Chanel French – “Women in the City”: A Styled Portrait Session

At the beginning of March, I attended the annual Click Away Conference held in Atlanta March 6 – 8.  Click Away is a conference for photographers. Per the website, “Click Away conference is an immersive photography experience that brings women across the globe together to accelerate their businesses, make meaningful connections, and amplify their work through experiential learning and innovative education. This weekend will change your photography”.  This was my second Click Away.  My first was in 2016 when it was held in Seattle.  I was extremely excited about attending this year.  There were several photographers whose work I’ve admired for years that were instructors at this year’s event.  One of the photographers is Chanel G. French.  Chanel is a portrait artist based in the Atlanta area.  She’s a Clickin Moms mentor, and an amazing self portrait artist.  Chanel taught two classes.  The first was called “Women in the City”: A Styled Portrait Session”.   This was a styled shoot that took place in Midtown Atlanta.  Chanel shared with us how she approaches her portrait sessions.  She taught us how she uses light to set the mood for her images.  Chanel had four models for the session.  Chanel photographed each of the models, and divided the class into groups so that we each had an opportunity to photograph the models.  

I usually don’t shoot a lot in group sessions like this one, but I was excited about the class.  I loved how Chanel shared her process with us, and it made me think differently about light as well as model placement.  I did manage to capture a few images, and I’m very pleased with the outcome.