This week I booked a new client. It’s always excited to be able to photograph a new family for the first time, there’s a bit of anxiety and excitement, and I find that I get a lot more objective about the shoot. I tend to set a run book in my head on how I would like the photos to look and the types of poses I want to shoot prior to starting. Originally, I had talked about shooting at the Michigan State University Horticultural Gardens, but MSU put in place a policy that required masks indoors and outdoors on campus, and as you can imagine, masks don’t make for very good portraits.
After a brief discussion we settled on Fenner Nature Center, which I had never photographed at before. Because I’d never been there I got to the location 35 minutes early to walk the trails and to run down locations and backdrops I wanted to use for the pictures. There were lots of great spots on the trails, different elevations, intriguing backdrops, good shade and places where the light could come through. I headed back to the parking lot to wait for Kara and Brandon to arrive.
Once we got started, everyone did great. They suffered through the high 80 degree weather, dodged ticks, and mosquitoes, and kept on smiling. Kara told me when we got started that they had lost their dog, a black lab, recently and wanted to incorporate the leash and collar into family photos. We were able to have some great shots and I was able take part in something really meaningful for the family.
While we were walking I found out that one of Brandon’s daughters was into photography. I referred her to a great manual simulator by canon linked here. Both girls were great sports, even at the end of the shoot they were still smiling and having a good time as you can see by the photos below.
I came out of the session really happy with how everything went. I had a few requests from Kara for post processing, mostly along the lines of lighting, and adjusting the glare on glasses. If you’re interested in me doing a tutorial on how I fixed those things let me know in the comments below. Thanks for sticking out this long post!
Love the blog, Ben! You captured the highlights of a fun photo shooting session…Especially the teenage sisters and loving memory of our Camie dog. Thank you!