Finding the Light . Location Portraits . Northampton, MA

K. came to me wanting a new headshot. A studio portrait would have  been adequate but there’s so much potential in stepping outside and finding light that is readily available…. literally all around us.
We picked Northampton, MA because she lives and works in the local area and Northampton’s the sort of place where people won’t look at you sideways if they see you in the middle of a impromptu photoshoot around town.
So let me gush a bit, and tell you how great it was to work with K. She’s amazingly photogenic and gave me a range from A to Z of genuine expressions. She brought IT!
And the LIGHT!! I like a soft light that you’re likely to find in front of a indirectly lit window or from a overhang of a building. Even though I came prepared with a trunk full of studio and on-location lighting equipment, I was hoping that I wouldn’t need it. There’s nothing like the real thing!
We picked from a mix of neutral and colorful walls  and backdrops and kept things simple to still achieve the “studio look”. My approach is always “fast and light”, so that I can keep the momentum and excitement of the shoot high. All of these images were shot without flashes or artificial light, no reflectors and with my Canon 1D MIV, mostly my 50mm, keeping my aperture wide, etc…
Oh! And no wind machine was used during the shoot. I can thank the air currents around the parking garage behind Thornes Marketplace for that!