A chilly graduation photo shoot
Last January, I had the pleasure to spend a very cold afternoon with Hailey and Kylie. The class of 23’ might be graduating in the much warmer spring months, but this 10 degree January day was a a different story. I was bundled up in gloves, coat and beanie, but these girls were in shirts and their graduation gown. I literally have no idea how they stayed out here for an hour.
The photo shoot was at Giant Springs State Park in Great Falls. We use the Roe and Missouri rivers as our backdrops as the steam was coming off the river from how cold it was. We started our shoot about 30 minutes before golden hour and as the day went on, the light kept getting better and better.
Dani, Hailey’s mother, was along for the trip and they brought several props along to add to the photo shoot. This was my first ever portrait shoot and I was a bit nervous about the whole thing. I didn’t really know how to pose them, but the longer the afternoon went on, the more comfortable we all got. Knowing Hailey, it made it a lot easier to direct them and have them direct me.
I learned a ton through the entire afternoon…the biggest lesson was don’t do an outdoor photo shoot at 10 degrees. Hopefully these girls had as much fun as I had!
Equipment used:
Sony a7iv
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro
Tamron 35-135mm f/2-2.8
