Meet Becky-Supermodel in Training/Southern NH Portrait and Wedding Photographer

I recently joined a SOPHA in Manchester,NH which provides affordable studio space for photographers like me that don’t own a studio. They have a beautiful facility, and I highly recommend them if you are a photographer that doesn’t own a studio and finds themselves needing space every so often. I much prefer the outdoors and working with the natural environment and light. Studio lighting is very foreign to me and I am definitely out of my element in using it. To become a better photographer, and also to set myself apart from the Uncle Bob’s of the world that are at every wedding and have nice equipment, but don’t know how to use it, I think its important to become an AVAILABLE light photographer. Did you get that? Not NATURAL light, but AVAILABLE light. This means that whether I am outside or inside, I need to learn to master the light whether it’s artificial or natural. Being able to see the light and what its doing is crucial to creating beautiful photos. Photography is all about light. Most people with a camera don’t really understand this. They see beautiful photos and think that the photographer must have a really good camera. The camera doesn’t make photos. The person behind the camera does. A good photographer MAKES a picture. They don’t take it. It involves an eye for composition, and a knowledge of light and shadows. The equipment is secondary. I tell you this to lay the groundwork for the following photos. This was my second studio session, and I was feeling a little braver this time out. Becky was a natural in front of the camera. I wanted to shoot her, as she looks like the all American girl next door. She is even in the Air Force Reserves! It was her first time in front of the camera as a model. It really only took her a few minutes to relax and start channelling her inner supermodel. She has a very sweet personality, and has the longest legs I have ever seen-from some of her photos you would think she was 6 ft. tall-when in reality she is only 5’7. We had been talking about what we were going to do for a few weeks leading up to our studio time. It originally was going to have a military theme-but we couldn’t get together the various props-other than the gun-in time. She raided her sister’s closet for some items, and as we started shooting the themes started evolving. SOPHA has 2 studios-Studio A is huge and has a variety of backdrops and backgrounds. I loved the metal rolling door they nailed to one of the walls and I think it became my favorite sets. Our 2 hour shoot turned into a 4 hour shoot we were having so much fun. That is the heart of photography-having fun.It is how you capture those real moments and emotions of your subject. Its how you capture the essence of who they are. If you can’t have fun doing photography, you should probably sell your camera. It is the most fun job on the planet I think. You get to document people’s very special,intimate moments, meet all kinds of amazing people, if you are fortunate you get to also travel to far away destinations, and you get paid for it! What could be better than that? Here are a few of my favorite shots. You can see a larger gallery here