Making My Job Easy

Remember how I said that last Wednesday I did my first "real" people photo shoot?  Well it was both nerve wracking and fun, and I've included a ton of pictures in this post to show you how it all went.

I'm very fortunate to have photogenic children of my own, and I just wish that I had found photography when they were little, but better late than never right?  Up until last Wednesday, my kids were the ONLY people I had ever really photographed.  The idea of photographing other people really terrified me, but I knew I wanted to at least try it.

So I sent out a few emails and asked a few friends if I could practice on them or their children, and "C" was my first subject!  C is the daughter of one of my oldest friends, her mom and I have known each other since we were kids, which means I've known C since she was born...well actually even before she was born!

She and my son are just 3 weeks apart, and they practically grew up together.  Our last house was right down the street from their house, so both C and her older sister K, who is just a year younger than my daughter, were constantly at one another's houses growing up!  Our son Bugs still reminds us about how he was constantly in the company of girls growing up.  I would have to say that it made him who he is today, and one day, some lucky girl will get a husband that won't be one bit phased by everything girlie because of it!

C and her sister are both beautiful young women, and I sometimes have to remind myself when I see them that they are no longer the little kids that used to dress up at my house or sleep over!  Case in point, if you look at the photo above this one you'll notice a little photo editing which I did to appease her mom.  If you look closely, you'll see that in the first photo there's no nose piercing, but the one above has it!  I did virtually no photo editing for this shoot, except turning images into sepia or black and white and a few actions, but for my friend's sake I edited out the piercing.   My friend S admits that it's growing on her, but she's not quite there yet...give it time mom! ;-)

C was such an easy subject to photograph.  She naturally pretty, and is comfortable in front of a camera without being fake or unnatural.  I loved when I would catch her just being herself like in the shot above.

She has two horses which she keeps at a beautiful farm and the fields aglow with yellow buttercups were perfect for taking pictures.  We did wonder if there were any snakes in the grass so to speak, but she was a good sport and laid down anyway...thanks C!

And animal lover, just like her mom, from the day she was born, she brought along one of her 5 dogs (a stray she found) for the shoot.  After posing in the fields, I had the two of them jump in the back of her big 'ole truck so that I could get a few shots.  She loves this beagle to pieces, so I'm glad we could get some pictures with her pooch even if the light was kind of harsh.  I used an action on this shot to punch up the color and give it a slightly different look.

After the truck shots, we moved inside one of the barns.  I knew as soon as I arrived at the farm that I wanted to take a few shots in this space because the light was wonderful and I loved the setting!  The picture above is one of my favorites from the shoot.  I used one of Pioneer Woman's free actions on it to soften it just a bit and then I played around with the colors to slightly mute them.  I really love the way it turned out.

I love candid shots like the one above, they somehow capture the essence of a person and I think that makes for a great photo.

I also love the way adding sepia or making a picture black and white can change the whole feel of an picture!

This saddle was sitting in the same barn, and I thought it made a perfect prop for this shot.  Finding an interesting place to shoot is so important, so I felt lucky to be able to use the farm as my backdrop for this shoot.  This picture is one of her dad's favorites!

It was a gorgeous day, and even though the sun was a little intense when I took this shot, I still like how it turned out.

Here is the same basic shot, just without being cropped.

As the sun was getting lower in the sky, we moved over to a pasture where C keeps her two horses.  I love this shot and thought the texture would frame it nicely and give it a bit of a vintage feel.

Of course we had to get some shots with C and her horses!

The horses were wonderful and posed as naturally as C did!

Even before the shoot started, I knew that I wanted to try and get a few silhouetted shots if I could.  The sun wasn't quite low enough to get a "real" silhouette, but I still liked the way it turned out and how it gives you a sense of place with the water and pasture in the background.

I don't even remember what action I used on this shot, but it turned out to be one of my favorites, and also my daughter's favorite.  It just seems so natural to me, and I love the vintage 70's feel to it.  I wonder if C would mind posing as an Anthro model...I think she has what it takes, don't you?!

Thanks for indulging me and letting me share this shoot with all of you.  I quickly overcame my fear of shooting people, though I'm not sure it's the career choice for me.  And having such a beautiful and willing subject in C really did make my job easy.  Thank you C for being the perfect model!

What do you all think makes a good portrait, I would love to hear.  Is it the setting, the lighting, do you prefer color to black and white or sepia?  I would love to hear your thoughts!

Check back later this week...I'll be hosting another giveaway!