Photoshoot with Grace.

My friend Grace came back to visit me and my friends this week. She only had a limited time to spend with us here in Sacramento so I wanted to make the most of her time here. I suggested that we get a photoshoot in... and she obliged!

We really didn't have much time for this shoot. I blocked off an hour of time before a Sacramento Kings game shoot to get these images. When I met up with Grace we decided to shoot at McKinley Park because it was close and the location that came to the top of her head when I picked her up.

The shoot started off a bit awkwardly as Grace had never done a photoshoot before. I tried to lighten the mood a bit by telling her to do all sorts of silly poses. After a while she definitely relaxed and got into the photoshoot mood - we were off and running!

I have found that for inexperienced models that posed shots look very unnatural. The best photos came when we were just talking and I was snapping away between the more posed shots. A relaxing atmosphere is definitely an essential part of getting a good photograph.

This was one of my favorite shots of the day. Grace chose to wear a more business looking attire. The mostly black outfit that she wore really created a nice contrast with this image. For this shoot I used three lenses... the Canon 24-105 f4, 70-200 f2.8, and a nifty fifty. 

McKinley Park was a nice place to shoot but did provide some challenges. Many of the beautiful backdrops are near busy streets. It is hard to keep all the distraction of the cars out of shots. I found myself having to really frame in tightly. I was fine with that though... I love shooting close to subjects!

As our time drew to an end Grace kept telling me to do more and more shots. She was definitely feeling more relaxed! I wish we had more time to do more - we'll just have to do another photoshoot when she comes back to visit us again in the future.

I'll end this post with this shot of Grace and a story. This shot turned out to be her favorite one. But it almost didn't happen! I saw this big rock at the park and told her to flex and pose. She thought it was too silly to do. Well, as it turned out... it was a great shot with great personality.

I guess all I can say is... I TOLD YOU SO!!!