Intro
Usually, Quinceañeras are a bit shy on the day of the shoot, and that's completely normal. They have most likely seen me once or twice before the shoot, but have never interacting with me. However, Alondra just felt right at home in front of the camera.
It only took a few shots for her to get in the mood, and I was just impressed. As you'll see, her comfort and confidence made her have a strong presence, and she expressed her personality, and uniqueness quite well.
Horse & Carriage
The shoot started with a horse & carriage. This was quite exciting, as I had never shot one before. As one of the locations Alondra's mother wanted to shoot in, we decided that due to the amount lighting and equipment required, it was best to do it in a less frequented location. We were advised by Lone Star Carriage Co. that the Tobin Center was a good location as it provided us with good shade, and the traffic was minimal.
We had initially started to shoot outside the carriage, and as Alondra became more comfortable, we moved inside, and shot different poses in the carriage. Family pictures were also something important for Mom, and so we took shots of both as well.
After shooting at the Tobin Center for an hour, our time was running out, and we had a few more locations to shoot, so we finished up with some video clips with Dad and Aunt, after which they then rode on the carriage to the second location.
Love Lock Bridge
After some delays, we had arrived at the second location. Personally, this was my first time shooting at the Love Lock Bridge (I know, a second first), and I wasn't seeing many sub-locations that would get me different-looking poses, but nonetheless, we started shooting.
Starting back up at a new location took us out of our groove, but Alondra fell right back in almost immediately, and we got shooting again. I couldn't believe how she kept posing with very little guidance, and just knew what to do. We did some natural light shoots. and then set up off-camera lighting to get a more dramatic look. In the end, they all came out looking great, and we just needed to get accustomed to the new location.
Finally, we incorporated more family shots into the shoot, and photographed Aunt & Uncle as well. They all did great, and were quite excited when they looked at the photos on the camera screen. To finish off the shoot, we got some more video clips at the Love Lock Bridge, and drove to the next location.
We're Running out of Time
Once we had arrived to the Japanese Tea Garden, we had less than 40 minutes before sundown. There was no time to waste, so we got ready, and began shooting right away.
At this point, Alondra was comfortable enough that no warm up was needed, and we started looking for less crowded locations. The main challenge was that we had two other Quinceañeras at the same location, so we shot around the sunken garden area until we could move to a different location.
Once the area was vacated, we headed to the pavilion, and took some photos of Alondra there. Mom requested some more family photos, and this time. dad had also joined the group, so we spent another 10 or so minutes focusing on family shots.
Towards the very end of the shoot, the light had decreased exceedingly fast, so we moved out of the pavilion in an effort to use what little natural light was left, and we finished the shoot showing her heels, and Dad changing her heels.
By far, this was my best shoot of 2021.
The way we all collaborated to make this shoot happen made the shoot stand out from the rest of the shoots of 2021. Mom had a lot of patience, and we also took the time to plan what the goal was for each location, as well as coordinating how the shoot would go down. I think that all of this helped significantly in making this shoot so great. We had a lot of fun, and we created amazing photos in the process.
Lastly, I'll share the video I made with the clips we took throughout the photo shoot.
Enjoy!
