I always do the first beach sunrise session with someone I know to get back into the groove.
If you know me, you know that this is the magical time of the year. This is where I bring my full skillset to the front and shine. It’s the perfect combination of lighting and posing in an ever-changing environment so you have to stay on your toes.
Needless to say, as I haven’t done one in seven months, I needed a tune-up. A session where I could knock off the rust and get back into the groove of things.
For this I needed someone I could trust to be there as “go-time” is always 45 minutes before sunrise – in this case 5:15am. I needed someone that always comes prepared, mentally and physically, for a sunrise session. Someone that knows their stuff so I can focus on my end of the operation. Most importantly, I needed someone with the patience of a saint as I try to wrangle with gear and settings. There are a lot more “misses” than “hits” with this as things just don’t sync up.
Of course that person is/was Jessica Magary.
Jessica is no stranger to this page. Our most recent session together was a maternity session earlier this year. You can see those images here. That being said, we didn’t do a session in all of 2023 so we are just making up for lost time here.
As expected, I was touch and go there for a minute but, just like riding a bike, I never really forget. Muscle memory kicks in which helps a lot. The rest of it is take a shot, see a problem, think about it for a second, try something, take a shot, try something else, and go “oh, yeah, that’s what I need to do”. The rest of the session was just trying to keep up with Jess as she kept pulling out these stellar looks.
When it was over, I knew we had amazing images and that I was ready for the season.
Mark Knopp is a professional portrait photographer with over 40 years of experience behind a camera and teaching photography. He covers Hampton Roads, Richmond, and now parts of North Carolina. Contact him at mknopp1(at)cox.net to book your portrait session today.
Photography by Mark K 