Anywho, I've said before I meet a lot of people at THE Starbucks. Most of my good friends that I hang out with now, I've met there. Deborah is one of them, and probably one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. She's one of those people who are full of life, and you can't help but smile when they are around. Her personality is just plain contagious.
Deborah graduated from college last December, but before she graduated she asked if I could take her graduation photos. She had seen some of my work and liked them so she asked if I would be willing to. I thought it kinda weird because I thought graduation photos are mainly for high school grads, but then again, why not college grads too? I mean come on, a college degree is what matters anyway right? So why not do a College Senior Photo shoot?? That and it would also help my portfolio to have a few good looking people in it... =)
I find that the best photos I take, in my opinion, is when we show up somewhere with no agenda. On this shoot, it was just me and Deborah hanging out in downtown Waxahachie, TX. There were no assistants, no reflectors, no fancy lighting sets ups, just me, Deborah, a camera and a flash. We took a stroll, talking, and if we liked a scene, then we stopped to take photos. Time flies by that way too.
I have a Sigma flash with an optical sensor. So for this shoot, if I needed a flash, like in this first photo, I set up the flash on optical slave and used my on board flash to set it off remotely. This was kind of a happy accident, as I like to call it. I only intended to get some extra light since it was kinda dark on this side of the wall. I put the flash on the ground, pointed it up and I got this really cool shadow on the wall. I think the wind helped since it was blowing kinda hard. It made Deborah look like a rockstar lol.
I really wanted to get some photos that highlighted her, so I wanted to get some nice depth of field action on some of the photos. No flash here, just natural light.
One of the things I'm trying to get better at is making sure that the background is free and clear of debris. I really should have taken another angle where I didn't get those trash bags in the back, or just move them out of the way. But I think the wild flowers at her feet more than make up for them.
I also wanted to get some fun shots. Now, I believe that Deborah has an old playful soul, and I really wanted to show that somehow. As we turned around the corner from the red brick wall, there was a coin operated horse. I couldn't resist, and she's was all game for it. As I was processing these images, I really wanted to give it an old photo feel to it. So I took it into Photoshop, desaturated it and gave it some nice filters that make them look like old polaroids. Worked out pretty well, I think.
Up close and personal. This is probably my favorite shot of her. I think it really captures her personality.
This is just me playing with some different treatments.
Walking around downtown Waxahachie, you really get a lot of variety as far as scenery goes. They've got everything from back alleys to big colored walls to barns overgrown with ivy to railroad tracks. Which makes this place one of my favorite places to shoot.
Did I mention silos??
...And abandoned railroad bridges??
For the most part, I shot using natural light. I only pulled out the flash when I really needed to fill in some light. This is probably my favorite shoot thus far. It was relaxed, no pressure, just out there having a bit of fun. I shot quite a lot that day, and I got to spend time with one of my favorite people. Definitely time well wasted.
GZ
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