Project 12 Portraits | Creative Location with Pullback

Our assignment this month was to “think outside the box”: to find a location we wouldn’t ordinarily think of to shoot in, and figure out how to make it pretty. I was excited about it, because location scouting around here has long been on my to-do list! But alas, it will have to remain on the list because between vacation, having guests, and the Clickin’ Mom’s annual Scavenger Hunt that began on the 1st, my time to do various assignments for blog posts over the last several weeks has been virtually non-existent. So, with my deadline looming tonight, we quickly went out in the back yard this morning to see if we could figure out a way to make the “mundane” look pretty. (And besides, I justified my backyard shooting with the thought that of all places, it would be most convenient to know how to make the easily accessible  yard look better than it does in reality!)

We wandered around the yard, and between fences, grass browning from the summer heat, and equally sad-looking plants, things were looking pretty bleak. But the peaceful sound of the little waterfall beckoned us, so we gave it a closer look. I wondered if maybe I could shoot from above to hide the stucco wall and living room sliders, and then open my aperture up wide to smooth out the sharp rocks to render the waterfall into more of just a soft, steel-grey backdrop. And here’s what I came up with! I ended up loving how the grey-blue of the rocks brought out the grey-blue of her eyes.

And here’s the pullback, as promised! The little window above the waterfall is our master bedroom (hence placing a waterfall there in the first place—we live fairly close to the freeway, and the sound of the water helps to diminish the road noise), and the sliders lead to our (very dark because of the huge maple tree) living room. The tree above is huge, and provides fairly dense shade, though I did have to watch for dappled spots on her cheeks as the breeze blew the leaves around. I set up a reflector on a chair (normally I find the silver-gold side too harsh, but today it added just the smallest touch of light to her hair on camera right; without it the shadows there lost all detail), and then I stood up on the other chair to shoot, to keep the stucco wall from showing in the shots. (Oh—and I gave her a towel to sit on; the waterfall splatters a bit!)

As always, please continue on in our little circle to see what unusual location Laura found this month!!