Nathan's Ramblings

The Triple Threat

What do you get when you combine three beautiful young seniors who have been life long friends, a great location, and one slightly crazy photographer (at least that is what they told me :) ).  Well if you didn't get the answer by now let me give you a little hint... One heck of a good time and some great photos.  The models for this shoot were Lauren, Sydney, and Taylor.  You may remember Syd and Taylor from earlier shoots and as always they brought it.  This was the first time that I have really shot with Lauren and I must say the young lady just killed it!

We started our shoot in a familiar location, the Fayetteville, TN square.  The more I shoot there the more I absolutely love it.  There are so many great little backdrops and sets that I believe it would be possible to shoot there just about everyday and not run out of ideas.  

The main inspiration for this shoot was the life long friendship these girls have shared.  We started the shoot with just a simple group shot just to break the ice a bit and get the energy going.  I really like the pop and contrast of the dark red brick and the bright red fire hydrant against the more neutral tones the ladies are wearing.

As you can see in the image below the energy these ladies bring to the party is infectious.  I can't count how many times we had to stop during the shoot just so we all could catch our breaths and bring it down a notch, due to everyone laughing like a pack of hyenas.  I am sure the people that were passing by and watching us thought we were more than just a bit crazy, and who knows maybe they are right. 

For the image below I must do my best David Attenborough impression (for those who don't know who that is see Planet Earth 1 & 2 on BBC America). So he it goes.  And now we find the female American teenager in its most natural environment.  Individuals and small groups will congregate close together in order to use the cell phone to capture what is commonly known as a selfie.  The intent to post this image on the internet for purposes unknown to many in the world of parents. 

After we finished with all the happy-go-lucky images the girls wanted to do something a little more edgy.  Since they already had the boggins on and the location that we were at has great textures, pulling that off was not going to be a problem.  All that was needed was for them to throw some cold steel looks towards the camera and Booyah! there it was.  Now truthfully the hardest part was maintaining these expression long enough because just before and after each shot it was all laughs.

We wanted to continue with the more edgy look so we ended up in an alleyway that is barely three feet wide.  These young ladies were troopers to get this shot, since we were all somewhat sure there were no rats around because the spiders had eaten them already.  But this goes to show you that just about any location shot right can make help make a great scene for a image.  

Once again I must give a big thank you to Sydney, Taylor, and Lauren.  You ladies did an excellent job, and I had a blast hanging with you ladies.  Also a very special thank you to my awesome assistant Stacy, without you I might actually have to pay for some help :)

Till next time!

Taylor's Senior Shoot

This past fall I had the honor and opportunity to do a senior portrait session with Taylor. Taylor is a beautiful young lady who has a effervescent smile, a great personality, and she allows it all to shine through.  I had an absolute blast working with her during our first shoot together and I am excited about working with her again in the near future.

Taylor's shoot began at the historic downtown Fayetteville, TN square. This location has numerous areas in and around the old buildings that make for great backdrops.  Once on location we went looking for scenes that would provide just right mix textures and colors.  This led us to the back of one the buildings where we found an awesome old metal stair case.  Jokingly we agreed this thing might come off the wall at any moment, but the scene was just too good and we had to use it. I think the "risk" turn out to be well worth the reward.    

For the next location we only had to walk just a few yards to find a great brick wall to use as a background. I love the intensity that Taylor brought to this image and when the shot was made it just seem to beg for a black and white treatment.  

Once we completed shooting at the square it was time to move to Stone Bridge Memorial Park.  This little park is just southeast of the downtown area and is a awesome place to shoot portraits.  There are numerous areas that offer great scenes for a portrait shoot.  By the time we got to the park it was getting close to sunset.  This gave us some beautiful light to work with most of the time, but as it got darker the need for flash became ever increasing.  We started out shooting on and around the stone bridge that is in the center piece of the park.  I think this bridge provides a great backdrop, but the real star of the show is Taylor.  It is obvious that she is comfortable in front of the camera and her confidence just explodes through.

After we finished with the bridge, we went looking for the next great spot.  We came upon this old jail door framed in stone.  Since the background was providing a strong if not even foreboding element, I asked Taylor to give me a pose that would match the scene.  Taylor pulled it off like a pro.  Not only did she give the confident, strong look that was required, she also was able to put in just a hint of a smile.  

For our final shots of the day we went to the old log cabin at the park.  With the light fading quickly and the evening chill setting in we worked quickly but was still able to crush some great images.  The image below is one of my favorites from this scene.  There is just something about the contrasts that are contained in this image. From the rough textures of the cabin opposed with the soft friendliness that Taylor is exuding, to the time warp of the age of the weathered logs to the innocence of youth, and don't forget the Chucky T's. You always have to have a special place for Chuck Taylor's.   

A special thank you is in order to Taylor, and her mom Sabrina for allowing me to shoot such an important part of life and memories. It was a great honor and privilege, thank you.

And as always, Stacy I couldn't have done without you!

Senior Shoot With Sydney

Two days, nearly 200 miles, a wet dress, and one heck of a good time.  I think that is the best way to describe the senior portrait shoot I did with this young lady last fall.  This shoot started out with us by the lake near Guntersville, AL, then we headed to the historic Guntersville downtown area, after which we jumped into the lake, and finally we finished up in the park in Fayetteville, TN.

Sydney is one of my all time favorite young ladies to shoot. She has a great attitude, is up for just about anything, and is a naturally beautiful person inside and out.  For her senior shoot she wanted to be by and in the water, which if you knew Syd would come as no surprise. So naturally the best choice for this was the Guntersville Lake area.  Our first location was near the Honeycomb Creek area, we had hopes of being able to use the graffiti that is typically on the bridge there, but alas the city had cleaned it all up.  One idea out the window, but because we were there at the right time of the day the cattails and river grass were being kissed perfectly by the sun to give an awesome backdrop. Mix in a little fill flash and you have something you can really work with!

Next we moved to downtown Guntersville.  This historic area has a lot of great old brick buildings, sidewalks, and awesome textures. Since the shoot was happening in the golden hour the light was great, and we captured some amazing shots. I always had a little fill flash going just to give the eyes a bit of a pop. Also, I have to give Syd some props here too. She was really working the expressions, giving me everything from cold steel to that gorgeous smile everyone loves.   

At the end of the first day went down into the water.  With the light fading quickly we had to work fast. So out into the cold water we plunged and starting shooting. The sky had a beautiful gradation as the sun set.  This gave the scene great color, but the dark was closing in quickly.  We had just enough time to fire off a few frames with a speedlight/softbox combo (at nearly full power) to overcome this. As you can see from below it turned out AMAZING!  

Finally, for our last location we decided we would head up to a great little park in Fayetteville.  Sydney had chosen to go a bit more boho country girl with her look, and  I think it worked spectacularly!  It really shows what a naturally beautiful young lady she really is.  Since it was just a bit cold on this day, we had to work quickly as not to freeze.  The park has a number of great little scenes to work with, and I thought this log cabin would provide the perfect backdrop to Syd's dress.  We were shooting during the early part of afternoon golden hours, with the sun to camera right, and as you can see from the stronger shadows on the floor it was still necessary to use a bit of fill flash to lighten them on Syd.     

A special thanks goes to my wonderful free assistant for this shoot Stacy. She is Sydney's mom, and without her none of this would be possible.