I seldom shoot outside. Call me a control freak, but there are so few elements that you have control over. In this case, I went to Red Rocks park with Drea. I had never been there before so I didn’t know what to expect. The weather was cold and the light was constantly changing. You wouldn’t know it from looking at these images, but there were people everywhere and I had to frame the picture to look like we were out in the wilderness, far from the maddening crowds.
I brought one small flash unit with me in the event I could use it and luckily Drea’s husband came along to hold it for me. Normally, a well-composed shot leaves space in the direction the subject is facing or moving; you’d have your model looking into the empty space of the frame. But since I couldn’t suspend her husband over the cliff to hold the flash, I had to force the frame for most shots, having her look into the edge of the frame instead of the expanse of this beautiful environment.
Despite the challenges, the images turned out well. I cropped many of them in a 16:9 ratio to give them a cinematic look and emphasize the drama. Drea styled the shoot and did a great job with wardrobe. I’ll post additional images here as I edit them.
