Posted by Mr. Robot | March 21st, 2020 | No responses
Babies are born. They grow up. They move out. They come back to live with you, but if you’re smart you’ll be in a one bedroom apartment by then. This round of photos I bring a crew and my bag of tricks. So ….
Don’t go chasing them. I would wager this means stop making stupid decisions. Remember that video we saw online where the woman licks a tub of ice cream and puts it back in the freezer for some poor schmuck to purchase? Can you imagine buying this tub, taking it home, and eating the spit particles from that nasty ass woman’s tongue? Ok where am I going with this? Ah yes! I remember. Prairie Creek Park in Richardson, Texas has a small waterfall that drives in lots of photographers and high school seniors wanting to take their photos for their commencement time. This place is usually packed with end to end photo opportunities which means crowds of people are usually going to be in your shot. On a busy day I have seen everyone quickly bokehing the background out, but this defeats the purpose. I personally love to have lots of my shots with everything in focus.
Speaking of focusing!
Serida Sims is a volley ball player out of Fort Worth, Texas with an intimidating winning streak and one of those fierce attitudes only a mother could love. She’s a bad ass, and there are countless amounts of other rival volley ball teams to attest to this. So when her mom approached me to shoot some photos, we had to figure out the best way for these qualities to shine, all the while remaining beautiful and true to her teenage self.
After weeks of coordinating and finally the weather agreeing to such an event, we ventured out to Prairie Creek Park, and much to our surprise it was clear of crowds, photographers, and overcast. The sun was perfect hitting our model in all the right spots while we set up our lights to begin our session.
Every shot we took was smooth as the environment played along to our beat. Prairie Creek Park has lots of photo ops as you will see in the photo results. We started off in the waterfall area in order to take advantage of how quiet and devoid of people that it was. We even had time to set up in the water.
Part of being a photographer is also experiencing what the model is experiencing, and that means taking off your shoes and getting those feet wet. The water was cold as hell, and while Serida and I were both feeling the shots, we felt the freeze within our toes too.
From out of the freezing water and into a new outfit, Serida rocks the tight jeans and white top for a more casual look. She’s a delight to photograph and each exposure was always a great shot with different natural expressions.
Take these rock shots for example. They are all of the same shot, but her different expressions make for some hard decisions on which one of these to get printed.
We have a two light set up:
Splashing a soft light on Serida with a Profoto B10 Plus sporting a 2×3 OCF Profoto Softbox as the main light, with a 1×3 OCF Profoto Stripbox as the hair light.
2 Light Setup:
We overpower the sun with the Profoto B10 Plus with Profoto OCF Magnum Reflector as the key light, and a Profoto B10 with 2×3 OCF Profoto Softbox as a fill. I wanted Serida to pop out in these shots by making a shallow depth of field, overpowering the sun, and enhancing her skin with a hard light.
We hike a few yards up the street only to come upon this beautiful tree which makes a great scene for the next series of shots. Again, we were very fortunate enough to have the tree all to ourselves. I mention this because usually there have been lines of photographers and their models awaiting their turn for these areas. Today, this was not the case. No lines and no tap toe photographers alleviate the pressure, and we can take our time to perfect the shots.
2 light set up:
Profoto B10 Plus with a 2×3 OCF Profoto Softbox as our key light. An OCF Profoto 1×3 Stripbox as a rim light. I wanted a nice soft light to bring out Serida’s natural beauty.
2020 has to be a shitty year to be a senior in high school. Prom and graduations are apparently cancelled due to the Covid19 pandemic. Classes go online, and that human interaction has gone digital for almost everyone. I hope these photographs can give back a piece of what was lost. Let’s all hope capturing these moments in photographs gives us a sense of what we have taken for granted.
Watching your child grow and make it to these milestones is such a proud moment for any parent. How experiencing that baby crawl, watching that baby’s first steps, to seeing that baby turn into a young man or young woman while running into the future of limitless opportunities.
It is an uncertain time in the world today, but it is also an exciting time. Because these kids are the future, and the examples we’ve set for them will pave the way for a greater tomorrow. I feel we’ve captured that here.
2 light set up:
Profoto B10 Plus with 2″ OCF Profoto Octa softbox as a key light. Overhead 2×3 Profoto OCF Softbox with grid.
Hello friend.
