How To Diversify One Location A New Mexico Destination Family Session

Well I did it! I survived an airplane trip during a worldwide pandemic! haha. I use to travel all the time for clients. In 2018 we shot several weddings in Mexico. Every year I go to LA and Chicago for clients. Except this year. This year put a stop to all my travels… until last week!

One week out and we have all been symptom free! I canceled all shoot this following week to self quarantine in case I was exposed and nothing yet!!!! WHOO.. It was well worth the uncertainty to meet this wonderful family!

Thank again to my dear friend Risa and her masterful connections. Seriously she’s so great at connecting the right people for each other!

Annette and her family are just so charming, kind, fun and down to earth! I am lucky to now call them all friends!

I also just loved capturing them at their home in Alto New Mexico this season. It was STUNNING and they are stunning too! haha. The best part is that they were so game for anything I wanted to do and they had several outfits picked out for our 2 hour shoot at their beautiful home.

So we were able to relax and really take advantage of several gorgeous yet diverse landscapes at their home. I think their images will be treasured for years to come and really captured all of their personalities- and to boot we had loads of fun!

FYI: A longer shoot really gives you the ability to get those perfect moments, not just “the picture”. This is what I really specialize in and why I only offer shoots under an hour once a year. It’s just not enough time to capture personality, wait fo the best light, and create an experience.

For today’s blog post I thought it would be great to talk about how you can make just one location feel so different in a single shoot by diversifying which area you shoot at as well as what time you shoot at that angle & why!

Many of my clients pick just one location, because it’s a waste of time to drive around and can cause you to get stressed out! So we usually pick one location that can be diverse. We simply switch it up by thinking through what’s in the background at what time and why.

BRIGHT LIGHT: Find Some Shade

So earlier on in this shoot -I picked the most shaded location while the sun was still bright & high. It’s beautiful to shoot in wooded areas however if you shoot too early or late in the day it would be dark and gloomy. So we started this shoot several hours before sunset. This heavy wooded area was perfect for diffusing the light and creating a dreamy glow. We had a great time wandering outside in the woods behind their home! Hello gorgeous wilderness just steps from the trail!

AN HOUR BEFORE SUNSET: Embrace The Flatlands

Once the sun drifted a little more towards the horizon we moved out of the wooded area into the prairie area to pick up more sun. This created a very neutral feeling prairie look for this portion of the shoot. This is called the golden hour for good reason!

Also it’s good to take a few shots were the sun directly hits the lens creating this hazy glow! Not for all your shots of course but for a few stylized romantic looks like this:

SUNSET GLOW: Shoot Like Crazy

Once the sun moved to the horizon we moved to the front side of the house with just a few trees & brush and also some rocks & prairie grass.

During this time you have to shoot like a maniac. Not as much time for breakdowns and such because the light is stunning and perfect for about 10-15 minutes. haha.

The best trick with sunset light (and the whole golden hour) is to have something tall-ish (shorter or lone tree) large rocks or cactus- just to sightly block the sun beams directly behind the model. But not block entirely. This is the trick that refracts the beam while not hitting the camera lens directly and creates this dreamy rays and flares- rather than the full haze lens flare. (You can see the full flare from sun directly hitting the light on the above section)

Okay enough camera nerd discussing! I hope you enjoy this fun loving joyful family shoot! I really enjoyed having a client that embraced my true talent and trusted me with the light & locations to create some of my favorite family shots! I can’t wait to see them again because they make the best kind of client & friends!!!!!!

How To Diversify One Location A New Mexico Destination Family Session

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