Extraordinary Beauty in Ordinary Places - Olivia

A littered lot in the middle of 3 shopping centers. An alley with garbage cans, power lines, and cable boxes. An empty lot downtown with construction, a parking lot, the road, and buildings all around - and plenty of dog poop.

All places you would want to take photos, right?!

Of course not.

But, we did!

In this series, we focus on creating beautiful portraits in not-so-beautiful locations. Capturing extraordinary beauty in the ordinary places, showing you that good light (& knowing how to capture it) is king. Keep scrolling to view our behind-the-scenes locations and the portraits we were able to create to see for yourself!

A note for our model: Olivia, thank you for being up for anything! For trusting us to put you in the middle of the most ordinary, non ideal spots and giving us a chance to capture your extraordinary beauty.

LOCATION 1 - "Be sure we get a photo with the litter"

Honestly, the litter was hard to miss. But, that wasn't the most challenging thing about this spot. The most challenging thing was that it was a bare lot with a bare tree, featuring 360 degree views of shopping centers, hotels, construction, traffic cones, and so. much. traffic.

Nothing to hide anything behind. So, we got creative. Blurry backgrounds, different angles, strategic posing, and fast shutters firing in between cars driving by.

LOCATION 2 - "Concrete Jungle"

A typical sketchy looking downtown alleyway that most people avoid, unless you're the employee that has to bring the trash out to the garbage can at the end of your shift...or...us.

Although we were limited by harsh light and shadows, a narrow alley, and eye sores everywhere, we used the shade to our advantage and cropped strategically.

LOCATION 3 - "Watch out for the poop"

I guess that's to be expected when it's the closest patch of grass to an apartment building. Regardless, we found the great light and got some amazing photos. We just steered clear of any walking shots. Or any walking here really.