Something I wasn’t expecting, was the ways that this shoot would stretch me creatively as a film photographer. The environment of this shoot provided the space for me to push myself with film. I had to direct and shoot within the boundaries of very small windows of time. There were moments during the shoot when I only had 5 minutes to direct the models or style a bouquet, this forced me to produce very quickly. I also learned a great deal about shooting in all types of sunlight. During this shoot, we experienced almost every kind of lighting condition possible…cloudiness, harsh lighting and even the sun setting earlier than expected. As soon as the sun started setting behind the mountain, it became too dim to shoot film hand-held. A good deal of light is required to shoot film hand-held and not have motion blur. I quickly decided to pick up some of the details and set them up next to the white moving truck, so that I could use it as a reflector. This bounced just enough time off the truck so that I was able to finish up my shots.

I’m so grateful that this shoot gave me the freedom to create content for myself and for the ways I was stretched. I look forward to participating in future shoots like this one. If you’re a fellow creative, I cannot encourage you enough to pursue an outlet like a styled shoot or workshop. There is so much richness in being able to learn and create content outside of normal conditions that you work.