Sometimes my favorite part of my job is the times when I can just have fun and play with a bunch of vendors and try things out and do what we want! Maybe there is some new gear I want to break in, or maybe I want to just try to shake up my brain and my eye and see things a little differently..
So one day, I did just that!
With the help of some always-up-for-a-shoot-adventure team of Miss DD Nickel on beauty and Catie + Amy of Catie and Amy on hair, dresses from The White Dress by the Shore and styling by Catie, Amy and DD.. a cake by But a Dream Custom Cakes and a table by Miss Libby of Jubilee Events… well, there was a party to be had! I always had my eye on this antique shop in New Haven – The English Building Market – and as luck would have it, DD is good friends with the owner and they let us have the run of the place one day!
After being a professional photographer for over 12 years, I think I started to think I was into some type of groove thing with how I shot. I think I started to feel that I actually had a certain way of seeing that was a common thread in my work. How I saw light, in particular, became my hallmark. Man, I loved some backlit bullshit! As soon as I saw light I just KNEW how I was going to make my camera interpret it, I felt it just make sense to me. It just…worked.
How many of us have those photography ‘things’ be it compositional style, lighting, how we frame, layer etc. that just feels good in our bones? It’s the first ‘thing’ we think of when given a chance to be in charge and not be a reactive photographer. When given a choice? I choose to let light dictate the type of dance I do. Where I put my subject comes from where I see the light. And how I see that light!
During portraits if there is a big window and there’s soft flattering light filtering in…well we all know the types of portraits we can get with that one window, am I right? But what if there is no big picture window with dreamy light? What if you are in a dark, cavernous shop with little to no ‘natural’ light, but filled with lamps and dark nooks? How do you maintain your personal style and photograph light the way you like to? At this particular shoot, in this actual dark, cavernous shop filled with stuff… I had to find little pockets of quiet to photograph in. I stopped. I assessed the room and thought about how awesome my camera is and how far I could push it. I am not scared of using a high ISO and shot most of these portraits at ISO1600. I let the light remain soft, I moved lamps around until I had them lit the way I wanted and I pushed my camera to give me what I wanted! I did not want to use any strobes, I wanted to just use what was there. Only later, after several shoots like this did I realize- THIS is my trademark style. This, taking what is given to me and making it work to create something beautiful- this is me, all the way!
Thanks ladies for coming along for the ride!!
XO
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