Sometimes it’s best if you just keep it simple. When I got a call from friends and previous clients Laura and Rick, asking if I could do a quick family portrait session for their holiday card, I of course said yes.
They were only looking for two or three shots, and were up against a deadline to get the cards made – through the great service Pinhole Press (as I recommended). So I invited them over to my house, knowing there’s some open space on an unbuilt lot next to us.
A picturesque setting can be nice, but it’s not always necessary. With a bit of creative thinking, and a knowledge of how your gear works and the look you’re after, you can make great images in the most unimpressive surroundings.
I was looking for some green piñon tree background in an area where the family would be in shade, but looking out towards a lighter area, to get some catchlights in their eyes without using a reflector or lights.
And I chose a time late in the afternoon, where we could also use some full golden light from the setting sun as an option.
One prime lens (the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 
One of the images below was taken with the Oly, but with shrunken web jpgs it’d be extremely hard to tell which it is. In fact, even full size it’s hard to tell.
We got some of the more organized images and the Merrick and Milana started running around, leading to the more impromptu shots I also love.
Thirty minutes and we were all done, leaving them plenty of images to choose from for their card.
