Britany and Dalton are a fun couple. They reached out to me to photograph their engagement photos but they warned me they were looking for something a little different. They had me at “different.”
I’ll let Britany explain:
I’ve loved to run since I was 14. It’s a part of my life. Dalton has always hated running and would never go with me. I attempted to get him to go with me at least once a week.
A typical conversation between someone looking to do a session and myself involves several texts, phone calls, and/or skype sessions to establish a rapport, cover topics like expected outcomes, limits of exposure, outfits, make-up and hair style appropriate for such a session, availability, and so on. I then get everything set up, go over last minute issues and such right up to the start of the session.
The whole point of that is to point out that setting up a session takes some time. Days. Weeks even.
When people like Carrie contacts me, our messages typically go like this:
Carrie: Hi Mark, I was wondering…
Me: Let’s do it. When are you free?
Severine recently reached out to me with a request. She wanted images of her doing various yoga positions for her business. Without hesitation I said yes and we started a conversation of exactly what she wanted. After seeing some images of her I knew she would be absolutely stunning for a beach fashion session that included yoga so I pitched that idea.
At first she was hesitant as she hadn’t done something like that before. We messaged each other a few times discussing the ins and outs. She asked questions, I explained my ideas and why I thought she would be perfect for it. I knew her natural beauty, especially those eyes, would be captivating. She agreed and took a leap of faith, trusting I wouldn’t let her down.
Severine doing yoga silhouetted against the sunset at First Landing State Park.
Today I’m going back to the days when I had an in-house studio in an unused bedroom. It was small but I loved it. I could shoot in there anytime and then, when we were done, I just closed the door and went on with the day. No hauling gear everywhere, setting it up, tearing it down and lugging it back home. It was always Plan B in the summer in case the weather wasn’t in our favor. Obviously, it was Plan A for those long, cold central New York winter months
I miss it terribly. I still have the lights and backdrop stands. When I get a place with a separate bedroom I believe I’m going to resurrect it.
This is Emily. We got together on a cold day and played. She had an inner glow that I wanted to bring out. These images are a successful capture of that concept.
The biggest issue with my blogging is setting up a regular routine for you, Constant Viewer. I know it’s been one of my biggest failures. People crave routines. Take watching television, for example. If one of your favorite shows comes on at 8 pm on Tuesday you will set aside that time to be there to watch it.
It’s the same thing with blogs. If people know new stuff will be posted by noon on Friday, for example, they will make sure to be there to see it. If there isn’t then they will eventually stop looking. It is hard, in this day and age of overabundance on the internet, to get a faithful viewing base. The one thing that is harder, however, is to get someone who has left to come back.
This is why setting a routine for blogs is so important.
Diana is a wonderful friend and local model based here in Virginia Beach. We are always bouncing ideas off each other. She reached out to me a few weeks ago with the exciting news that David Ford, based in Cleveland Ohio, sent her examples of his new fall collection of eyewear. She wanted to know if I’d be interested in using them for a fall-themed session.
I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
Diana Ramos’s fashion session with designer David Ford eyewear.
