[dropcap]I[/dropcap]’ll tell ya, what I like most about Vizcaya Engagement Sessions is that no matter what your going to walk away with some great shots 🙂 What I don’t love about Vizcaya Engagement Sessions is that at times, they can be extremely challenging… for reasons beyond anyones control. For example, what you can’t really see or tell in the images (or even the video I made) is exactly how hot it was. It was 90F+, and this is November!! It was so hot, and so humid for this session that walking all throughout Vizcaya can be a real challenge for anyone. When we finally got back to the parking lot, all of us (me, my assistant Jorge, and my clients were all soaking wet). Another very challenging thing to consider at Vizcaya, is the other people that maybe there. For example, if you go on a weekend day and expect to get great images… you maybe in for disappointment. Public places like this are going to be packed with people, and this can cause a real challenge when working with clients, lighting, and staying focused to create stunning images. You are much better off going during the middle of the week, when most people are at (or should be) at work. Except… maybe Wednesdays! (when we were there) LOL. You see Vizcaya is closed on Tuesdays, so apparently more people go the following day in light of that? I don’t know. But, when we pulled into the parking lot… I looked over at my assistant and said “oh, man.. this is going to be tuff”. The place was packed, and we had to literally “over take” some of the locations at times to even get shots. At one point, people were actually waiting to take images, and wanted us to move out of the way!
So, I love you Vizcaya… I do. But, please tell me the next time you plan to hand out free steak dinners to the general public, because that’s what it felt like.. and we saw no food. 😉
Janet, Tyler… Thanks so much for enduring the not so easy session, due to all the people, kids, heat, and walking. I think we still were able to get some pretty incredible shots, and am sure you will enjoy them for a lifetime!
TH
Enjoy this “Behind the Scenes” video from the session. You can see me work in action, as well as hear some commentary on how I get the shots that I do.
We started here, by the water (above) and I wanted to showcase the interior as much as I could. I was able to expose for the exterior (clouds, water) and used a power studio light camera right for my subjects. Because of the nature of this shot, I did not want them to make “eye contact” with the camera.. and led me to this pose / look.
I truly did love this red dress Janet had. It provided a very powerful contrast to the background everywhere we went. Tyler also did good by dressing in all dark colors, and together they made sense. For this shot, I have offered my commentary on the video above. For lighting (not talked about in the video) I had two lights here.. one was camera right far away on the other side of the path.. and the main light was just shy of me camera left. Both, were dialed up around 400 watts to bring the sky, and surroundings into deep, rich color. People often think this is some kind of “effect” or “photoshop” and it’s not. It’s just a matter of having a tremendous amount of control when we are out in the field and working.
For this shot (above) it was actually a little tricky. First, I was in a naturally “backlit” situation with the sun behind my subjects… which, is always great. However, it was not enough. I needed to amplify this effect, in order to hold on to the deeper green color on the camera side of this archway. So, I used a powerful off camera flash back, and just behind them to provide that rich highlight and color.
I loved this last shot, because it was truly all natural. No direction, no lighting, no nothing. Just me, and some good timing. I gave some commentary on the video, and you can see exactly how I got this. It was just a matter of watching them, and hitting the shutter to get the best shot possible. It’s worth saying too, that it’s not really a matter of taking “a ton” of images and then choose one.. this.. actually can not work very well. Rather, I tried to watch and capture the best shots as I saw them unfold.
It was a pleasure working with you!! You made us feel comfortable and when your going on a shoot that is one of the most important things !! Feeling comfortable !! Because then you can go all natural and get the best shots !! A real good experience and a great photographer !! Thank you 🙂
PS: Very funny and professional assistance :))