Beginning to End

Everything has a beginning, and everything will have an end. Nature has away with this. I bought my wife back in December a Poinsettia Plant. The plant is doing great today, but leaves are starting to fall off and thus the end. I looked at the light shining on this leaf that fell and thought, “I wonder what this would look like as a closeup.” The light shining on the backside showed me the life of this leaf. I know, crazy, but sometimes I think this way.

I made a choice to make it black and white because the color did not help or add to the picture. I wanted to show the life of this leaf at one time. Using a macro lens, I set up using window light and then took the picture. It's incredible how we walk past this beauty, or in some cases, it's a dead leaf, throw it away to a photographer, and its documentation ends with a memory.

High School Seniors

You can tell when fall is coming. Yes, the locus is one way, but I am talking High School Senior picture time. Last week I got the chance to do part 1 of Katie’s pictures. It was hot and humid. The mosquitos were out. But with all that, we manage through.

We arrived about 40 minutes before what photographers call prime time with the light or what is known as Golden Hour. For me, it does not matter because I can make golden hour just about anytime by using flash. This is what I did with the above picture. I used the sun as a backlight and a flash with a 1/4 CTO gel.

Finally, the magic hour came, and time to switch out for flash to a reflector. Again taking advantage of the sun as a backlight, but now I need to light up the face to bring out those beautiful eyes.

Just about the time, we were ready to leave, and it was getting dark outside, time for a quick picture with flash, and for the softness that I like, I shot it through a diffusion sheet. (Wind and a quick setup) That was a wrap for this session.

I am looking forward to the next where we will be doing more formal type studio shots.