If you read any articles related to photography, all of the experts will tell you to avoid shooting during the noon hours, because of harsh sunlight. You can get around this by taking large strobes and “overpowering” the sun with them, or you can work with the sunlight and create some interesting shadows. We set out to do interesting shadows and I, only armed with a single flash wanted to see what kind of results I could yield. I think these turned out pretty darned good, although these don’t really fall within what I would call my typical style.

A couple of points about Alisia.

- We have a great working relationship. I can call her up any time and say, “hey, let’s go shoot” and she’ll be there. She’s very diverse, talented and knows how to work a camera. It helps that she thinks I’m funny, so it is easy to get her smiling and laughing through photos.
- I’ve decided that if I do any more work with Alisia (we have something scheduled for tomorrow), I’m going to create a special category for her on my blog.
- She’s really open minded. I wont ask her to do anything too outlandish or out of the ordinary, but she’s full of ideas and experience.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I’ve also discovered that I have some mixed feelings about some of the more popular Photoshop Actions that are so widely used around the web. I do like simple, clean images with clear and natural color (or simple black & white). Some color shifting can be fun, but there is a fine line between a little creativity and outlandish surreality.

When Anilla initially contacted me, she was looking for something a little bit different than ordinary “posed” or studio photography for her and her family.

After consulting a map, we decided to head up to the Manzano open space to appreciate the beauty of the landscape as well as get a little bit of snow in the lifestyle/candid photographs.

There were sticks, snowballs and cacti involved, as well as a nice opportunity to enjoy some fresh air while capturing relaxed and natural portraits for the entire family.