Summer Time Session

Last month, I put out a model call.  I had just switched to Sony, and I was anxious to get someone in front of my camera.  In all transparency, I did purchase a Sony A7ii last year, but I convinced myself that I didn’t like it.  The truth of the matter was that I had invested a great deal of money into my Nikon gear, and didn’t want to start over.  I wasn’t ready to switch brands.  However, in light of Nikon’s inaction on the protests that began in June, I could no longer be support a company that didn’t value inclusion and diversity.  However, that’s another blog post.

I wanted to do a water shoot, and put my new camera bodies A7ii and A7iii through their paces.  I found a model in one of my photographer Facebook groups, and we scheduled the session.  The session was the morning of my mother-in-law’s arrival, and I knew that I had to complete the session that day.  There wouldn’t be time after June 13.  I knew that I wanted to shoot at the Chisolm Trail which has become one of my favorite locations.  The model’s name Evelyn, and I was her second photo shoot, and the first woman photographer that she worked with. I’m always amazed at the number of woman models who’ve never worked with a woman photographer.  Anyway, we met at 7:30am on June 13 for the session.  When we arrived, there are people already at the park, but it wasn’t crowded.  I wore my mask anyway for my own safety.

I brought three different colors of the same gown – red, white, and navy blue.  We started with the white gown, but both agreed that time permitting, the red gown would be photographed as well.

We made our way to the water, and began the session.  The musical selection was on Spotify, and I chose the theme “Confidence Boost”.   I told Evelyn that theme was soft and powerful.  If you look at my work, it’s the overall theme.  I feel that women are both of these things.  

Evelyn and I worked well together.  After we finished with the white gown, Evelyn changed into the red gown.  Let me tell you that the atmosphere changed!  She looked amazing in the red dress.  We shoot several frames with it, and I was very pleased.  At the end of the session, she asked if I’d seen the images of a woman lying in the water, and the camera was shooting down.  I said “yes”, and that I had always wanted to photograph such an image. Evelyn said that she was willing to lie in the water.  I was so excited!  

I switched lenses because the 85 mm was too close of a focal distance, and I didn’t have a tall ladder.  I only had a stepstool. I switched to the 28-70 which is a kit lens for Sony.  I could not have been more pleased.  The water images were some of my favorites from the session.