Our first MUSEnation teen photoshoot in our new location in Huntington, WV! Our model is Saya, a 12 year old gymnast and cake baker. She also loves making silly faces, but we ended up with some seriously beautiful images! Scroll down to see and read about how we created them.
When thinking of locations to photograph portraits, we often think of locations on a larger scale. We look for locations with the most dramatic scenery or the most overall impact, but we may be overlooking some great opportunities in seemingly less dramatic areas. Some of my favorite portraits were actually photographed in very small, difficult or mundane locations. I sometimes choose these kinds of locations to get out of my comfort zone and challenge my creativity.
These photos were created in spaces that at first seemed unappealing- a tiny median in a busy parking area, a small bed of grasses in a downtown area, and a smoke shop next to a restaurant. (Because I was photographing a 12 year old girl for this shoot, a smoke shop background was a particularly unappealing choice.)
The first photo was created in the parking area with the tiny median. The bed of flowers was about 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 '. The model was lying on the sidewalk with just her upper body in the flowers and I had to stand on the asphalt to get the shot. The models' mother stood near the top of her head with my Godox AD400 strobe and parabolic softbox pointed straight at the top of her head to create a soft butterfly light. Camera settings: F2.8 1/250 ISO 100.
This next images were created in the grass bed. (You can see the size and location in the BTS photo below.) For this image, the strobe was placed to my left, close to the model, and slightly above her eye level. Placing the strobe closer created more dramatic lighting, even though it was a bright sunny day. It was a breezy day, so the wind created a bit of magic with the grasses and the models' hair. Camera settings: F2.8 1/640 ISO 100.
These images were created using the smoke shop as the background. (You can see the area in the BTS photo below.) The green lights added a cool vibe to the image and complimented her red dress and bag. My strobe was positioned just to my left and fairly close to me. I added a speedlight with a red gel pointed at the shop window for a subtle flare. Camera settings: F2.8 1/400 ISO 200.
Gear used:
Sony Alpha A7iii
Sony 24-70 f 2.8 GM
Godox AD400
Here are some behind the shot images for you to enjoy! As you can see, we were in a pretty basic part of downtown. With a little imagination, you can make beautiful images in even the most uninspiring locations.
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