“Mr Landscape” is really enjoying portrait sessions. Go figure.

Learning new things can be difficult at times.  Learning is also a lot of fun, especially as you see your results and gauge your own growth.

Happy families are happier in the Dells.

Wednesday night I had a really enjoyable portrait session with the Bedard family.  We shot out in the Granite Dells, in the extreme heat / humidity we’ve had this week (no FL people are allowed to chime in about humidity…), and we had a great time.

No edits beyond the crop. This is a 6x16" crop. I just liked the flow of it.

Granted, I’ve still got landscape going on in the background….but cut me a little slack.  I get to combine what I love (landscapes) with growing into portrait photography.  Combine that with playing with off camera flash and you’ve got cool technical stuff, learning, and interacting with clients.  Yeah, growth baby!

There's always time to cut up during portrait sessions with me.

Of course, I also dig HDR in a big way.  That’s where compositing is coming into play for me as well.  There will be more “Play Anywhere” images coming in the near future as the sports season ramps up here with school resuming.  That’s going to be a ton of fun as well!

A very light edit in Lightroom 3

For the moment, hope you enjoy these portraits from Wednesday night.  We’ve already proofed the images on Thursday and now the family is trying to pick which images to print.  Nice to know I captured enough winners to make it hard to choose!

I’ll keep planning for the future, working hard on stepping up the portrait game, the landscape game, and the composite game.  Well, I’ll plan when I have a little time on my hands.  Saturday is a morning long shoot through noon, Monday an early a.m. and late afternoon shoot, and Tuesday I’ve got a giant bronze to capture in a green park.  Yeah, a little bit of everything!

I know, don't photograph people with things growing out of their heads. Tell it to the wind. Still, loved the sunset, the lovely flowers, and the lovely young ladies.

Remember, I shoot in studio and on location.  I love doing locations with a little planning ahead of time.  If you’ve got a portrait session in mind, get in touch sooner rather than later.  I have a feeling I’ll be getting busier by the week, so it’s best to reserve your time now!