Recently I was hired by a San Diego graphic designer, Tara Brouwer, to photograph some new headshots for her website and to use for PR purposes on online networking sites. Since portraiture is and has been my favorite genre of photography, I was happy to get this new portrait opportunity. Once we agreed on the price, date and time for the shoot, the rest of the details seemed to fall into place. Tara wanted to have a natural backdrop for her photos, so we decided to shoot outside on a sunny day. I suggested starting in the late afternoon just before the golden hour so we could utilize the warm sun light, which makes for beautiful skin tones and hair light. To fill the shadows in her face, I wanted to use natural light instead of strobes or hot-shoe flashes. So my good friend & photographer, Junior of Fangon Studios, helped by bouncing the ambient light back into Tara's face with a 40" white reflector and/or by stopping down direct sunlight with a one-stop silk diffuser. I like to keep things moving/interesting by mixing-up the poses and locations during the photo shoot which in the end gives my clients a wide variety of images to choose from. Many thanks to Tara for doing such a great job smiling throughout the session, I know it can be challenging to be your positive self when someone is constantly pointing a camera at you. That's why I've learned that how you communicate and interact with your subject(s) is just as important as making sure all the camera/lens settings are set correctly. Tara operates her own graphic design business here in San Diego called Brouwer Graphic Boutique and specializes in designing logos, websites, print and web marketing pieces.

Portrait of San Diego graphic designer, Tara Brouwer created during the golden hour with a Canon EOS 5D DSLR camera and 85mm F/1.2 L lens

Headshot portrait of Tara created with Canon EOS 5D and 85mm F/1.2 L lens shot at F/2.0

Shooting Tara from above to create a dramatic close-up head shot. Made with Canon EOS 5D, 85mm F/1.2L lens with natural golden hour light bounce

Portrait of Tara created with a Canon 85mm 1.2L lens during the golden hour in San Diego, California

Portrait of San Diego graphic designer, Tara Brouwer sitting on the grass looking up smiling. Created with 85mm F/1.2 L lens at F/2.2

Black and white horizontal portrait of Tara outside in San Diego, California. High contrast BW sepia tone conversion done in Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop

Portrait of Tara in a red shirt, created during the golden hour with 70-200mm lens at 200mm F/2.8 ISO 400. Parker J tilt-shift action applied.

In 2010 I plan on growing my portrait photography business, which includes: babies, children, teens, adults and families. And since I know everyone is trying to save some money these days, I want to offer some good deals on portraiture for the upcoming year. So check my blog in the future for some photo specials and discounts I will be announcing soon.

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