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I’m back!  May has been a crazy month… just looking at my Google calendar stresses me out.  I’ve had a ton of portrait sessions, two big field trips at school, two concerts, and two graduations.  I’m exhausted.  Fortunately, summer is coming, and that means WEDDING SEASON!  I can’t wait to get going on this year’s events.  It’ll be interesting to see how it feels to shoot such a fast-paced day on my new gear (p.s. I got a 5DmarkII!) as opposed to last year’s d80s.  I’m curious and excited and ready to go.  I even have The Best Camera Bag Ever Made… pix coming soon.  I am PSYCHED about this bag.  Seriously.  It’s all I can think about.

But back to the portraits at hand.

I contacted Laura Matney back in January to see if she’d be interested in sharing her contact info on a list of local wedding photographers, just in case one of us ever needs an emergency sub.  She did, and since then we’ve been in contact via Facebook.  I’ve really enjoyed looking at all her new work and was very flattered when she asked me to take some headshots for her website.

Shooting another photographer is fun because they already know what looks good!  Laura brought an assortment of outfits to try, along with her camera and a cool vintage bike.  She was super relaxed and laughed a lot, which made her EASY to photograph.  Plus, she’s gorgeous.  I mean honestly, look at how her hair even blows so perfectly in the wind in these shots!

Without further ado….

I love this next one because I think she looks daydreamy.  (In reality, she was smiling up at my most excellent assistant Jenn, who is so bubbly and funny on these shoots.)

A few classic black and whites….

Okay, maybe not so “classic” – I’m a sucker for funny facial expressions, though.  This was Laura attempting to “work it” on our city park runway.

This next shot is probably my favorite of the session.  I love her smile here, and the way her hair is falling just so around her shoulders, and the beautiful teal wall behind her.

Also love these next few!  Does she look like a model, or what?

Time for some fun with Laura’s camera.  We got so tickled taking pictures of each other taking pictures.  (Corny, I know.)

Thanks to the most excellent Kat Braman for this idea!  I saw a shot like it on her blog when she was doing another photographer’s headshots last year and was inspired by it… I’ve been dying to try it ever since.  It turned out to be WAY trickier than I expected.  For photographers who might be wondering… we tried this with my 85/1.2 (too close), my 35/1.4 (too wide), and my 50/1.8 (too small).  The 35 worked okay, but I think a 50/1.2 would be ideal.

And here you see what I mean about the hair.  NOBODY’S hair looks this good in the wind.  This is one of my favorite shots.  The wind and the sun on her face just makes the whole thing feel so happy and carefree, if I do say so myself.

Windswept hair + 85L lens + soft evening light = MAGIC.

Thank you, Laura!  I hope you love the photos!