How many days until it's warm again outside?
I remember during a shoot last July at the Dallas Arboretum, just p.o.u.r.i.n.g down sweat - (lovely image, I know!), but at least it was manageable! I had a shoot recently of a little guy, (that I'm posting next!) that the poor thing was just frozen, crawling around outside. But his mom and I talked it out and decided that an urban shoot was just what he needed to complete his Chickadee Planner package, (his 6 mon. session was at home, and his 9 mon. at the pumpkin patch). Yes, we realized the temp. outside, but he was bundled up. But that's the point....I'm ready for warmer temperatures so I can make it easy on you guys for your outdoor shoots! I LOVE shooting outdoors. It's just natural, I don't have to fiddle with my flash, and I don't mind shivering and chattering my teeth, because I'M not the one having to look *picture perfect*! It's you guys who have to bear the cold and try to keep jolly, and it's just a frustrating time I'm having right now with Mother Nature!
We were quite inventive this morning. I had a shoot and it was just* too* cold* to even try to do the whole thing outdoors! So we called up a library in town and did the whole thing there!!! I know, a library! You're probably thinking, there's just rows of books there. No, no, I love the spots we found and I'm excited to look through all the images. They were giving tours while we were there, so I'm sure the tour guide had to say something like, "while you're studying in here, there won't normally be a photo session going on!" It was my first time to shoot there, and I was sure to be courteous to all the staff and say thank you on the way out, because that was just the perfect remedy location for our frozen fingers! It's nice to have it on my list of options!
It's times like this that I think about getting a studio put together. I have a small one in my home, but it's capacity is probably four people, max. I drive by the little, 1920s homes in Denton, with great, big windows, and think about turning that into a studio. My love, though, is natural photography, so I don't think it would be worth it to get all of that set up for just the two months out of the year that's it's cold outside. If I ever did do something like that, it would probably just be very simple on the inside, with cool furniture that I would use in the images, and maybe different colored walls to have as background choices. I would definitely not haul out the splatter-painted backdrops you remember sitting on as a kid, or ones painted as a sunset, or something of that cheesy sort. And definitely just natural light. The requirement for the space would have to be giant windows! (This is just me dreaming here... out loud... never mind me.)
Then again, I think I'm just rambling because 10 months out of the year, I would be using the great outdoors. And, home sessions are another favorite of mine. Showing one's personal space, and incorporating that in the pictures. When we moved out of our apt., before buying our home, I remember thinking that I do not have any pictures of that place! How often do you take pictures of your own home? It's somewhere that's where your children make their memories and you nestle with your loved ones - an important place that often gets overlooked. I love especially when I show a client pictures from their home session and they say, I didn't realize my home was so beautiful! I think when you're just there, day-to-day, living, it's just so routine to look at the things you've collected over the years. But, when they're photographed, with your family in there too, I think it brings new light to the memories you've made, and in itself, becomes a new keepsake for your little ones to cherish.
Well, so, all that to say, it's no fun shooting in the cold, but now that just gets me excited thinking about the home sessions coming up.
:)
