My self-assignment

I gave myself a creative assignment last week. I went out and photographed textures! I know it sounds really weird. I photographed tree bark, concrete, grass and leaves and park bench seats. I always think it’s interesting what you “see” when you’re not looking at the big picture.

Sondra, a friend of mine, was here when I was reviewing my images and she fell in love with the concrete textures. She suggested that I could use them as portrait backgrounds. So… I did… This is the latest in the Novella Collection.

Have you given yourself an assignment lately? It really is fun. Allow yourself to go do something you haven’t done in a long time or something you’ve always wanted to try. Here are a few suggestions for assignments:
Play at the playground – swing, slide, spin – have fun!
Go to the library and find a book on a topic you’ve never read about.
Take someone for coffee. Maybe an elderly neighbor or someone from your church.

Please share your assignments with me – I’d love to hear about them.

Where's the sun?

I've had a few people ask me recently about what happens when we have an on-location session scheduled and the weather is cloudy or raining. This is a really good question, and a common one.


I actually prefer to photograph outside when it is cloudy or overcast. The light on a overcast day is usually beautiful and soft. The trick is to be out early in the day. The later is gets, the darker it gets and this can be trouble. Here is an image I created of Alana on an overcast day last fall.





Now you may be thinking that you'll only want to have your session outside on an overcast day. That's not necessarily the case. I'm pretty good at finding spots that are a kind of substitute for cloud cover. As long as we're near some sort of building or structure, even on a bright sunny day, we can find great spots with great light. Here is an image I created in the middle of a very sunny day, just a few weeks ago. I think that the lighting on Amanda's face (below) is killer.





Of course, when it's raining, it is pretty tough to have an outdoor session. Typically, when a client schedules something outside, we choose an alternate date in case of rain. However, sometimes, the rain adds to the photo. Check out this photo of kids playing in the rain.