I chose my younger sister, Cate, as my subject for the portrait project because I knew I would be spending some time with her over one weekend. I thought this would be a fun activity and knew she would have a good time. Cate is very similar to me and has just entered high school, very positive and up for an adventure. She is beautiful and she continues to get prettier every time I see her.
One October Sunday morning, we set out before church to Pioneer Park to shoot some photos. The lighting seemed right because the sun wasn’t up all the way and I tried to position Cate in shaded spots to help with lighting as much as possible. We did some standing by trees and some water and even some lying in the fall leaves, which she really enjoyed. I used my 18-55mm lens and switched to my 75-300m lens (because I wanted to capture a picture of an interesting squirrel in a tree) for some later on shots. I used various settings, seeing what light would work best throughout the whole process in aperture and portrait modes.
My goal was to capture her true character, which is easy going and genuine. I really wanted to get a sincere laugh captured, but the photo I choose shows her smiling, in the beginning of laughter. I got lots of good photos, but wanted to choose a close up one of her being herself. I think that a serious photo wouldn’t be as effective to capture Cate’s true beauty and spirit and am pleased with the one I chose. Overall this was a fun project, and I enjoyed the process because it gave me a reason to see my sister and do something with her.