Erin & Taylor

Today I was lucky to have two lovely ladies to photograph at a local forest preserve. Erin & Taylor live across the street from each other and have been BFF's since grade school. If you don't already know Erin, she is also an aspiring photographer and we both frequently pick Violet's brain for information, training, and advice. We were both inspired by Violet's recent homework assignment of portrait photography, and decided to jump in and see what we could do on our own.
Mother nature didn't quite cooperate with the idea of working with various lighting (full light, side light, shade, etc.) as it was pretty overcast. I was bummed at first, but then I remembered that bulky lump at the bottom of my gear bag was my Nikon speedlight and (gulp) maybe I should dust the cobwebs off it and actually use it. Fill-flash education in lieu of mother nature's sunlight!
Erin and I both took some shots of Taylor -the many faces of Taylor - and then I decided to pull Erin out from behind her camera and get some pictures of her, too. Once she got over her initial shock of being out from behind the lens, she warmed right up and was a great model!
I noticed a few things during this photo session I need to keep in mind for the future. First, don't let it get you down when the location and/or weather doesn't cooperate - just go to Plan B. Second, make sure you have a plan B, hahaha. I also learned I need to be just a bit more vocal (sit here, look up, etc.) Also, I kept up conversation with both girls as I shot pics, and noticed that the more they joked and laughed, they relaxed, and then the photos were easy to take....here is a sneak peek of a couple.....check the rest out at www.mtsphotography.zenfolio.com
I'm looking forward to photographing these ladies again soon when they are all glammed up for Homecoming!