Senior Project

by Sofia Nuno
(Nogales Arizona)

I'm a high school senior and we have this "senior project" which we have to complete in order to graduate; we get to choose our own topic, so I chose digital photography. My project is to take pictures and this is one of the pictures I took.

She's my friend and we were at a friend's house. I barely have 3 months taking pictures but its something that is passionate to me.

I just love photography and I am thinking on the possibility to study this, so if anyone could give me an advice I will be more than pleased because I really want to get better at this!

Thank you!!

Thanks for the submission Sofia, and it's nice to see students work on these pages.

On the face of if it this looks like a really nice picture. You're lucky to have a friend who is keen to model. She has struck an appealing pose for you!

For a snapshot it makes a pleasing image. For a professional shot, it's a little lacking though. So how can we move the quality from 'keen amateur' to 'budding professional'?

Well, there are a few things that could be done here. First of all, always take note of the background in a photo. Ensure distractions are removed. Often this means moving location – sometimes only a few feet.

Looking at Sofia's photo there is the corner of a wall, some patchy grass, mud, and a few scattered buttercups (I think!) that look a bit like litter!

The rusty chair is good, but it would have been better to move it away from all that distracting background!

The second thing to work on is the lighting. This photo has been taken in the shade. This is good because bright sunlight can cast horrible shadows. But, even though this was taken in the daytime, extra lighting should still be used to really get the best picture.

An easy way to do this is to get hold of a good flashgun, fit it with a diffuser, and use it. It will really lift the image.

There are adjustments to the lighting that can be made after the photo was taken using software. To find out more about image editing have a look at this downloadable course. It goes into plenty of detail about digital imaging.

Another area to keep on top of is the framing of the subject. In this photo the model is pushed over to the left of the picture. It would be better if she was centrally placed.

My final suggestion would be to lose the 'Sofia' tag at the bottom of the photo. I realise photographers are often proud of their photos, but I have never seen the need to scrawl it across a photo.

A small, discreet, signature I don't mind. But when it's this big I feel it detracts from the picture itself.

Thanks again for the submission. And I hope there are a few useful tips here for you. Good luck with your photography Sofia!

Ed.