I'm back! (Forced blogging break.) I promise I've been busy. I have so much to share, but so little time. "Busy" entails life + everything: photography (a really big project!), home stuff, homeschooling, college stuff for the guys, an upcoming convention (planning and all that). Fit life in there somewhere--but actually, all of that has been my life. Now on to some good stuff. :)
Since one of my big photography projects this spring was located here, I scouted out the site beforehand (always a good thing to do!). The day was sunny with just a touch of warmth--perfect for hubby and I to explore this fun park and find some spots that would work for portraits.
Indian Chase Meadows Park
This is a large neighborhood park, complete with pond, footbridge (great portrait location!), gazebo, playgrounds, basketball courts, etc. Homes surround the park on three sides, and a school takes up the huge fourth side. So, it has its challenges as far as what's in the image background, but I've become quite adept at getting around that.
I found a good spot right at the entrance to the park, with evergreens in the background. I love winter trees; they have such unique shapes and look so pretty against the sky. I asked Fernando to pose here. So he did. The goofball.
And another nearby spot afforded a pretty portrait location.
Here's part of the playground, which I used in the actual portrait session. With the students standing on the bridge here, I got some great lines while blocking out the school building in the background.
Even through you can see houses way back there in the below image, I love the trees, sky, grass, and clouds. What a pretty day! Of course I was almost guaranteed that the actual portrait session day wouldn't be as pretty as this one--it was the rainiest April in Chicago history! But we made it work anyway.
See the water in the above image? It's not normally there; we had a mini flood the week before, which was the whole reason I was scouting out a park on this particular day--the park where we were going to meet was completely under water!
Here's part of the pond, taken from the gazebo with the footbridge (and houses) in the background. I love the reflection in the pond!
I had Fernando pose along the wall at the gazebo, and decided this would work, too.
Then I thought again: Right after I took the above shot, a mama duck flapped/flew her way out from right behind Fernando! She startled us, but then we saw the reason for the fuss. I decided to stay away from the gazebo so Mama could take care of her eggs.
We strolled over to inspect the footbridge. Shooting straight on, there were obviously some background houses which would have to be dealt with.
But, when I got up a little higher, I knew the houses wouldn't be a problem, as long as I stayed tighter in my framing. I love the bridge pattern, and also the railing shadows along the bridge.
I took the below just because I loved the sun sparkling on the water, and we had had such a long winter, and it finally seemed like spring, and it made me happy.
If all my clients were as tall as Fernando (six feet), I'd pose them here. I love how the birch tree frames him, and you can
barely see the school in the background.
Another nice spot, with a little of the school building on the right. I will simply hide it with clients!
I absolutely loved this willow tree! But, with all the houses in the background, I wasn't sure I could get the location to work. Fernando was such a big help in finding just the right spot, though. I'm so glad I brought my man along!
His expression says to me, "Would you just take the picture already?" But he's really just squinting a little. He was happy to pose for me wherever I put him. See the willow branches above his head? You'll see those again once I get the chance to post about the actual portrait session we had here!
This park works perfectly for a mini portrait session. These are short and sweet sessions, with a smaller number of poses and images, but work for my clients who don't want to sift through a ton of images. Plus, the images will be pretty tight--meaning no wide-angle shots with lots of background--due to the surrounding neighborhood houses and school.
I can't wait to show you the images I took for my clients at this park! This location worked perfectly for what our portrait goals. If you'd like to come here for your own portrait session, I'd love to work with you!!
Treasuring life's moments,
Christine
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