Winter on the coast.
It’s been far too long since writing a post after the start of COVID, to be honest it’s still very uncertain for us how this thing will end. Like so many other businesses we have seen a down turn in our usual business but with unexpected uptake as well. Still we’re a long way before we’re out of this and we might as well get used to this as the new normal for the time being. There is a backlog of posts that I wasn’t sure to post about but then again why not. So here we go…
This pet portrait shot was actually from a more recent one, a mini session at Doyalson Animal Hospital that was the idea of their marketing manager who was thinking that since it’s winter she wanted to go for a “winter wonderland” theme. I’m not sure about most people but I suspect that like me those words conjure up images of snow and cloudy days.
But this is Australia, and not in the alpine regions either but in the lower altitude coast, so I suggested instead winter on the coast, something that would feel cold when you look at it but nothing you wouldn’t normally see in an Australian winter.
I even tried something that I thought conveyed the mood I was looking for with a test shot that we could use to promote the event. The day of the test shoot was cloudy and cold, and with a little lighting created just the right mood.
This was the idea that I was going to shoot for on the day, this shot was taken a couple of weeks earlier as a test.
BUT on the day it was another story, to start with the weather was clear and sunny, on top of that it turned out to be one of the windiest days of the year, so shooting out in the open was going to be a little more challenging not only for our lights but for the dogs too. So an unexpected change of plan, not that that is so unusual when shooting outdoors, we deal with that all the time.
The ability to adapt to sudden unexpected changes and produce a successful outcome is perhaps one of the most valuable that a photographer can possess. Bright sunny conditions have a tendency to really warm up a scene, no matter how cold the air is, it just looks warmer, so finding a shady spot was the first order of business and one that also offered some shelter from the wind, some animals can get very skittish with wind and this was a very windy day! The result is of course not what was planned but the idea I think still has the feel of winter day in Australia.
