Kelly and Tristan Portrait Session

Here's the back story. Every year we go to South Carolina to visit my wife's family. Every year I drive by these awesome barns and tell myself I have to make some time to photograph them. I always figured I would lightpaint them at dusk as landscape photos. But then Kelly and Tristan came along and wanted some photos. We were brainstorming locations when I thought of these old barns. Since Kelly grew up in this area we felt it was appropriate. So after all these years I found an excuse to make some pictures of this property. And thanks to Kelly and Tristan, they were more interesting than just standard landscape shots.

Tristan and Kelly came to the shoot separately. Kelly was running a little late so I wandered around with Tristan.

Everything is very rusty and harsh; but then there would be a random flowering shrub to add some nice contrast.

Working the textured walls.

The open barn made a nice frame for this portrait.

The setting sun made for some interesting light and texture on this big wall.

A shot showing some more of the property.

Kelly arrived and we worked a few shots of her in a nice dress, which we thought would look great against the rustic scene.

Exploring around one of the barns.

Same location, but a different pose and composition.

One last shot before Kelly changed into a more casual outfit for shots with Tristan.

We were losing light fast, so we hurried around trying to squeeze every last drop of light out of the sky.

A little more of a standard/safe shot before the light completely disappeared.

The blue sky adds a nice touch to this photo.

The light was completely gone but I wanted to try one more setup. I lit them with an umbrella, blasted a bare flash into the barn and left the shutter open for several seconds in order for the blue dusk sky to burn in. Fairly complicated to set up (especially when I can't see my equipment or focus my cameras) but I think it was worth it.

Thanks for being such great sports Kelly and Tristan. And congratulations on your recent engagement and marriage! Good luck to both of you.