Mind if I chime in? I might try a higher lighting ratio to have a darker shadow side. As Stan indicated, you also want to "short light" her. Have her turn her face toward the main light so the distance from her nose to her ear on the highlight side is [optically] less than than the distance from her nose to her ear on the shadow side. More of her face wll therefore be in shadow and her face will appear thinner.

Hi Everybody
I am a new guy on the block to this site from across the water, from a town just north of Brisbane Australia(this my first entry). My wife and i run a wedding and portrait business with help from our teenage daughter. I have had contact with the "Shoot Smarter" site for some time now and have gained valuable info on trends and techniques in the photography industry carried out in your home land that have helped add a little spice to my work that is not generally practiced here in Australia.
One such style of photography you guys have that is not done here (for what ever reason, and i would like to change that) is the "Seniors" concept. I have heard on occasion from colleagues that it won't work here or is too hard to get up and running. But from reading some of the Threads on this site and listening to visiting speakers from the US i understand that it is a big part of the photography scene in the US.
It was also good to get some balance from the thread by Craig Murphy, that he was having trouble (i hope i inturperated that right Craig) drumming business in this field.
I wish to make an Aussie style of "Seniors" photography a part of our business plan. So therefore i am sending out a big SOS to all my new found colleagues in Prophoto Resource.com for any info you guys can share with me to help put this plan in action. Any and all info will be gratefully appreciated. For example, print sizes, packages, prices, time limits on shoots, studio and location shoots or just one or the other, advertising, do the schools get involved or is it done totally out side the school system, anything that you guys think i should know to help. You will understand that i am starting from scratch here so i am really asking for so much with only my humble thanks to offer for you generosity. If someone out there would like to help me but the info is sensitive to your market share in the US you could contact me direct on my email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Thanking you all for your time.
John Robinson

Hi John,
Welcome to ProPhotoResource.com we are glad to have you as a new member.

Yes you are correct besides the wedding market i'd say seniors is probably the next biggest market here in the US. However you might wish to post this post as it's own topic because it's kind of buried in this thread on posing heavy people.

Give that a shot and see if you get some response.

Good Luck and thanks again for finding us.

Cris...

Aloha!

Hey, "crazy" George! Good to hear from you again...been a while! Unfortunately when I clicked the links to the images posted here, both returned a "not found", so I can't comment on the images...

Aussie John, welcome aboard! Yeah breaking into the senior market is a tough one, but it may just be an easy plum for you there where the market is unexplored! Go in with a positive attitude! I would suggest putting together some sample portraits and meeting with the high school admins and junior and senior class committees to present your proposals. If you can land a contract with a school to do their junior & senior proms, it'll be easier to get the senior portrait biz. The school being your referral source.

Offer to provide a headshot of every senior to the yearbook if the school will direct all the seniors to go to your studio for their senior portrait. Then you can offer packages to them. Check out my website www.paramountphotography.com and take a look at my Seniors page, and Pricing page. I have no school contracts so the seniors I get are coming to me from having been family portrait clients, or as destination senior portraits via my website.

Hope this helps.
Aloha,SPC II

Hey John, I remember 2 years ago at WPPI I saw a photographer and cannot for the life of me remember her name but she would photograph a few kids in really cool locations and then these kids would become her "ambassadors" for her business. I am assuming she would give them promotional pieces with their pictures on them to help attract new clients.

You don't necessarily have to get a whole school to break into the market. As Stan says he gets clients from his family portraits.

My first step would be to give a few sittings away and Make those kids your "ambassadors".

Also, Rangefinders latest issue is all about the senior market

Hi Guys
Thanks for all the great advice i am taking it all on board.

Chris
As I am new to this arena, i am not sure how to post my message as a stand alone topic, but i will keep searching. Thanks for the words of encouragement and i look forward more words of wisdom. Yes The Seniors style is not practiced as such here in "Aussie". Ijust have to figure how to get the parents to think that they can not afford to miss this special time in thier childrens lives and that they must have this special form of portraiture. and so starts my mission.

Hi Stan
Thanks for the link to your web site, you have some really beautiful images on show. You have helped me to get some very valuable insight into this side of your industry. and as i type i am formulating a plan to try to turn our portrait service into an experience that our local High School Graduates will (hopefully) want and demand (OK want and demand may be a bit too strong at this stage) but hear about and tell thier friends and create inquiries at least for now. I am placing a link to my web site (i hope it works) www.athirdeyephotoservices.com and i would appreciate it if you would give me an appraisal of my images, i realise that the seniors style is not as edgey as some of my portrait work is at the moment. But i am excited about this new avenue to persue and i would appreciate any thoughts you can offer.
Thanks again for your help
Your new Aussie Mate
John

Noellez
Greetings form Aussie. Thanks for your advice, Yes i have also done some work at various times for the pure love of shooting and hoping that the work i have produced for people will return via "Karma". The ambassador ploy is a great tool it does not generally have instant results but the seeds have been planted. Could you please give me some more info on the publicatin about the seniors concept.
Thanking you for your thoughts
John

A Big thanks to you guys for answering my call for help. Hope to stay in touch

Keep Shooting

John Robinson