BriMcKiPhotography

Western Girl In A Western World

NIKON D800

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 400 Shutter 1/1600 Focal Length 2000/10

upload_date

Nov, 2015

Views

2697

Likes

+353

Awards

Zenith Award

Creative Winter Award

Curator's Selection

Top Shot Award

Featured

Editor's Choice

Peer Award

+101

Superb Composition

+64

Top Choice

+39

Absolute Masterpiece

+33

Outstanding Creativity

+18

Superior Skill

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Genius

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This shot was taken during a super impromptu session at Bodie, California as my daughter and I were traveling down to Southern California.

Time

We were driving through about noon and I was afraid that it would be too bright and sunny to get any good images. But when we arrived the lighting was perfect. We could only stay about an hour as we had to be in L.A. by nightfall.

Lighting

The lighting was amazing that day! Bodie was cold, crisp and clear and the skies were a shade of blue that I had only seen in pictures before that. Even though the sky was clear, the sun had an amazing filter of big fluffy white clouds and it was like the whole town was in a giant softbox.. The colors of the sky grass and surrounding buildings were surreal with autumn light.

Equipment

Nikon D800, no tripod, no flash. Natural light with my 70-200mm.

Inspiration

I had been wanting to visit Bodie for years and for some reason I just assumed in was farther down south in California from where I live. My daughter and I were traveling from Lake Tahoe to Southern California for a dance competition so we decided to just take the 395 down for a different view instead of 5. I had no idea that Bodie was about 20 minutes off of 395. When we passed the sign had to fight to turn around. I ended up stopping about 10 minutes up the road to take a shot of a fall landscape scene on a vista point and decided to just go for it. We headed back to Bodie not really knowing what we would find. Me being a photographer and my daughter a dancer, we usually always keep some crazy outfit in the car and she just happened to have packed the perfect outfit for this shoot. It blends modern trends with an older western feel and the colors went amazingly well with the backdrop of the town. I was so sad that we could not stay long and we only even touched on about a third of the town itself, but we will go back in the spring!

Editing

I use Photoshop for all my editing. These photos didn't need much. I brought the saturation up just a touched, finished my daughter's face a bit since she had no makeup on since we were traveling and put a soft matte overlay on this image.

In my camera bag

My D800, 70-200mm, 50mm, lens hoods, Nikon SB-700 Speedlight, extra batteries, LED lights, memory cards, business cards, Rouge Flash Bender and gum. : )

Feedback

My best advice is always be ready. You never know when you will have an opportunity to take some amazing shots. Learn you equipment and lighting scenarios before you are put in position to need to know them, then when the moment comes along you can focus solely on getting the perfect shot. Don't be afraid to go out of the box, mentally and physically! People want to see things that they haven't seen before and if you can bring an image together that is different or with your own spin it will draw people to your work. Find a style and own it. Don't be afraid of the people who may not like your work, it may be that they just don't connect or understand it, but there will always be another person who does.

See more amazing photos, follow BriMcKiPhotography

BriMcKiPhotography

BriMcKiPhotography

Western Girl In A Western World

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow BriMcKiPhotography

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