I’m loving these dark and moody pictures I took with this Marvin Ridge High School senior in Charlotte, North Carolina. They belong in a fashion magazine for sure! It has been absolutely sweltering in Charlotte this week. My camera literally was fogging up in between shots! I had to dehaze most a few images in Lightroom but if you look closely enough at a few of the pictures you’ll be able to see the humidity!
My Inspiration
This tree in my backyard, what I often refer to as the Ivy House location, was calling out to me for weeks. Begging me to show off it’s purple blooms. I wanted to shoot in the morning as the light comes from behind that tree and the shed at that time. There is so much overhead foliage from the surrounding trees, it’s hard to get the light to show through.
Planning the Photo Shoot
Being that I was shooting in the morning I called on one of my team models who lived close by and was willing to wake up early. I had her come at 9am. If we were shooting in a more open area we would have had to start by 7am to catch the right light. We had talked about outfits the night before and settled on this skirt from Chic Wish the NBP STYLE CLOSET and her beautiful white top that was the perfect addition.
My Camera Settings
My Nikon D750 camera was set to ISO 500 and f/2.0, and I then changed my shutter speed to get proper exposure. I used my Nikon 50mm 1.4 lens. Normally, I shoot pretty bright but immediately I was seeing these dark backgrounds when I chimped and we loved them!
Working with Models
Julia is on my model team this year. She is a total natural and so easy to work with. She explained she takes a lot of pictures with her older sister and it definitely paid off! I loved that she trusted my crazy ideas and didn’t even question me busting out my ladder! I’m so excited at all of the creative artsy shots we got. When I work with models from the team it allows me to try out new creative techniques, lighting, posing, outfits, etc.
Editing Style
Specifically here, you can see that I have changed my editing style to suit the mood. I edit all my images in Lightroom and rarely use Photoshop. I start with a preset I created and then tweak the exposure, clarity, grain and HSL sliders accordingly. This type of session is a lot different from the timeless classic portraits I deliver for senior picture clients, but I love both styles!
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