J15 💞💚
J15 with Lauren Frost
Hello hello! I want to start doing these behind-the-scenes blog posts. Being a very meticulous person, I feel like they could help other photographers that are just starting or maybe looking to be more organized with their shoots! You’re probably thinking why not vlog it instead of writing it? I also ✨ personally ✨ think they’re fun to read. To me a lot of BTS vlogs are underwhelming because I’m the type of person who wants to see everything. Like if you’re gonna give us a video, I want to see it all:
b-roll from the planning call/meeting
how you create an inspiration board
wardrobe shopping and styling
hair and makeup
while you’re actually shooting
interviews with the models
ALL OF IT! So sitting through a video just to be a little disappointed is annoying to me! But maybe in the future once I’m more consistent with creating and sharing my work, I can explore creating behind the scenes vlogs.
So first up is this simple photoshoot with my best friend and sister Greek, Lauren. Literally, love my sis to the moon and back. Go check out her blog and her Instagram page; she’s got some great content!
One thing bout me and my sis…we gon’ go to brunch! If you’re a U Street warrior, then you’ve probably seen this wall LOL. We met one of our first days of college at UMD and have been thick as thieves since.
For my readers who may not be as familiar, the Divine 9 is the nickname for the nine historically Black Greek-lettered organizations under the National Pan-Hellenic Council. While each organization has its specific tenets and foundations, we’re all united through our journeys to scholastic achievement, community engagement and service, and sisterly/brotherly fellowship. You can read more about the Council here (and from there you can check out the individual sororities and fraternities as well).
Now, if you’re a member of the Divine 9 or know people who are, you know that when them Founders’ Days roll around, they’re a celebration! Everybody is dripped out in their colors to celebrate another year of excellence. My favorite part about Founders’ Day is seeing how everyone puts their own swag to it.
Since Lauren was back in town for the weekend, we decided to do a quick impromptu photoshoot the day before.
The Plan
So like I said lol…this was quite impromptu. Lauren’s been trying to do more content for her various outlets, and I have been trying to get back into shooting after being a rut for a while. She had an idea of what she wanted to wear, so I slid on over after work and we got to it! In my head, I definitely wanted the photos to give a laid-back, understated slay. That’s how I would describe Lauren’s overall temperament and style, so I tried to capture that.
The Location
Brookside Gardens
Okay so this is the middle of January in Maryland… the week after a snow storm. Needless to say, it was cold outside by the time we got to the park that afternoon. We went to Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. It was a little overcast and cloudy, but again, this is not Jamaica LOL. So we made it work.
The Shots
Although I’ve been in a creative slump personally, this fall I was actually working as a picture day photographer. And with that position, I learned to work in manual mode pretty quickly. This was not manual mode in a studio either honey. This was manual mode with an external flash on the school playground, facing the elements. Technically, I learned a lot from that experience…creatively, not so much.
But I wanted to still incorporate some of the important skills and posing techniques I’d learned from the job while shooting with Lauren:
adding a slight angle to the body
bringing her chin down
watching for those shoulders to pop back up
trying to avoid harsh shadows across the face **
** Okay, this one was easy since the weather was overcast.
What I’d Do Differently
Part of writing these posts is so I can work on ✨ actively improving ✨ the quality of my work whether it’s technically something I need to do behind the camera or professionally as a business woman.
For this one, I went against my best judgement and decided not to bring my external flash. But given the gray cast of the park, that additional light from the pop of flash would have provided the images with additional separation between her and the background that just opening my aperture wouldn’t yield. If you told me a year ago I’d actually like using artificial lighting in my work…I’d call you a liar. My whole reasoning behind not liking it is a blog post for another day LOL.
In Review
Working with Lauren was a great way to ease back into photography given that I know her so well, and I didn’t have to feel awkward or under pressure. I’m always grateful when I have the chance to photograph my friends!