (not that she needed much anyway) to give the images the pop it needed. I fixed any small distractions, lint, etc. I then softened her skin a little, sharpened the whole image, and this was the next image that came out!

I then placed a texture on the image in Photoshop, and removed some of the textured areas from her face and hands. I adjusted it to where I liked it, not too much or too little. This is the next image.

Now I love the image just the way it is, and I could leave it that way! However, a black and white looks great as well!

Here’s another before and after image of Haley that I liked!

And a few other finished images!

As you can see, composition, lighting, and post-processing make this senior in this image ROCK even more!! Thank you Haley! If you’re a senior, and you want to book your senior sessions, I shoot in the RAIN and SUN! Check out the images from Holly LaMarr’s session in the rain!! Anything is possible. If you’re interested in booking your session, you can email me or call me.

(209) 603-1741 or info@charletonchurchill.com

Holly La Marr, Amador County Senior Portrait Photographer, Senior Model Rep

Charleton Churchill — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:45:23 +0000

I’m finished editing these senior portraits, and I’m glad to be finished with most of the editing. It was raining this day, and Holly was ready to get in the river and the rain, even though it was cold for her, she did well in keeping character. We also shot in the studio with some flashes and fans, and all that jazz. Holly attends Argonaut high school and is a senior rep for my studio. We have seniors from Amador high school as well who are senior reps whom we will have show later. There are more senior portraits and weddings lined up, and if I can get to posting some, I will.

Holly – High School Senior, Amador County Senior Portrait Photographer, preview

Charleton Churchill — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 06:53:17 +0000

It rained today in northern California. I had a high school senior scheduled for this day of photographs, for the studio fashion shots, and outside on the river. A few days ago, we received the report that it would rain, so Holly called with that question in mind. I said, “Awesome! Let’s shoot in the rain!” It’s going rain quite a bit this season I suppose, bring it on. Many photographers complain they can’t shoot in the rain. I’ve had a few clients cancel because of rain, but I’m believing any good photographer can shoot almost anywhere. So, I wanted to show off a few preview senior shots of some in my studio and the others outside in the rain on the Mokelumne River on Hwy 49. We totally had fun and Holly killed the session (meaning she did an awesome job). These images are just a few quick selects from the session, straight from the camera, with minor touch-up. Wait until you see the rest…

Amador County Senior Portrait Photographer – Kirkwood Resort Photographer

Charleton Churchill — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:12:06 +0000

I drove up to Kirkwood California, to the Plasses Resort to photograph a few seniors on the outer skirts of Silver lake. There was plenty to photograph there with the lake, the cabins, the local store, and of course hundreds of mountain acres. Michelle and Charlie both decided to have their photographs to be at this Plasses Resort. We found a old beach country bike to use. There was a woman with horses, whom Sandy Trevaskis on our behalf totally asked if we could use (and we did). Charlie used to his motorcycle for his images, which I will show later. I had a good time, as I always enjoy the outdoors. Here are a few images of Michelle’s.

Senior Sneak – Amador County High School Senior Portrait Photographer

Charleton Churchill — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:40:59 +0000

updated: I added the second image to show off different version of processing. In the first image, I cleaned it up, as this basically the image from the camera, minus touch up and sharpening. The second image, I put more time into, made it even more dramatic.
——————————–
Ok, so today I figured for one of my senior sessions, I would take advantage of the dramatic sky, since it is currently cloudy. It has layers of dark puffy clouds, lighter and darker, which made me think of a cool band shot. So, I took Whitney, our senior, I had scheduled for today, and we went up the hillside where the hills were open, and the sky was vast. I brought my flash and had Ciara hold the flash for me, while I exposed for the shot you see below. After I took my shots, we peered into the LCD monitor, and were like fans of fourth of July, ooohhh, ahhhh, ooohhh (because there were other angles and other shots with the flash). Besides those shots, we photographed downtown, and in the studio. The studio shots definitely made her look much older. We will show you the rest later. Here is a sneak…

Danica – Modern Senior Portrait Session – Amador County Photographer

Charleton Churchill — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:04:39 +0000

Ok, here is a sneak at Danica’s senior portraits from Jackson. She rocked the yesterday as we spent time at different locations and with different clothing options. Her mom did a wonderful job holding the reflector. She was easy to work with, and she photographs well. More senior photographs to come. Here is a few images…with more to come…

Alyssa – Modern Senior Portrait Sessions – 2011 – Family Portrait Season

Charleton Churchill — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:29:40 +0000

Alyssa is a senior this year who is kicking off the 2011 senior year with the first of many senior portrait images for the Charleton Churchill Photography Blog rush. Wedding Photography season is slowly winding down into the Senior Portrait season and the Family Portrait Season with Christmas around the corner. I have still have more weddings, but now I’m moving into time for Seniors and Family images.

For Senior Portraits, there is a choice between an urban look, downtown with many textures and colors. There’s also fields, the river, the mountains, in a house, lifestyle sessions, modeling sessions, airport, your favorite place to hang out, vintage looks, modern looks, theme sessions, athlete sessions, and basically anything you want, I can handle it.

Schedule now your Senior Portrait Session and your Family session now before Christmas cards are mailed out. September and October, and partly November are good months for Family portraits before Christmas arrives. Book now to reserve your date. There is only room for five sessions per week!

Book now (209) 603-1741
www.charletonchurchill.com

and the colored version.

This was a funny part of the session trying to get some shots, and the wind was blowing. She was trying to hold her dress down, and so I decided to add these in because she was having fun.

Senior Portrait Sessions – Kirkwood, California and Plasses Resort Photographer

Charleton Churchill — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:41:27 +0000

I want to show a few images from a recent senior session I shot (just a few)! I will show more later with a longer blog and description, but I just wanted to get a few up that I liked.

I drove up highway 88 early Monday morning to shoot some customized senior portrait sessions just before Kirkwood resort, called Plasse’s Resort, a great venue for outdoor and indoor activities, with an old church on the property. Plasse’s resort, Silver Lake, and Kirkwood are all intertwined. Plasse’s is an excellent place for photography because they have so much going on there with fishing, camping, horses, motorcycles and quads, an old general store and post office, dirt roads, people, big man trucks everywhere, and beautiful cabins. A perfect place for photographs (without the mosquitoes hovering at you). Actually, a perfect place to shoot a wedding (ahem,..call me!). I photographed Michele and Charlie there. Charlie brought his motorcycle. And we borrowed a white horse from some wonderful woman (whom I hope to get her name down on the next blog), right there at Plasse’s Resort. Thank you Sandy for having the courage to ASK! Here are a few of the images…

TO BOOK YOUR SENIOR SESSION, CONTACT ME SOON!