In the week before Christmas I did three portrait sessions with full backdrop and studio lighting: One day it was an over-60s party, the next day it was a toddlers party, and then it was the most exhausting but also the most fun job I do all year, the Tain Academy end-of-year formals at the seniors dance.

I've learned so much since I did last year's formals, so of course this year's photos are that much better. The biggest technical difference is that I backed off from last year's novice "light everything" approach and used a single softbox, positioned about 30 degrees off camera axis to the left and about 10 feet high to produce the butterfly lighting used in fashion photography.

I've also learned how to pose people in more relaxed and flattering ways, including the major improvement of getting girls to pose with their hands on their hips. It's a matter of personal taste and I'm sure some people will think it's more feminine for girls to have their hands overlayed in front of them, but as always my priority is to get the most natural and genuine pictures, and consistently the hands on hips pose produces the best results. (Wouldn't work for older people but for teenagers it's fine. I've never tried it with kids but I suspect it would look too fake.)
Something I've learned from weddings is that when girls have put a lot of effort into their hair and outfits, they like to have pictures taken that show the back of them, so for this year's formals I did 3/4 side views of each girl. I wasn't expecting great results because it's a tough pose to teach someone quickly, but most of them nailed it first time, so that was a bonus.
Among the more unusual things we tried this year were having one of the lads cheering victoriously as he knelt on top of a heap of his friends who were playing dead, two girls pretending to attack each other with various tools, and another two girls who suffered the embarrassment of one being asked to kiss the other on the cheek. (Sorry girls, the shot I was really trying to get was one of you both laughing, the kiss was just to make it happen!)

Something I do need to improve next time isn't really anything to do with photography, but I'll have to request that the girls wear shoes and choose bras that are appropriate for their dresses. There were many girls this year who had the wrong posture because they had taken their shoes off, and there were a lot of potential shots that I couldn't take because girls had worn the wrong kind/colour of bra under strappy or backless dresses.
Anyway, here's a selection of shots. I did all the 'safe' shots of everyone so I haven't included many of those here, going instead for the more dramatic, interesting, or just plain bizarre shots that we came up with…
Tain Academy senior formals
Shot specs:
Canon 1Ds  •  70-200 f/2.8L IS  •  1/125s  •  ISO 100

Focal range was around 85mm for full height shots, 135mm for 3/4 shots and 70mm for larger group shots. Aperture was f/8 for individuals and couples, down to f/16 for groups.

Lighting was a Bowens 1000DX with square softbox.