Shawnee was trying to study, but I interrupted her to put these fake autumn leaves in her hair. I just rested them on her head for this shot. She was reaching up to catch them as they fell off.

The leaves do make a good prop, and she was laughing enough that there’s no chance she learned anything that day. At least her test is days away. There’s always a test coming up.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 28-135mm, 1/800, F5.6, 50mm, ISO200, 2008-11-07T10:17:42-05, 20081107-151742rxt

Download a perfected high-res JPEG or download the source image (Canon Rebel XTi RAW file).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Credit me as Richard X. Thripp, and link back to richardxthripp.thripp.com or rxthripp.com. Thanks!

You can use the model’s likeness for anything not defamatory. You are one of my “licencees.”

A girl named Lyric, holding up a print of Fiery Hearts, which represents her heart. Don’t hurt her! She’s fragile like the glass in that picture frame.

I always try to get my models to look down with eyes up toward the camera, or toward the side… it’s a much more interesting pose than a dead-on stare. That worked well here.

I took out her nose ring, part of a tattoo, and some of her clothes. The photo is much more appealing that way.

The framed picture didn’t turn out good to start, because it was mostly …

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Jenna says hello. She was studying chemistry.

It’s hard to get my models to be serious. Most of them just start laughing when I tell them to look serious. This is as close as I got w/ Jenna.

For editing, I took out some lines under her eyes and made her brighter. Since the sunlight is behind her, she was a bit dark in the original image.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/100, F2.5, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-10-13T09:23:47-04, 20081013-132347rxt

It was cloudy out, but Michelle makes it seem sunny anyway. The highlights on her hair and eyes turned out well.

She also has a beautiful smile. A lot of people are afraid to smile. I’ve noticed most fashion models glower at the camera nowadays, but it’s all an act, and it’s getting tired.

I found Michelle studying for her history exam at a picnic table at the college. Not minutes before the test, but days in advance.

What do all her bracelets mean?

I brightened the highlights in her hair, and made her eyes a bit lighter. The blue …

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Jenna is talking on a cell phone. People have all sorts of interesting conversations on these every day.

I told her to look real serious and pretend she was receiving an important phone call, but she laughed instead. That’s how you get a girl to smile. Tell her to be serious. I think the reverse might work for seriousness.

It was cloudy and raining out, so the light was diffused. The transition from light (on the left) to shadow (on the right) works well.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/50, F2.5, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-10-08T12:39:36-04, 20081008-163936rxt

Download a perfected high-res JPEG or [sniplet …

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Richard's picks:

This is from the photo-shoot with Sarah; we bumped into Brice from Reunion. I told them to pretend to be meeting, and Sarah hammed it up for the camera. There was no reason to pretend, because they were in fact meeting for the first time.

I wanted to make Sarah look angelic, so I brightened around her, reddened her hair, and added contrast to her eyes; it adds a lot to her personality. The last step was to add color and contrast to the brick wall. The college’s buildings make good backgrounds for photos.

[sniplet ...

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I took some photos of Sarah this week; we walked around campus and found Mr. Patrick playing guitar. He was really putting his heart in it; the song he’s singing here is Goodnight, Irene. Sarah is enjoying listening, while shyly eying the camera.

Editing on this: I added a glow effect and darkened the brick wall, especially at the corners, which keeps your eyes from darting out of the frame.

Canon Rebel XTi, EF 50mm 1:1.4, 1/640, F2.8, 50mm, ISO100, 2008-10-01T13:17:34-04, 20081001-171734rxt