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Rangefinder
Magazine Insight/ On the Cover by Bill Hurter Seniors and teens are an age group in transition. They
have boyfriends or girlfriends, they’re thinking about college
or careers and they’re often on the brink of leaving home, all
of which can make for a confusing time of life. A portrait made at this
stage in their lives becomes a valuable heirloom because they will never
look or act or be quite like this again. Senior-age kids are at the height
of their physical attractiveness, especially girls, who are at or are
very close to their physical primes. Although boys don’t usually
reach their physical primes until around the age of 25, senior boys are
definitely showing signs of physical maturity. The smart studio owners
have taken to offering high-end, upscale, trendy senior sittings that
allow the kids to be photographed with their favorite things. A senior’s
car, a treasured possession usually, is a prime prop included in these
sessions. Often senior sessions will involve friends or favorite haunts.
Or in the case of senior girls, they might want to be photographed in
a fashion, glamour pose, wearing something pretty racy—like what
they see on MTV. This is all part of the process of expressing their
individuality and becoming an adult and instead of resisting it, many
smart portrait photographers are now catering to it. Today’s teens
will often have unique clothes or hair (or tattoos or piercings) that
set them apart. A good senior photographer, instead of reacting negatively
to their uniqueness, will react with appreciation. We have assembled
an award-winning team of senior and teen photographers as part of this
issue. Richard Pahl, Brian King, Fuzzy Duenkel, Jeff Smith, Larry Peters
and others will cover the gamut of senior photography from posing to
marketing and everything in between. Aside from offering a variety of
innovative ways to capture and market senior portraiture, these photographers
also have something else in common—they really like the kids of
this age group and as consumers, this group is very savvy, making the
challenge and the rewards that much more satisfying. Bill Hurter
Lighting is a huge thing with me. This image was made with window light only and with no additional light modifiers. I usually leave the lens at f/4 when using the 80–200 f/2.8 lens. I want a touch more depth of field to cover autofocusing errors, plus a tad more sharpness, since all lenses are sharper a few stops down from wide open. For more details
on Fuzzy’s senior technique, see “Fuzzy’s
Four-Hour Senior Sessions, which begins on page 12. |
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PHOTOGRAPHER:
Fuzzy Duenkel