One Shooting Location...So Many Options

A lot of my clients, and other photographers, think that you need a large, sprawling, fantastic venue full of great scenery to get a good photo shoot.  But since we don't have a lot of those within a reasonable driving distance to me, I've had to refine the art of finding just a few great spots and using those the best that I can.

Actually, I'm the photographer that walks my models right past all the pretty flowers and architecture and I know they're behind me thinking "What's she doing?  I thought we were supposed to stand in front of flowers and say 'Cheese'!"


I've found that I really don't look for typical scenery at all when determining where to shoot.  I look more for texture and color and if it has plenty of that I can work it out with just a small amount of space if needed.


I wanted to share with you one of my favorite little fields in a small park that I've been using quite a bit for my photo sessions.  I'm finding that every few weeks the texture of the field changes which creates all new opportunities for me to the unique textures and colors that are within it.

Here's some of the portraits I've shot over the last year that shows how one small field, hidden in the back of a playground park, can be utilized for a variety of different looks.

~ June 2011

~ July 2011

~ Early May 2012

~ Late May 2012

~ June 2012

So the next time you find a great little spot to take some photos, keep an eye on it thru the seasons and see if changes for you.  You never know what you'll be able to create!

Wanna see more images from these sessions?  Of course you do!  Check out my Facebook to see all my photo albums and lots more great photo tips and ramblings from me:)

Should This Photo Be Saved?

So I'm going thru my photos from a session with my one of my favorite models ever, Little Ms. Alexis, when I come to this image...

...and I have to make the decision "Do I trash this photo or save it?".

There's so many obvious flaws...the crop is so wrong...the white balance is awful...the exposure pretty much stinks.  This SOOC image will definitely NOT be in an upcoming blog about "getting it right in camera"!  It was actually a test shot when I was testing the lighting to photograph her baby sister and I told her all she had to do was sit there:)

Also, I already had so many images that I knew were going to be fabulous.
What would you do?  Would you save it or trash it?


Despite all the flaws, the expression on this photo just captivated me and I knew I had to save it.

Of course the first thing I did, since I'm a cropping maniac, was crop in Lightroom to make sure there was no mistake that this portrait was all about that expression.  Here's my crop...

Then I had to get rid of her sunburned cheeks but I didn't want to lose the detail of all those great freckles so I did a few curves adjustments then decided to a very light black and white photo.  I used a whole mish mash of Florabella actions and finally came up with a recipe I liked.  Here's a comparison shot of the SOOC and my final portrait...

And here's the final image in all it's glory~

I pretty much luv it.

So tell me....do you think it was worth saving?  


{you can check out all the other images from this session that I saved by clicking right here}