Portrait Story of a Fellow Photographer's Family

It is always interesting to shoot an assignment for a fellow professional photographer. I have done this a few times over my 13 year photography career. I recently did such an assignment for a good friend and pro photographer. She wanted family portraits and wanted an outdoor location. We are both very familiar with the Dallas Arboretum and decided this would work perfectly for what she wanted.

Shelli thought she had everything planned out and was well prepared for her session. She has now told me she has a new outlook for her own client’s trials and tribulations in respect to preparing for a portrait session. Apparently there were a few mishaps prior to their arrival but I would have never known had she not told me. They all arrived in a fairly calm and good natured state.

Photography is such a subjective medium with endless ways something can be done so of course working for another photographer makes you wonder if they would shoot things differently than yourself. When we were nearing the end of the session Shelli asked if I would focus on her girls cute, little, dirty, shoeless feet as they played in the grass. These images may just be my favorite from the day but had she not mentioned it I would have not thought to shoot this part of the session that way. With her inspiration of a shallow depth of field and focus on their little feet I decided to take it one step further. I rummaged around in my camera bag and pulled out my lensbaby. It’s a specialty lens that allows for selective focus. It’s a bit of a challenge to use especially when your subject doesn’t stay still for long but when you can get that sweet spot in just the right part of your frame it helps create a really special and unique image. Just like the very last one in this post.

Shelli, I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed creating them for you!