Behind My First Farm-Based Brand Session: Photographing an Authentic Baker’s Story
Everyone wants a really good photo. Viewers want perfection for the highlight reel. But sometimes we forget what we need is the journey, the progress over perfection.
Recently, my primary care physician said “Movement is medicine.” Instantly, I rolled my eyes. Yes, I’m aware - I need exercise. The more I sat with that statement though, it hit me as the year is coming to a close. She’s right, even though I may not want to admit it. I am discerning this call to consistency and what she was saying is, even just moving a little—doing something small but consistently will bring about the change we want.
What does this have to do with my branding session? Well, honest truth: I hid these photos. I didn’t like the way they had turned out, even though it was more progress than I had before. The lighting was off, the photos were grainy. After editing them, I reached out to the client and offered her the gallery at no cost. And I thought, nope, I tried this and now I don’t need to photograph again. But if I had shared them, I would have been consistent and maybe even photographing more today than before. But I was scared.
Recently, I sat with a local photographer and shared the gallery with her, conversing over how I struggled to produce a golden hour photo without the grain and couldn’t figure out if it was me or the camera or both. (I’ve recently been diving into that). I showed her the grainy photo and she said “honestly, it’s beautiful and I would keep it.” Does it need work? Sure but the composition works. See images below.
What I learned those few years ago:
Working with golden hour can produce some amazing photos — but you literally need to chase the sun. You are working in a small window. If you already have a mental shot list, make sure you give yourself enough time for your shots.
Tree coverage - make sure if you’re doing evening photos that you’re comfortable with this dark background. Also, make sure your client is wearing colors to stand out and not dark colors.
High ISO/underexposure - feel comfortable with your settings before attempting the golden hour session. I’m still reeling (pun intended) from understanding ISO/aperture/shutter speed.
Don’t hide all of your photos - share them. Who cares if they’re not perfect? It shows progress. Keep learning!
Make it stand out
Some turned out great - I am published! Thank you Alexis for putting my photos on your Christmas card a few years back!
