Take a Breather

Take a Breather - student project

Story:

This lake is where my friends and I go to catch our breath, either on our own time or together. I invited my friend (pictured) to enjoy the space with me as I captured the comfort and peace it brings us.

Challenges:

• As a photographer I'm really great at helping people feel comfortable in front of a camera, but occasionally when my friends are my subjects, I can feel a disconnect...the normal "new stranger" charm doesn't work. So while we're normally giggly together, that felt too forced today, so I opted for telling the story of her feeling comfortable and at home instead.

• I'm great at telling stories through candids (focused on this as a wedding photographer). As I've moved onto personal branding and headshots, I'm struggling to create eye-catching and story-telling portraits that are still functional! (Brian, if you have any courses or resources that help with this, I would love to know about them...will do my research on it, but will put it here to ask, too :)  )

 

Equipment used:

• Nikon D610
• Tamron 24-70 (at 70mm)
• Westcott Apollo Orb Octabox 
• Phottix Mitros speedlight

 

Lighting Setup:

• Sunset was behind her to the right (you can see it catching her hair and the edge of the tree)
• Octabox was placed slightly above her and to the right (did not have an assistant with me so this was particularly challenging with windy conditions)
• ISO 250
• f/4.5
• SS 1/400
• Flash was either at 1/2 or 1/1 power

Hope this helps anyone looking into this course! Definitely recommend it.