400mm Portrait Session: J.C.

J.C. and I go back almost four years. Our first time working together was when I took her senior photos during high school. This time, we documented some unique pictures in downtown Amarillo to celebrate her 21st birthday.

The typical lineup for most sessions downtown incorporates the Paramount sign, the top floor of the Amarillo National Bank building’s parking garage, and a few other well-known areas. We didn’t want the run-of-the-mill shoot, and instead opted for something a bit more unique for her session.

After grabbing my 400mm lens for this portrait session and exploring downtown, we decided on some unique locations. We did the entire portrait session with the 400mm lens. Communication from 25-30 yards was interesting, and even comical at times, but 100% worth it!

Thanks to the 400mm lens background compression, a few ordinary backdrops became extraordinary ones. In particular, one included me lying in wet grass and J.C. standing on a slim brick ledge to get the Santa Fe building inside the frame. Luckily she trusted me and was an incredible model throughout the entire shoot. In order to keep the backgrounds from being blown-out and mostly white, we also lugged around the Profoto B10 with a beauty dish attachment. Using high speed sync, I was able illuminate her with soft light and keep the awesome backgrounds visible.

The shoot lasted about two hours, and as the sun dropped, so did the temperatures. The last segment of the session had us in 30-degree weather that was less than pleasant. However, the end results gave us over 100 killer images to walk away with. The gallery below has my favorite 30 or so for y’all to check out.

Gear used:

• • Canon 1DX Mark III
  • Canon 400mm F2.8 IS III
  • Profoto B10 with an OCF Beauty Dish