Holly & Mckenna

Finally got a break in weather and had a couple days of nice weather in Atlanta. Perfect for shooting outdoors.

I was contacted by Holly to shoot some images with her and her daughter, McKenna.

For the past couple of weeks, Atlanta has had some record rainfall, making outdoor shoots impossible. Holly and I decided to reschedule and shoot at a later date, and finally caught a break. We met at Marietta Square, shot some photos and then wandered to some side streets for rest of our session.

I was unaware that Holly is also a photographer, and a good one. You can see her site here. Had I known this before hand, I would have been more nervous. There's always a nervous feeling before any photo shoot, even seasoned pros still experience it.

I was introduced to McKenna, a very sweet and lovely 6 year old. She's been photographed by her mom regularly and is comfortable in front of the camera. It's one of the reasons Holly contacted me. Since Holly is always behind the camera, she doesn't have photos of the two of them together. McKenna was a little shy at first, but warmed up quickly. I also handed over the camera to her so she could take pictures of her mom. The next two images were taken by McKenna.

McKenna was also my assistant. As we moved to different locations around Marietta Square, she pulled my wheeled camera case. She did such a great job, I told her she could be my second shooter. We had a good time and asked her to make funny faces.

I forced myself to use a OneLight setup. It's been a while since I've used my speedlite and was starting to loose confidence in my ability. So for most of the second half of the shoot, I used my 60" reflective umbrella to add some fill light and soften shadows. We were shooting in the shadows between buildings, but that added light really helped. I also used my 50mm. I'm starting to really love this lens, more about shooting with my 50mm in later posts.

I was wrapping up our shoot and McKenna was sad that it was coming to an end. Holly mentioned that she had never wanted to continue shooting before. I did another setup and shot a couple more frames and then started packing up. While Holly and I discussed the business of photography and Zack Arias' Workshops, McKenna came up twice and whispered something to her mom. Apparently, McKenna wanted to give me a hug and thank me for the photo shoot. Awww!

I can't say that I've ever had a more rewarding experience in any other job I've had. I'm glad I do what I do.

Thank you Holly & McKenna, I also had a wonderful time and would love to work with you again.

If you're looking for a portrait photographer in the Atlanta area, visit my portfolio.