It’s always fund to get something a little off the wall, something to break down the way shoots typically go, and Hailey did just that. Hailey wanted to have some of her pictures in her dance studio, and of course I did not know what to expect until I got there. I was looking around and the fully mirrored wall had my creative wheels spinning like crazy. I knew exactly what I wanted to get but it would require a TON of photoshop. Why? Well because there was no way I was going to be able to take a picture aimed toward the glass and not get myself in it – unless I wanted some crazy angle that didn’t make since. And there were some distractions in the background that we could not remove. So I had Hailey show me what move she was going to do, and here’s the thing I LOVE about shots like this, you literally have one chance to capture the move at the full extension. So I’ll credit my days of photographing freestyle motocross in high school to this. Could I set up my flash to burst with me as I shot, sure, did I want to? What’s the fun in photography if it’s not challenging. Plus for all my sports photographers out there, you know that when it comes to sports, editors do not like burst photographers, so I’m not going to change my ways just to get the shot. If I can’t get it in one shot – I’m not even going to consider myself a professional photographer.
HOWEVER – I DID get it in one shot, I didn’t have to burst and the extension was fantastic!! This has definitely got to be one of my favorite senior pictures, not just because we got the extension, but the studio looked great, the lighting that came from the shot was so awesome!! After this we head out to some property just outside of Effingham that is family property, if I remember right. And the awesome thing about this is every time I’ve driven past this area I’ve always though to myself that it would be a fantastic location for pictures!! So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to photograph down there. On top of that we shot at an old warehouse in Effingham that closed down years ago, this was again another place I’ve driven past that I’ve been wanting to photograph, and this was on Hailey’s list of locations she would like.
Then came the end of the session, after some awesome locations and some amazing pictures, Hailey wanted to do some pictures in a hockey jersey. If you’ve been to my website or know my personally, you know that I’m a big fan of hockey and my favorite team is the bruins – I’m not much a blues fan at all. And the jersey Hailey had in mind was just that… A blues jersey. So this put me in a tough situation, because obviously I want her pictures to look good, but there’s a blues jersey involved, so I could sabotage them. HAHA I wouldn’t do that of course!! I’m only kidding. 🙂 They actually turned out great and I was thrilled with the way her pictures turned out, and working with Hailey was a blast too even if she is a fan of an opposing team of me!
