Photographed on April 10 at McKinney Falls State Park in Austin, Texas, I set out to capture TJ and Amber’s individual personalities, as well as how they are when together. I wanted to make sure we got the most romantic light possible given the weather, and decided to begin the session at 6:30 PM just before sunset so that the sun would still be visible just above the tree line.
I was invited by my BFF Herlinda to drive up to Austin to do the shoot. She picked up a privacy tent at Cabela’s so that her son TJ and his girlfriend Amber could change wardrobe on location. I liked the tent so much I bought it from her!
During the shoot at the falls I wondered if I should digitally paint out the people in the background, but ultimately decided to leave them in as they gave the background scale.
The afternoon before the shoot, we had done some shopping and I was lucky enough to find a Precision Camera store where I purchased a Westcott 50″ 5-in-1 reflector which would be much more appropriate for the two-person shoot than would my modest 24″ 2-sided one.
Everyone would take turns bouncing that gorgeous Texas sunset back into our subjects for various photos. I even held it once while Linda snapped the photo under my direction because the wind was too strong at the time (the photo of the couple seated together on the rock).
Next, we moved on to an open field near the parking lot which was full of bluebonnets. I had the couple sit down in the field with the sun behind them for some gorgeous, and very Texas, shots. Bluebonnets don’t grow where I live, so seeing this many and being able to walk through them safely was an awesome experience. It was so pretty, I had to take a selfie.
All in all it was a great photo session and a fun weekend trip. I delivered the photos a few days later, and Herlinda, TJ, and Amber were all very pleased. It’s amazing what a little reflected light can do for a photoshoot when you don’t have (or need) battery-powered strobes.
The photos were all taken with my Canon EOS 6D Mark II. I used my Canon 28mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4 , and 85mm f/1.8 USM lenses, except in the bluebonnet field where I used the 24-70mm f/2.8L USM because I knew I only had about 5 minutes before the sun disappeared behind the trees. No flash or artificial light was used.
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