Portrait Photography with a Little Sorcery.

Yesterday I drug one of my good friends, Jessica out to do a little experimenting. I wanted to try out a new technique for my portrait photography and play around with the images in photoshop. Well, she was game so it was on. After about 30 mins, I decided that the "new" technique was not for me and went right back to what I know. I guess you can teach on old dog new tricks, but only if he wants to learn. I enjoy manipulating the light, Jessica calls it "sorcery". In the above image, the sun is actually on Jessica's right side, yet it looks it's coming from her left. I accomplished this by putting a remote triggered SB600 with an orange gel over her left shoulder.  I am however making a real effort to shoot more natural light, and three of these images were taken with no flash. 

This is a natural light image taken under a bridge. Her face has an interesting shadow on her left because the sun is bouncing off the ground onto the right side of her face. The diagonal lines made by the bridge structure also make this photograph more interesting. (Photo Tip)

I love this image. It's another natural light image. She looks kinda "sassy". She has a small amount of shadow on her left side again, but this time it's coming from the sun reflecting off a condo across the street.

Who doesn't like a giant concrete ball? Sunlight sorcery again thanks to a gel'd flash.

and again

Last shot from under the bridge is another natural light image. The result is a beautiful soft light.

Senior Photography, Don't pass it by!

I had been driving past this door on an old abandoned house for years. Every time I would pass it, I would say to my wife," I love that door, one day I'm gonna shoot a portrait of someone standing in that doorway". Well this went on for years, I'm not kidding. I just never got around to it or had the right client. Awhile back Hannah wanted me to do her Senior pics and I told her that I had the perfect backdrop. She was game so we headed to that old structure, jumped out of the truck and shot a quick natural light portrait. The whole process took 5 minutes maybe. I love that old door. Maybe I'll use it again in a few years. Here are a few more from Hannah's Senior Portrait session. Senior Portraits are probably my favorite type of photography.

A New Year's Resolution, a Few Days Late.

Today's the 9th, I never seem to do things the conventional way. My resolution this year is to do more natural light photography. For the past few years I have been relying heavily on my strobes. I really like using them in direct sunlight with the sun at the subjects back. Sometimes I overlook a location that has great natural lighting because of an idea for a shoot I have planned already. The above image was taken with no flash, no reflector, no nothing except a beautiful model and light bouncing off a wall. For the bottom image, I used a reflector only. Stayed tuned for more natural light images. I am shooting Stephanie this Sunday and I plan on using almost all natural light.