Photo adventure with Amy Sevenski

You may remember Amy Sevenski from my post about our workshop held at the barns of the former state hospital in Traverse City. I wanted to try a new photo technique so I asked Amy if she’d like to help by modeling for me. She was happy to oblige. I picked Amy up after she got out of work and we went on a windy photo adventure around Traverse City that ended at the marina on Grandview Parkway. Amy is a natural at modeling and the photos came out looking spectacular to say the least. But rather than just tell you I would leave it to you to decide for yourself.

We started at a plant nursery that we found off from highway 72 in Traverse City. It was closed for the day so it gave us the perfect opportunity to shoot without worrying about spectators. I had Amy sit near some plants that matched the pattern in her dress and I place the flowers all around her for effect.

Amy’s eyes are naturally blue. I asked if she wore contacts and she said she did but that they were clear and added no color. This photo was taken out on the Old Mission Peninsula. It was incredibly windy and I had a difficult time setting up the lighting. I positioned the softbox to Amy’s side pointing away from the wind to keep it from blowing over. We also had to hurry. We got to the location just as the sun was setting on the horizon. You can see from Amy’s hair that the wind was blowing pretty hard. She had a difficult time keeping her hair tame and out of her face.

The sun is almost gone but it still gave me enough of a kick to make the shot.

Here you can see the effect of putting the lighting with the softbox off to the side. I like the effect that it creates in that position. Sometimes what seems like a challenge is actually an opportunity.

This series of photos represents the main reason we did the shoot. I wanted to try lighting at night with the bokeh in the background. Amy and I had fun on our photo adventure. The photos were coming out so nice it was difficult to stop shooting.

All photos ©2010 Todd L Church