I run a full time portrait studio focusing on families, children, high school seniors since 2011. And although I absolutely love my clients, I also crave to grow as a professional photographer and participate in print competitions.
Before I shoot something that makes me feel creative and feeds my soul, I plan out the session. I research costuming, what lighting I want to use, backgrounds. I make notes in a journal and eventually storyboard for me and the person I am photographing.
However, Bohemian Betty was just one of those “happy little accidents”. I had planned out a completely different look to photograph this girl and it just wasn’t working. She was home for college break and getting ready to head back to college. I knew this was the only time I was going to photograph her. I was silently frustrated I wasn’t getting the look I wanted.
I stepped away to quickly come up with a new plan. I went into my studio closet and started shopping to see what I had. I pulled a top out of the client closet and grabbed a scarf that I happened to wear that day. I had a big tulle skirt, but when I saw the tulle skirt, it was just overwhelming her. So I focused in on her face and that’s how I captured this shot.
After all that I had prepared, my original idea simply did not work. I knew I had to pivot and quickly. After I got her in the outfit that I felt was going to work, I decided that I was going to really focus in on her face, so it was important to communicate with her. Make a connection, so I could really feel that coming through to the camera.
This image is one of the last images I took that night of her. Like life, sometimes you have the best intentions and plan everything out. But you just have to pivot when it’s not working. And sometimes you get something even better!
Image Capture
Sony A1
Sony 70-200mm G Master OSS II
F/5.6
1/50
ISO 100
When working in studio, I always use my camera stand.
The main lighting set up that I found is successful for me, is my Larson 4×6 soft box and two strip lights as kickers at a 45 degree angle behind the subject.
Post-capture processing
This is one of those images that I think I could have submitted for reportage. There is very little editing in Photoshop to this image. I did fix flyaway hairs using a “sandwich” technique that I learned 10 years ago. Her hair was still a little messy, so I did use a painting technique in photoshop and the history brush tobring out more highlights in her hair.
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