Everything happens for a reason.
Yesterday evening, I was scheduled to take senior pictures for an amazing family I’ve known for a few years, and I was so excited!
I had found a prime location in a forest where the leaves were finally beginning to show their blossoming fall colors. It was going to be a great photo session.
We planned to meet around 5:30, after her volleyball practice, which would give us plenty of time to capture some photos among the amazing colors of the trees.
It was also the perfect time for golden hour—the hour before sunset when the atmosphere, light, and color seem to breathe life into every shot. This is typically what goes through every photographer’s mind when planning a session. I know it was going through mine.
After waiting a short time, I received a text:
“Practice went late. Aly’s getting ready,” followed by an angry-face emoji.
“No worries,” I said. It was still an hour before sunset, so we would have plenty of time.
Then, about 20 minutes later, I received a call.
“Do you still want us to come?”
Eager to get them there and begin shooting before the sun dropped below the horizon, I said, “Yes! If you’re here within the next 15 or 20 minutes, we’ll still have plenty of time.”
Well...another 30 minutes or so went by.
I looked down at the Weather app on my iPhone to confirm the sunset time, then slowly watched the sun fade behind the trees.
Fifteen minutes until sunset.
As I looked across the prairie field, I realized that most of it was already covered by the shadows of trees far off in the distance.
They pulled into the parking lot and jumped out of the car.
“Well,” they said, “what should we do?”
I’m sure the thought of rescheduling crossed all of our minds.
“We only have a few minutes before that patch of sun is completely gone,” I said. “So, let’s get into the field now and see what happens!”
I’ll be honest: I was really looking forward to the sunset. I had an entire vision in my head of the pictures I wanted to take, complete with colorful leaves, a bridge, and everything else.
But you know what?
I’m really, really glad they were late.
My vision—and probably theirs too—took a unique turn as we started from scratch and flew by the seat of our pants without the sun. We made the best of the situation and decided to attempt a semi-nighttime shoot.
Meh. We didn’t need the sun.
We had a giant full moon!
So that’s exactly what we did.
After taking a handful of shots in the prairie field with the dying sunlight in the background, we played Frogger in the street with the giant moon as our backdrop while cars drove past us.
Then we headed toward a vacant house and barn, which I believe were used for haunted houses, in complete darkness.
Yes, very creepy.
And yes, very dark.
We were determined, though. Armed with the lights from our iPhones and the headlights of the trusty minivan, we were on a mission.
Long story short, everything happens for a reason.
In my opinion, this has been one of my favorite photo shoots. We all had to think on our feet. It placed us in an unpredictable situation, and together, I think we succeeded.
Even though I didn’t capture the shots from the original vision in my head, I’m extremely grateful and happy with what we did get.
Judging by the smile on Aly’s face, I think we did okay.
But I’ll leave that decision up to you.
