Staying Local { hudson valley commercial photographer }

AnneMichelle and I first met over dinner a number of years ago when our husbands reunited after a long hiatus.  They were long time school friends and bandmates who share a passion for music.  While Pete went on to pursue a successful career in the corporate world, Steve made a name for himself in stage and production management, traveling all over the world managing the stages of several high profile bands.

An Emmy Award Winning Hair Stylist, AnneMichelle has styled for just about every popular show on television including but not limited to SNL, The Sopranos, Fringe, Rubicon, Nurse Jackie, as well a number of hit movies throughout her career.  Oh, and did I mention she’s a veteran member of the Hudson Valley Horrors Roller Derby?  How cool is that!

When AnneMichelle recently contacted me to take some headshots for use on her new website and an upcoming local project, I was ecstatic.  I was looking forward to holding the session in their home nearby because I know they have incredible light coming in from the back of their house through what seems like a wall of windows and sliding glass doors out to a pool (*gush*).  Unfortunately it was a grey, dark, rainy day.  Being strictly a natural light photographer, you really are at the mercy of your surroundings.  That use to make me uneasy going into a session.  Uneasy is not even the correct term … more like a nervous wreck, especially on a rainy day.  But now it’s become a fun challenge!

I’ve received a lot of emails about lighting in these images after posting a couple of them on my facebook page.  Honestly, there’s no secrets here.  No softbox, no bounced flash, I didn’t even have a reflector with me.  We were playing with items like a shiny car windshield insulator, a white pillow case, the backs of metal art off the wall from Steve’s studio, and all we really wanted was white foam core, haha!  Once we got serious, I just opened the sliders, placed AnneMichelle head on and snapped away from outside in the rain.  I never took the 50mm off my camera and I was able to vary my aperture while keeping my ISO low.  It didn’t hurt that there was still lots of snow outside, my favorite natural reflector. 😉

I will admit to feeling a tiny bit anxious after the fact.  Let’s face it, AnneMichelle has worked with a lot of photographers, she knew what she wanted, and is probably the first client of mine who knows as much, if not more, about lighting, shadows, and how it all makes you look beautiful (or not!)  So you can imagine how happy I was when she told me how much she loved the images.  I hope to work with her again soon.

And, of course, the fabulous Miss Belle too!