Victoria

They say you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. Does it count if neither of you knew it was your first impression? Victoria and I had never met before, but I had seen photos of her online. We were both in the right place at the right time for our shoot, but she didn't know me and I didn't recognize her (her hair was different). Luckily, we finally figured it out and started with our shoot.

We started off down by the river in some trees and bushes that had all lost their leaves. The patterns and textures they provided with the sun shining through them looked amazing as a background. These are some of my favorite back-lit photos that I've taken.

While the sun was setting, we decided to take advantage of "the Golden Hour", or that hour right before the sun sets where the sunlight takes on a very warm, golden color. Instead of using the sun to backlight Victoria, she turned towards it and let it's warm color light up her face. I hadn't had much experience photographing people in this light, but after seeing the results I'm going to schedule more shoots for sunset!

Before the sun completely went away, Victoria changed outfits one more time. This was a much edgier outfit, so we found a brick wall that the sun was drenching in the last orange light of the day. She had some awesome poses that were enhanced by her shadow on the wall behind her. It's like having two people in the shot!

Once the sun set, we weren't quite done yet. We used up all of the available light in the sky and I filled in where needed with flash. This gave the photos a more harsh look, which was quite fitting for our last location. We found a corrugated metal wall with a fan that was blowing warm air straight down. The fan was great to get Victoria's hair blowing around and she appreciated the warm air on a chilly evening. It wasn't long before the fan turned off and the cold started to win, so we had to call it a night shortly after dark.

First impressions are tricky things. Sometimes they can make you or break you. Other times they're completely forgettable. In my opinion, what really counts is the lasting impression, what you and the other person remember after you part company. For Victoria, I have a great impression after working with her and look forward to our next meeting. Hopefully I recognize her...

You can see more photos here.