TECHNICAL DETAILS

Sony A7ii, Sony FE 85 1.8
1/250 @ f/2.4, ISO 100

UNEXPECTED OUTCOME

One of my daughters had her homecoming dance, and as usual, I was called upon (very willingly!) to provide photo coverage along with a slew of other parents. The young men and women were dressed to the nines by the late afternoon, and we planned to meet at a local park for some nice warm-light photos before they headed off to dinner and evening events. Naturally, they looked gorgeous and handsome. The dresses were stunning, the guys looked spiffy, if a bit stiff in their unaccustomed collars and ties. It was a humid and sticky evening for late September. At one point, all the kids crowded down at the edge of a long, narrow floating wooden pier–perhaps eight couples, tipping the pier back and forth as parents crowded for a group shot. I knew I wouldn’t get a clean shot with that many parents in the way, and a jammed deck with leading railings blocking large parts of the shot. So, with my 70-200 on anyway, I hung at the back of the group, and looked for isolated closeups of people, the longer focal length allowing me to eliminate the crowds.

Behind me, one of the girls much younger sister was hanging on the edge of the railing, taking in the sights. Her mom, a friend we know from years of being on the soccer sidelines together, was in front of me trying to get a shot. The look on this little one’s face, a mix of boredom and ‘how come I’m not getting any attention’ was priceless. I had my backpack down in front of me anyway, and I took the opportunity to make a quick lens change from the longer zoom to the 85 f/1.8 prime. Snapping on the lens, I twisted around and kneeled down to shoot under the top railing at Little Sis, who looked at me as if to say “Finally! I’ve been ready for my close-up here!” I composed with a very shallow depth of field, and used the natural framing of the railing for her to play behind, encouraging her to reach up with one hand. She has known me her whole life, so was comfortable enough to soak up the attention.

Later, after downloading and culling through hundreds of shots from the session in the park, of all the posed couples, friends with dates, corsages and boutonnieres, it was none of them that stood out as the shot of the day. It was Little Sis and her spontaneous poses between the old boards of the deck railing that took first prize.

Post-processing was fun, too. I elected to go for a bit of a bit of a muted, vintage look. I did basic adjustments in Lightroom before bringing into Photoshop to finish with a dodge-and-burn layer and some selective sharpening. I crushed up the blacks to take their deep edge off, and split-toned the highlights in a light teal, the deeper colors in a darker orange. Little Sis already had on some bright red lipstick, a touch I’m sure she convinced her mom or older sister to do while the big girls were getting done up for the dance. It was actually too bright a red for the mood I was looking for, so I muted the lip color in post.

Later, sharing an online album of shots of the big kids with parents, I sent Little Sis’ mom and dad this shot on the side, noting that my favorite of the evening was an unexpected outcome. They agreed!

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