John and I had gone into old town, in Fort Collins, the day before to scout out some potential spots for the shoot, and we found this really cool back alley/courtyard area that was perfect! It had some great industrial stairways, a bright turquoise wall, a house with tons and tons of flower baskets, and some great brick walls. We led everybody out there and started to take pictures. Initially I wasn't sure how to direct, and John jumped in and helped boss people around. It gave me a better idea of different shots I could take, and different "poses" I could put the groups in.
I then spent about 6 hours editing the 450 pictures I had taken, and come out with about 120 that I was really happy about! Not bad for a one hour shoot! I've heard positive comments from the families and feel really pleased with my first try. I'm now working on setting up a website, and just yesterday finalised my business name: Photography by Marie. I read that with a photography business, you are really marketing yourself and your skills, not your product, and so you should have your name in the business name.
I'm excited to continue doing practice shoots to build up my portfolio. We go to Massachusetts in a couple of weeks, where I'll shoot my sister-in-law and her family, my other sister-in-law on her own, and then my friends in Delaware. When we go to California, I'll shoot my brother and his family too. Hopefully that should be enough pictures to get me started!
Here are some of my favourites (see my facebook album for more):
