“Thematically, we were thinking chalkboards and sunsets.”
That quote is how I knew I’d love these two from our very first email. Our second email exchange was a collection of Wes Anderson films and Amelie stills (ones of groups huddled in a red elevator and of a cop holding a photograph out and Amelie reading in bed). Can I admit that this was a dream to receive? Because it really was.
The fact is, there’s no wedding in Amelie. There’s no romantic coupling in Wes Anderson’s Darjeeling Limited, and no open plains or oceans in Boise, but the frames they shared showed me that they loved symmetry, primary colors, and a kind of calm, dry humor and playfulness. This told me everything I needed for us to create and play a bit during our shoot.
If you’re going to share something with your photographer, let it be what’s inspiring you. Share what you want to evoke – a feeling or a mood, but not something you’d like to have duplicated exactly.
Sharing where your inspiration is coming from — or even describing a temperament you want to kindle in your photos is going to flame the fires of my creativity so much more than just showing photos you’d like to have duplicated. Going into a shoot only knowing that the couple wants “a warm, sunny adventure” and picking a gully as their location is a bigger thrill than any Pinterest board of picked-because-of-the-poses pictures could ever be.
Sharing inspiration shows trust and my creativity is fueled by the moment we’re in and the trust that I get from my clients.
So this session was so amazing to be a part of. It was my second time visiting Boise, but my first time exploring it. From the top of the hill where the train station was, the city below was blue and the mountaintops in the distance were painted orange by the sunlight. The city looked busy below, but we were there for the isolation the train station gave; for the tall ceilings, the light streaming in the windows, and the way the building appeared to be frozen in time. They brought books and suit cases, and we played pretend in an echoing room. This is our first session together, the one at sunset in an empty train station. Thank you for balancing books on your head and running through the lobby.
Thanks for getting weird with me.
