Lighting, Timing, and Location Oh My! How to Customize Your Photo Session
Senior photo at golden hour.
Going from a vague idea to specific details is so exciting. I’ll speak for myself that I find it a relief to know what to expect so that I can just enjoy the moment without worry or stress.
That’s what I hope to do for all of my clients. Not only does confirming a few options help set expectations for what the photos may look like but it’s also gives the opportunity for a personal touch. For one high school senior, I took his senior photos at a park he frequently went bike riding throughout his youth. His portraits not only commemorated his milestone but having the backdrop be an important part of his childhood made it all the more special.
So what are all these options to customize?
First there’s the choice of shooting in-studio, outdoors, or both. Find my favorite locations for in-studio and outdoor sessions here. I feel so lucky to live in Whatcom County and around Bellingham because a short drive any direction and I could be in the mountains, at the beach or in a gorgeous valley. For my clients, the perfect backdrop could be right outside in their backyard. Let’s talk about the outdoors.
What You Need to Know About Outdoor Sessions
Senior Portrait taken on cloudy day at Teddy Bear Cove.
Time of Day: Often times my booking calendar will offer a few options in the morning or afternoon but primarily near the end of the day. This is not by accident! Because portraits are really nice during golden hour I offer most of my session times during the hour before sunset. It’s an absolutely gorgeous time to take portraits and particularly in the summer.
Sunshine, Clouds, Rain & the Extreme: Because weather is unpredictable I have a few different thoughts. First, July or August is the best time of year to book if it’s a sunny golden hour session that you truly have your heart set on. That’s because if photo day arrives and it’s not a golden sunny day, I can help reschedule for when another one comes along. For the rest of the year, if you are hoping for your portrait outside the best thing to hope for is no rain (or snow storms). In my experience, clients who have their photo taken on a cloudy day are usually amazed that they love how their photos turned out. For one high school senior client, it had been sunny ALL WEEK until her appointment. Because the Fall season had begun, the chances of another golden day was behind us. Yet, the clouds beautifully diffused the light and her senior photos came out amazing (portrait featured here). If your calendar is an intense Tetris challenge that you cannot gamble on weather, I recommend booking in-studio to prevent being dependent on weather all together.
Parking and bathrooms: Not all locations are created equal. If the parking or bathroom situation is less than ideal I will give you a heads up so that you can be prepared.
In-Studio Lighting and Color
The single natural-light photo before the cap melted.
Story time: It was Valentine’s Day 2023. I was given the opportunity to join the Wink Wink Valentine’s Day pop-up event where I was offering photos to event attendees. I was so excited to use my 7-foot-parabolic umbrella for natural looking light (a skill I learned from photographer Sandra Coan). I had just got everything set up and took this photo minutes before the event started:
But then I started to smell smoke. Undeniably something was burning. Was it my backdrop? Nope. I took the cover off the umbrella and smoke billowed out. I had used the light without removing the plastic cap, so the cap was then melted and burning directly on the light bulb. 😱
I pulled the whole light off the stand and set it out on the street. People were arriving to the venue so I sucked up my panic and moved on to plan b which was working with my external flash which is usually an untouched piece of my gear. The rest of the night I took dozens of sets of Valentine’s day portraits. The result? I discovered I loved taking portraits with flash! You can watch my reel recap of the event here. I have since then leveled up my gear and what this means for you is I now offer two different lighting styles for in-studio sessions: Flash or Natural.
Flash
Natural
Everyone Gets Color and Black & White
You’ll notice throughout my work I display photos in color and also in black and white and this is not something you have to choose between. Every client gets their photos back in both color and in black & white because I just love both so much.
And can I also just take a second to point out how amazing their matching, but not matching black and white print shirts look? Details like this really elevate portraits.
To Recap
Consider if you want your photo session outside, in-studio (or both!)
Keep in mind what weather comes with the season and plan accordingly for our outdoor session.
In-studio looks the same regardless of the time of year. You’ll be able to choose if you want natural looking light or flash, as well as what color backdrop you want for your session.
I have lots of options as you can see above. I can also special order a color if requested.
What is your favorite? Flash or natural? Let me know in the comments 👇
