"Sunkissed for Spring" - Loren E'leece from Neal Hamil Agency for KHOU Channel 11 News

I have fun at all of my photoshoots, but this photoshoot took the cake for being super fun. We had about an 30-45 minutes to get ready with makeup and wardrobe, then about an hour to do the photoshoot. It was like doing a speed challenge whereas I normally like to take my time. Loren was fantastic! She really knew how to move and was very comfortable in front of the camera. Taylor from Sunkissed and Made Up and Allann Campbell were huge assets. The rich vibrant colors you see in the photos really wouldn’t have been possible without them. Also, big thanks to Francesca’s Collections for letting us pull from their closet. They have one of my favorite selections this season. I highly recommend them.

Tips for Shooting in the Direct Sun

This whole photoshoot happened from 10am-11am, so the sun’s pretty high up in the sky. We started off with nice soft lighting because it was cloudy, but it got bright very quick. That’s okay, I love the sun. Here are a few tips for shooting when the sun is high up .

1) Watch for a relaxed face

When the sun is really bright, our automatic reaction is to squint to see. It doesn’t matter if you’re a model or a high school senior, it’s an involuntary reaction. Have the model close her eyes and breathe deeply to relax her face, then give her a count down to when you want her eyes open. It may only be a split second, so you have to time it right.

2) Don’t be afraid of the shadows

Some shadows are good, some are not so good. I like using shadows to my advantage because it can create a really dynamic image. I’ll avoid any poses that will give the model baggy eyes, but almost anything else is fair game. I find that having shadows is a great contouring technique to making one’s cheekbones look slimmer.

3)Backlight, Backlight, Backlight

I love having the sun directly in front of me, and having the subject facing away from the sun. It’s a great technique for bringing out different colors and having that beautiful halo effect in the hair. It’s extremely useful when the sun is really high up in the sky. The last picture is back-lit, and the walls surrounding her are acting as a reflectors so it’s balancing her skin tone out nicely.