Back In The Studio
Originally posted on February 28, 2023
It’s been a long time since I’ve shot a studio session. Some things came back to me rather quickly but the shoot I did recently was different. Here’s what happened.
I admit that I was very lucky to have been able to study photography at a young age and even luckier that we had a fully functioning studio set up in the school for learning the art of photographing portraits. Big professional lights, a white room for set up, and photogenic friends and classmates made learning to take quality pictures of people easy.
Of course, I didn’t bother to continue honing those skills post-high school but when I was hired in a store photo studio many years later, a lot of things came back to me. And a lot of frustrations came up too because I was suddenly very limited in what I could do in that studio as opposed to where I learned portraiture as both lighting and camera were fixed and the only control I had was with my subjects and the backgrounds. Those constraints weren’t all bad though as they forced me to find a new type of creativity. However, I decided that if I ever start up a photography business of my own, I wanted my own setup.
So, when I started my business a few years ago, that’s exactly what I did. I bought a pair of studio lights and a set of tripods and backgrounds. I was reading and reminding myself of the things I had learned in school about light positions and I printed out a bunch of posing guides; I was ready to take on the world! Two months later – pandemic!
Don’t get me wrong, I love outdoor shoots. It’s lovely to work in the fresh air and there are often so many fun things you can do outside that would be impossible indoors like snapping your subject with an adorable gaggle of geese. But having a studio option also allows for other creative ideas to come out. And let’s face it – the ability to do indoor shoots is a necessity with Saskatchewan winters!
The Family Day long weekend was the perfect time for me to finally get out those lights and backgrounds out. My lovely friend, Erika was ready for her maternity shoot and there was no way we were going to do it outside.
One worry I had about a portable setup is the extra work involved in setting things up, doing the shoot, then quickly packing it all away. Life with multiple chronic illnesses means that fatigue and pain can set in very quickly. But with my subjects living away from Saskatoon and only being in town for some family events meant that I had to use my living room for the setup. This turned out to be a perfect situation for me and I could do each step on different days. Friday was cleaning, Saturday was my set up day, Sunday was the shoot, and Monday was take down day.
I should also say that this was my first maternity shoot as well which meant that some of my go-to poses wouldn’t work but it also gave me a new freedom to try things I normally wouldn’t have. After all, most women aren’t that interested in belly photos unless they’re pregnant! Overall, I’m very proud of this shoot. There are always things that come up that are totally unexpected but I learned a lot about my professional self and about portraiture (and about photo editing but that’s a whole other post!)
So with all said and done, I’m happy to announce that I will now be offering studio sessions in my home for those who are interested in more formal photos.
#saskatoonphotographer #maternityphotos #saskatoonstudiophotography