Celtic Studios Photo Shoot

There’s no greater compliment than when someone tells you that they’ve wanted to work with you since your first meeting.  This is what Aria V told me the day of our session.  We met March 2020 during a photo walk that Aria arranged.  We also belong to a Facebook Group for women photographers here in Austin.  Aria mentioned in passing that she would model for me, but I could not find a dress that I liked for her.  I finally found a dress from Lael_Collection that was perfect for Aria and fit my aesthetic.  I immediately rented it.  Unfortunately, a week before the session, I received a message that the dress had been damaged and wasn’t available.  I was so bummed.  I had to choose another dress.   I found one, and let Aria know that there was a change.

With all the rain that we’d experienced here in Central Texas, I decided to rent studio space for the session.  I didn’t want to take a chance conducting the session outside.  Also, I hadn’t had a chance to scout out new locations.   I wasn’t sure which studio I wanted to use, but then I remembered Celtic Studios in Georgetown, TX.  I met the owner at the reception for the Georgetown Photography Festival.   I loved the large windows in the space, and the overall feel of the studio.

I was happy that I scheduled the session to take place in a studio because of the heat and the threat of rain.  I decided to use the window light because I love shadows.  Also, I couldn’t figure out how to operate the studio lights with my trigger.  I did achieve the look that I wanted for the images.  The studio also had this great black box and step ladder.  I placed the ladder in the box and posed Aria on it.  Kelly Clarkson’s “Broken and Beautiful” was playing, and I told Aria to just dance to the music.  I used constant light for those images. 

At the end of the session, we decided to go to Mueller Park.   I had never been there before and was excited.  It’s a bit of a drive from Georgetown, but when we arrived, it was well worth the drive.