David needed some good senior portraits and he needed them now.  Graduation is coming up and he had done the boring "studio" portraits that his school made him do, but he wanted something that was him. 

I met with David and his mother last week to set up his session and find out more about him, here's what we discussed.

Location

David's mom was thinking something rustic, David really liked the horse stables that one of his sisters used for her Senior Portraits.  Stables could be found, but at a price and not at short notice.  I showed him one of my locations from a previous shoot and both he and his mother were sold.  It is a rustic, broken down barn with lots of character.  I've been out there a few times, and I can honestly say I have yet to fully explore it.

Passion/Point-of-View

David was not involved in anything that was particularly important to him during his time in school, but he is known to have a camera in his hands most of the time.  He does have an absolute favorite photographic subject, and I'm not at all surprised by why.  His niece means the world to him, and he wanted to highlight that for his portraits. DavidV-Final-24This cutie is David's niece and favorite photo subject. I can see why!

Here is a side note.  David shared some of his photography with me and form it I was able to determine his aesthetic.  His photography tends toward dramatic lighting, hard and edgy transitions, and bold shadows, so I tried to include just a touch of that style for our shoot.  

About the Weather

So we were all set, what could possibly go wrong?   Famous last words.  As my wife and I lay in bed the night before the shoot trying to drift off into dreamland... FLASH! CRACK! BOOOM! A thunderstorm?  Really?  After watching the weather the next day, initially calling to postpone, then backtracking once the weather started to behave, we made the decision that since neither David nor I would dissolve in a little bit of rain, we'd do the shoot.

The Verdict

Never, never, never be afraid of a little weather.  Though there is a little bit of a risk that you'll get wet, the pay-off is well...

DavidV-Final-19When the weather gets nasty, the sky comes to life.