When you specialize in environmental portraiture, you are at the mercy of mother nature and her whims. Even the best laid plans… well, do not necessarily go as planned.

Parker’s autumn, sunset session is a perfect example. The day was a typical fall day, bright and sunny as I left home to meet-up with Parker and his mom, Joan, at our shoot location. When I arrived on scene I found, instead, that the day had grown overcast and my perfect sunset shooting location was now not-so-perfect, shrouded in low-hanging fog. When Parker and Joan arrived for this session, we had to decide what to do. Creating sunset portraits was one of the main goals for Parker’s photo session. You can’t create sunset photos when you can’t actually see the sky. This was not going to happen unless the clouds lifted. No sun, no sunset.

After we’d discussed whether or not to re-schedule Parker’s session—with the hope of having better weather and a clear sky on another day—Joan decided to stay. In the end she trusted that I would be able to create beautiful portraits of Parker, regardless of the weather.

Parker, of course, didn’t care about the weather. He posed and posed some more, never objecting when I wanted “just one more shot.” While we didn’t get our desired sunset photos, we did end up with some very unique, atmospheric and evocative images. You can almost feel the damp, fall chill in the air as you look at the final images of Parker.

Being prepared and able to handle the quick changing weather here in New England is an important skill in creating unique portraits for my clients. As they say here, “if you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute. It will change.”

If you’re interested in booking a portrait session or learning more about my process, please get in touch.