Bosque

Snow in the 505

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Snow might not be that uncommon in late February in certain parts of the northern hemisphere but in Albuquerque if it does snow it’s usually no more than a half inch sheet and will be gone by the afternoon. So when we get 8 inches over two days a portrait photographer like myself needs to take advantage.

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Now getting a model to do a shoot at the last minute can be a hassle but lucky for me, my lovely girlfriend Emilie was more than willing to be my subject out in the bosque.

AJA_0037Normally in complex weather conditions you get an excellent side effect with overcast acting as a giant softbox in the sky.  The problem was is that the sky was only partly cloudy so we didn’t get the soft light I wanted 100% of the time, making shooting a bit challenging. Lucky for me though, I was able to keep my ISO at 100 making for optimal image quality.

AJA_0032One thing you might be noticing from the images is that there is a lot of light being reflected upward. This was an added effect of the white snow on the ground reflecting the light back up at Emilie.

AJA_0117The snow allowed for some unique aesthetics that we don’t get a lot of where I’m from and I’m grateful for the opportunity. But to be completely honest I can live without the snow. It makes it hard to move around and the cold makes it limiting in terms of wardrobe. If it could just be in the upper 60s with constant overcast I’d be in my own photography heaven but we can’t always get what we want. But you know what we all have work with what we’re given and when you’re given something different you owe it to yourself to try it out.

 

 

Photo-shoots Should be Fun.

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Since I started shooting portraits I’ve started to notice how slight details effect the image. Backgrounds, location, time of day, present light, wardrobe, hair makeup, Space, Ect. But there’s one detail that really makes or breaks the success of a photo-shoot, and that would be  how easy the model is to work with. This isn’t necessary to say that some models are awful drama inducing divas who are impossible to deal with but it’s a manner of personalities working well together. I’ve been with some models who have been very stone like doesn’t interact well and sometimes require some extra effort to get the photos out of them. There are others who are just the opposite and approach photo-shoots as play time and just like to be free and crazy which to a photographer who is looking for moments, like myself, is perfect.

This last week I did two photo-shoots with two people who really find themselves on the side of just having fun of shoots. Tara and Francesca are two people who I have worked with before in the past and they have been two of my favorite people to work with. Neither of them take themselves too seriously, they’re both incredibly humble and over all just fun people to be around. And as an added bonus they’re good looking.

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The first shoot last week was with Tara who is not a model by trade but certainly has the talent and look of one. She’s tiny, adorable and her biggest strength she has no fear. We did our shoot in downtown Albuquerque and her adventurous spirit was beautifully on display throughout. Our goal was to just move around find interesting locations and goof around with the camera. This lead us on an adventure all around downtown, into a park and hijacking the Hyatt’s lobby.

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Her willingness to move around, try something new, and even take risk during shoots makes her such a pleasure to work with. She has a lot of good stories she’s easy to talk which makes making a connection with your subject all the more easy. It makes shooting a much all more enjoyable of an experience.

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Now onto the veteran, Francesca. She’s been doing modeling much longer than I’ve been shooting and has been a great asset to my photography. She’s always eager to go on a shoot she knows how to pose herself and give different looks and she takes direction very well.

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Francesca is very fun loving, and playful and as result tries to pear pressure others into doing shoots with her (Which is fine by me.) She’s also not afraid to try something new and will take direction like a champ. We did our shoot down by Tingley Beach in Albuquerque and we wanted to get that “it’s now summer” feel. Out doors, Near the Rio Grand river, Trees all around and plenty of opportunities for something different.

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What Francesca does so well is being confident. She know she looks good, she knows what she’s doing and when the camera is on her she is always active in front of it. Sometimes you need to bottle her up to get the shots of her but once you get on the same page as her the magic happens.

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Both of these women are incredible people both in front of and away from the camera and I enjoy having them around. The truly represent what I enjoy about portrait photography. Their patient, daring, receptive, and most of all gorgeous. They’re amazing to work with and I can’t wait to get them in front of the camera again.

 

 

 

Photo Shoot at the Bosque

To kick off this holiday weekend I ended up doing a photo shoot. This time it was with a friend of mine who goes buy the name of Kenya who I’ve done work with in the past, specifically on the cosplay side but this time we ended up doing a more casual kind of shoot at the bosque down in Albuquerque.

Kenya Chan on a log in the Albuquerque Bosque

Kenya Chan on a log in the Albuquerque Bosque

I’ve used the Bosque before on several occasions in the past specifically for the nature element of it which is a nice change of scenery from the often gritty city environments you find around albuquerque. Don’t get me wrong I like gritty but you got to change it up every once in a while. In fact there was an overpass bridge that went over the Rio Grande which gave a good urban piece with some juxtaposition next to nature. To add to that there was a bridge under that bridge which I really got a kick out of.

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One thing that I love about shooting outside of a studio environment is  the opportunity to capture something organic. I’ve done some studio photography in the past and though I did enjoy it, I felt limited in what I could capture in such a small place. Granted studios have their advantages such as being a controlled environment where you know what you can expect and they afford you the ability to get away from prying eyes for the more risque photo shoots. But being that I come from a more journalistic side of photography when I do the more commercial work I like to be able to move around and use scenery to my advantage.

Kenya by the Rio Grand

Kenya by the Rio Grand

Now shooting at a location as opposed to a studio does have it’s share of difficulties. Specifically with lighting. Sometimes there’s not enough, Sometimes it’s too harsh and sometimes something is casting some kind of shadow making the light uneven. There are several things can do about this, 1) is be aware of the light you have and where it’s coming from and 2) is editing the RAW Files in Lightroom. You shouldn’t rely on editing to fix your exposures but there is no harm in tweeking your files in post to get then to look the way you want. There are times where an image can look lost but some simple edits can bring it back. There are other things you can do with reflectors and supplemental lighting but that wasn’t readily available to me for this shoot (Once again a benefit to studio and haveing an assistant.).

Kenya and light through the trees.

Kenya and light through the trees.

Overall this was a really fun shoot and I’m looking forward to hopefully having some more over the holiday break since i will have more time on my hands than I will know what to do with.

If you want to see more of Kenya (Specifically in cosplay) You can like her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KenyaChanCosplay

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