Having quite the eventful day including a flat tire, Michelle was running behind. In an effort to be as prompt as possible, she neglected to eat. Thinking she had drank enough water to keep her hydrated, she arrived for her session.
It was a sweltering day for sure, hot and humid! It didn't take long before Michelle was feeling the effects of her tightly laced dress, lack of food and the heat. We kept her hydrated with the little water I had and took turns fanning her with my reflector, as well as loosening her dress a couple times. In spite of everything she looked radiant and continued to perform beautifully in front of my camera.
As we started her session, I asked what she envisioned for her images. She expressed a desire for sophistication & elegance. That would be an easy task with such an elegant young lady before me. As we continued throughout the approximately two hour session, Michelle expressed so many wonderful sides. With subtle guidance from me she was sheer perfection, often posing like a fashion model! As we progressed she became more & more comfortable in front of the camera and was wonderfully expressive!
Michelle, thank you for being such a trooper to the very end. I think you'll agree it was worth it! You look FABULOUS!!!!!
I love sharing behind the scenes stories because readers continually express how helpful the information is. So the take-away from this is, eat before your session or bring snacks, and if it's hot be sure to bring plenty of water. Also it's better to be somewhat late to your session and feeling better than to be prompt and suffer.
As an artist, it's important to be true to yourself. It's okay to look to others for inspiration, but let your heart guide you to create your unique look. As I prepare to head off for a session, I try not to have a set of pre-conceived poses in my head, I prefer to go with confidence and let the subject and environment inspire me. Like I've said before, each person is different and it's important to help them express who they are. One of the reasons I like to spend a couple of hours in my sessions is to have the time to get comfortable with my client and let them get comfortable with my instructions and being in front of the camera. I find consistently, that the images get better the deeper into the session we are. It makes sense.
Most of these images were shot with my Canon 5D MRKII, however a few were shot with my Nikon D700 (I do have a post coming on why I use both). I have shot in raw, but didn't really like it. It uses so much more space and wasn't necessary since I pretty much nail my exposures & white balance in camera. I shoot high resolution jpegs.
These were straight out of the camera NO EDITING. It's so important to get accurate exposures. Not only does it save you time in editing, but your image will always look better if you expose correctly. Trying to fix bad exposures in photo-shop will never result in the same quality.
I've aways liked the mystery of not seeing the full face of a subject. The light was perfect here to light her face & still maintain detail in the dress. Her poses are relaxed and natural feeling. She stands out against the dark trees and harmonizes with the white railing.
As you photograph your subject, offer variety. As you will notice in these images I have captured many poses, angles, expressions, backgrounds, lighting, etc.
Subtle differences but both are really cute. The lower camera angle adds height and a fresh perspective.
Although I love color, I felt the black & white would give it a more vintage feel complimenting this old mansion.
My angle was specifically chosen to frame the bride between the dark tree trunk and the dark gate. Also my angle and depth of field obscures the unsightly buildings and cars in the background. I have used a reflector to fill in the shadow side of the bride.
These were taken during one of Michelle's rest periods. Am I bad? I had to keep on shooting. The light was soft and offered still another look.
On this pose I did use a skin softner on her to enhance the image.
I love this series of images. The layers, textures and colors are amazing and she POPS against it all! The only editing I had to do was remove some stray hairs and I lightened the catch lights in her eyes just a little.
A new expression on the right. I like the feel of it. Dramatic yet soft.
She has soo many looks!
Well I hope you enjoyed my commentary and learned something helpful. I would love to hear your thoughts, just click the comment link below this post. Which image is your favorite? Why?
Hey Joshua, I have shot in Raw, but it takes too much space and wasn't necessary since I get very accurate exposures and white balance in camera. I know others like it, but it's just not for me.
Posted by: Debrah Woods | June 03, 2011 at 11:46 AM
Beautiful work future boss! I may have to convince you to shoot RAW at least to try it. ;) Can't wait to work with you. I'm quite excited.
Posted by: Joshua | June 02, 2011 at 07:58 PM