Overcoming A Difficult Location With Practice

I was asked to go to a sheep farm for a maternity shoot. I was excited to go to a new place (even though it was 25 minutes from me). However, when I got there, I found that the lambs were going to be a dingy barn with lots of stuff everywhere! The couple really wanted lamb photos since that was the theme of their nursery. The owner of the farm was very particular about where I shot and how I shot. She wanted her farm to look amazing!

Also, when I started shooting in the sheep pen, I discovered that it was super dark in there. It was a overcast day (which is great for outdoor portraits) but not the best for a barn. I had to do ISO 1000 and 1.4 aperature. My shutter speed was 125 or 160. I didn't want to do much slower because I wanted my subjects, who were talking and moving, to be in focus.

To overcome the bad lighting in the barn, I turned my couple toward the big window light coming in on one side.

I had my 35mm 1.4, my 85 1.8 and my 50 1.4 at this shoot. I tried all three lenses to get the right angle at this point.

The 35 was too wide. I kept having to airbrush out lamb's butt holes. The 85 was too up close. The 50 was just right. I could see what was happening but the focus was on my subject.

This is why prime lenses are so amazing.

After being in ankle deep sheep $%@! for over 30 mins, I discovered that I really wanted to get out of the sheep pen. But where to shoot? Everywhere I looked, there were garbage cans, old fence pieces, random barbed wire! Help!

I saw this really cool texture on the side of one of the barns. I just had to shoot there. However, there was a pile of random boards to the left, so I simply just turned my camera up and down.

I saw a huge pile of hay on one of the barns. So I layed down a blanket (I always keep on in my red wagon when I go to shoots). I saw the light coming in.

I would never shoot a session like this with f3.5 or above. I wanted to make sure that my background was really blown out. I didn't want random fences and poles in the background if at all possible!

I love black and white. Not only does it look classy, but it also takes your eyes off of the electrical chords in the background.

Behind the husband, there was neon green tarps hanging from the walls. I now that I had to get that out. But how? In Lightroom, there is a bunch of color buttons down the side of the develop tab.

It looks like this:

I pulled the aqua saturation all the way down and I played around with the colors to make sure that the neon green tarps faded in the background.

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So when you get to a location- always get there early and pre-visualize your shots. Write down some ideas before you even start shooting. That way when you start, you will be more ready.

I would love for you to let know if any of these tips have helped you in your photography journey!

Overcoming A Difficult Location With Practice

Christal

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