I had an idea for a particular photo for my portfolio-- a closeup of a high school senior girl wrapped up in a cozy winter coat with a big, fuzzy faux-fur hood framing her face. I have seen variations of the idea before so I can't claim it as original, but I bet you won't be surprised when I say I photographed my daughter when she wore her fuzzy hood. Fuzzy hoods are cool but are great props for super cute photos. Working with my daughter is fun but this time, I was looking for a high school senior who could truly make the idea her own.
Winter came and went without the perfect opportunity, but my luck was about to change. In May, I was introduced to Eva. Eva was just finishing her Junior year and was excited to schedule a session with me. When I mentioned the idea of the hood, she was thought it was great. She had no hesitation whatsoever, even though we were approaching summer temperatures.
Eva particularly wanted to meet at a nearby field full of purple lupine, which would create a gorgeous background for her photos. The lupine were quite tall, which gave us all kinds of photographic opportunities, such as kneeling in them, standing above them, or anything else we could think of. On the day of the session, the afternoon sun was unusually hot at an ice melting temperature of 85 degrees. There were very few clouds in the sky, just hot, hot sun. No frozen drink was safe from that heat.
Not phased at all by the heat and sporting a "can-do" attitude, Eva brought along the perfect fuzzy-hooded coat for the shot. I have to say, the coat was incredible. The fur surrounding the hood was thick and puffy and snow white. The backside was dark black, quilted, matching the rest of the coat beautifully. We worked her session without the coat for about a half hour, conveniently giving the sun even more time to scorch us (maybe we should have thought that through better). Then, it was time.
We found a spot with a neutral background, one that wouldn't say, "I took this shot in 85 degree summer weather," then practiced the pose a couple times. My daughter planned on holding the large diffuser I brought along to soften the sun but she couldn't quite hold it high enough, so Eva's dad willingly (and thankfully) stepped in to help. Giving us all a quick look that may have suggested she was wondering what she got herself into, Eva cautiously put one arm in her coat, then quickly twirled it around to put the other arm in the sleeve, then pulling that zipper up to her neck like it was 10 degrees outside.
Almost immediately, she started giggling at the craziness of the moment. It's practically summer, 85 degrees out, she's in a field with people walking by looking at her, and I'm taking photos. My daughter couldn't hold back so she began giggling. Yup. The rest of us followed suit.
We managed to create a great photograph of Eva in the coat. The totally honest laughter, the warmth of her smile (yeah, let's go with the pun), all melded together to create a very natural, wintery-looking photo.
Eva, cheers to you. Thank you for being such a great sport. Your enthusiasm and laughter truly brought this idea to life.
