Golden Hour
The one where my two favourite models work the autumnal 'golden hour'…
It goes without saying that 2020 has been a tough year, so I won’t dwell on that any further, suffice to say the two ‘favourite models’ who find themselves in the title of this blog post have also found themselves as my photographic subjects far more frequently this year than ever before! So in true 2020 spirit I grabbed my canon and 50mm prime as we were heading out the door for a quick stroll and kick about in the autumnal leaves, at the beautiful Waddesdon Manor (National Trust). The stunning festoon lit path up the manor, and the golden hour sunshine filtering through the trees and across the lawn was perfect for a little play with lighting and with prompts. Between following my smallest model around and capturing her in her puddle-splashing element, prompting was relatively easy having caught her on a good day – ‘give daddy a squeeze’, ‘give daddy a kissy’, ‘what have you got there, come and show me’, ‘how pretty are these lights’, etc! The lighting however was a little trickier, in as much as the beautiful golden glow (which came as something as a surprise given that the day had been pretty much non-stop rain up until about 3pm!) was gone in an instant. Still, the golden hue, red and orange leaves and low sunlight casting shapes across the lawn were so worth it. And whilst we may have to skip autumn shoots with lockdown round 2, we’ve got the beautiful backdrops of festive door wreaths and twinkling lights to look forward to! So if you’re interested in a Festive Doorstep Shoot (see Facebook and Instagram for further details) then get in touch and let’s chat further!
A few tips for Festive Doorstep Shoots:
1. When deciding what to wear for your shoot take inspiration from the season, and from each other – warm and vibrant coordinated colour blocking always works well against a festive backdrop, as does a bit of sparkle. So go all out!
2. Have a snack before our scheduled shoot just so that nobody’s on the verge of being a little hangry!
3. Step outside and do a quick review of your doorstep/front lawn – could you move a few bits that may be cluttering the scene, add in some additional foliage or throw a little extra sparkle on your door wreath?!
4. Add in some seating, especially if you don’t have a door step. Maybe bring the garden bench round or a couple of outdoor dining chairs, just to add some levels. That way we can have a bit of a play and move everybody around to get a variety of shots.
