I am in love with this session for so many reasons. I’ve been focusing on newborns and children over the past few months but when Danielle emailed and asked if I would do her senior portraits, I jumped at the chance. I photographed her gorgeous sister two years ago and was thrilled that she wanted to follow in her footsteps with her portraits and have me do them as well. I consider it a huge compliment when families come back to me over the years–it means I must be doing something right!
The location for our session was just perfect and I love how this is an example of finding the right place to photograph with the light available. When we first arrived the sun was still pretty high in the sky, so we started with some open shade under a huge oak tree and in the walnut orchard (images in the white dress). Then we headed over to the truck parked in an open field and I was able to use the actual vehicle to provide some shade while also still getting some great backlight. As the sun started setting we headed to the shed and were able to capture some incredible golden light streaming in through the windows of the building. Then, for the last five minutes before sunset we got some great backlit images before heading back to the orchard for a different perspective with Danielle facing the sun for the first time during our shoot.
This is only about a third of the images from her actual gallery, but I wanted to give you all an idea of how just one session in just one hour can provide such a variety of bright, bold images, hazy sun-washed images, and gorgeous golden light shots. Don’t be afraid to try different things with lighting–if you’re an open shade shooter step out into an open field and play with backlighting. If you’re strictly a golden-hour photographer, schedule your session one hour earlier than usual and play around for the first half of the session. Push yourself to learn a new technique and I promise you won’t be disappointed!
