National Black Female Photographers’ Day

Every year on the second Saturday in September, Black Woman Photographers all over the world meet for photo walks or photo sessions.  This year, I was honored to serve as the host for the Austin, TX photo walk.  Since I’m still not familiar with the Austin area, I arranged for three models to sit for us to photograph. I secured two models from a Time for Print group.  The third model was from a failed photoshoot earlier this month.  I chose all the outfits and determined the makeup.  I didn’t want the ladies to worry about anything.  

Originally, a total of six women photographers signed up for the session, but only two showed up for the shoot.  I made three.  This was perfect because we each had a model and didn’t have to compete with another photographer.   I’m not one for group photo shoots for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason is that I don’t want my portfolio to look like another photographer’s.  Second, I don’t like to jockey for a model’s attention.  You end up with quite a few images that aren’t usable. 

The session was near the Austin Central Library.  The area around the library provides great photographic backgrounds.  The session lasted two hours, and we all had a blast.   

Here are a few of my favorite images.  I used a mixture of ambient light and off-camera flash.