Shooting in Saint Louis

Madison in Saint Louis

I recently had a chance to shoot with Madison McCurdy in Saint Louis. It was a productive shoot from both an image creation and educational point of view. Here are a few things I learned ...

- Be Prepared: I've never been to Saint Louis, so I spent an hour before the shoot finding some great locations and visualizing how I might use them to photograph Maddi. Knowing where we were headed from one shot to the next made for a much more fun, relaxed, and productive shoot.

- Keep the Conversation Going: The best photographers know how to draw the best out of their subjects by maintaining a dialog with them. On this shoot I made a point to keep a dialog going with Maddi while also thinking about lighting, camera setting, where we'll shoot next, etc. It helped.

- Experiment with the Light: One thing I wanted to try was using a light right next to the lens as a fill light (to control shadows). I'll have another post specifically on this subject, but learning how to control shadows is an important step next step for me.