So this set of images came from a quick little shoot that I did with Julie (@julievangorden) around Mattituck (a very small town on the North Fork of Long Island for those of you who have never heard of it).
After shooting cityscapes and the streets of Boston, normally working with clouds or man made lighting, I felt a bit out of place shooting harsh light portraits in the 'country'.
I grew up in Mattituck/Cutchogue, so with this challenge, I wanted to capture just a taste of the farm life. Because of this I was drawn to Oregon Road, which is scattered with farm equipment and old work trucks. These mixed with the vintage style of Julie made for some interesting shots, that I think are very eye catching. Traditionally I like to have images with desaturated colors, or just a touch of color among grey in order to really make the whole image pop. With this harsh light, I decided to try out a new style, that was more colorful, and using the dead space of the sky to my advantage.
After shooting on the trucks, we decided to move to a large red barn on the side of Route 48. This again was difficult because of the lighting, but I was really trying to capture the red, green, and blue of the scene, with Julie right in the middle of it all. This portion of the shoot went well, but it was primarily a learning experience for me. It helped me really visualize how to work with the sun and made me very conscious of shadows.
Lastly we went to the Mattituck Train Station, which is where I took photos back in high school for a photography class. Going back was nostalgic for me, but with Julie it was an entirely different experience. We were really showing off the denim jacket that she had patched up with all of these striking words or images. I was aiming for a vintage feel to match her style in the edits.
I had Julie stand in the window, because it felt like a really futuristic image. I really liked how it was coming out, but pinpointing the focus was difficult because of the extremely bright light of the sun.
Shooting with Julie is always a great time, and because we have shot a number of times before we really have a good workflow. She is always eager to try out new concepts, and she helps move shoots in a direction that always ends up producing amazing images. Not to mention that her style and look are extremely photogenic.
In the end it was a good quick shoot and I definitely learned a lot from it. I need to work with direct sunlight more often, and I hope to translate what I learned here to some street photography in both Boston and NYC.