Sunset on the Dunes

SUNSET ON THE DUNES

This was a fun little shoot that I put together for this workshop. I wanted something a little more dynamic and focused on more of a story-telling arc. I had no previous discussions with this couple. We found them through Instagram and they looked the part, so we reached out to them and they agreed to jump in front of my camera for this session. When selecting the location, I took my videographer’s suggestion and we chose the dunes of Morro Bay to do our shoot. The only problem that we thought we might run into was unpredictable weather.

As we began our trip over to the coast, we saw some rain clouds on the horizon and even got some slight sprinkling when we started to get closer to the beach. We were originally hoping for sun, but at this point we were going to be happy to have cloudy skies with no rain. Luckily enough, before the couple showed up, the rain stopped and we had a cool breeze with overcast skies. Now most people hate shooting in overcast skies as it can take the luminosity out of the skin, and create a grayish hue to the undertones of the scene and subjects. The trick is to shoot at an angle to where the sun is located in the sky, and to also shoot with your back to where the sun is in the sky. Both of these angles are much better than shooting the “shadow” side of the subject, as you will get much better color and contrast. 

Also, it is always good to shoot a punchier film stock in cloudy/overcast skies. Kodak film is the perfect film for better color tones when the light is flat. I decided to shoot a few rolls of Kodak Gold 200 on this session, and I ended up loving the 

results. Considering I was rating the film at 100 iso, when the light started to drop I had to shoot at shutter speeds as low as 1/8th of a second to get a proper exposure. This was a fun little exercise to see if I could get a clean image at that low of a shutter. Luckily the shots turned out beautifully.

You will be able to follow along with me as I chart out my shooting path, and start constructing a story for my couple to play along with. You will hear my directions throughout the shoot, and understand how I work with my couples in getting them to give me the more natural looks.

YOU WILL ALSO LEARN:

• How I come up with a story on the fly, and how I describe it to my couples in a way that they can easily digest and mimic without any issues.
• I walk through my shooting route and describe my thought process on why I chose it. You will also see me come up with some twists to my original route as we shoot, to create a more dynamic story.
• You will hear how I communicate with my couple throughout the shoot. How I direct, converse, joke around with, and give affirmation.
• You will see how I shift my shooting direction to get better results due to the clouds blocking the sun and then clearing on small occasions. 

For me and my brand, it is important to create fun and emotionally driven photos, but it is equally important for me to create a relationship. I want my couples to have fun and feel a friendship forming throughout the shoot. I want the direction and posing to feel effortless. If one of my subjects is having a hard time replicating a pose, I don’t dwell on it. I take a few shots to help them to feel like they are doing well, even if I don’t like the way it looks and I know I will end up tossing those specific frames, and then move them into a new pose or give them a new set of directions.

At the end of the day, they should have a great memory of the session and our interaction. They should feel confident that we nailed it and will have beautiful pictures delivered to them. They should feel that I captured their true selves, and not some interpretation that I forced on them. I love the occasional stunning portrait, but they should have a gallery full of images that represent them and their relationship honestly. The best scenario is to have a couple laugh, smile, and reminisce when going through their gallery.