Sonnenberg Photoshoot

During my Intro to Photography class in my first semester, I had a portrait assignment. Luckily for me, right before the project was due it was parent weekend! My parents drove up from New Hampshire and we went on a little vacation. We traveled to the Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park in Canandaigua, New York. The scenery, weather, and all-around vibe of the place were stellar. I would recommend checking it out during the summer or early fall because it was so beautiful.

Since I needed so many portrait options, it made sense to stay overnight in a nearby hotel so we could go back there the next day, fully utilizing the time we had. Not only was it super productive for my class, but we all had a lot of fun, checking out the area, messing around with different poses, and stopping to smell the roses!

I had a photoshoot with my friends a few times during the summer, but I didn’t have the skills I had learned in the first few weeks of my photography class. With these new skills, I could produce reliably good images with good quality. Something I realized I needed to work on was directing my “models.” While I’m still working on it, I’ve gotten much better and have been able to make not just well-exposed photos, but ones with meaning and intent behind them.

To get better-posed pictures, I made sure I was being clear and concise, as it was better to do simple poses that I could explain easily than trying to do intricate ones that were just confusing. Not only is it good to explain easy poses, but being able to give an example of the pose by doing it myself would really help.

Lastly, making the photoshoot experience fun and relaxing was key to getting excellent photos. If it becomes stressful or tiring, the models, and therefore the final pictures, will be worse off. Stay chill and have a good time when shooting!

I hope you enjoy them as much as my classmates and professor did!