One thing I will do when we book an outdoor session is remind you of where we are: Oregon is known for her rain. I keep a careful eye on the weather, and if it looks too extreme it's possible rescheduling will be necessary.
However.
That's for the pretty severe stuff.
Can I just say this? Don't fear the clouds, friends.
I would love it if Oregon was like down south where I got sun reys for every single picture ever. I love light. I'm obsessed, even. Unfortunately that isn't every day here. I search them out vigorously. But our reality is that we are not the Desert.
And that is amazing.
Here's the thing: clouds, haze, rain - they are all tricky. That's why God gave photographers reflectors and umbrellas. Because Sarah over there in Oregon needs her trees and mountains and to be able to take photos year round.
Here's an example of a beautiful session in the rain. If you look closely you can see it. This is not a downpour, I'm not saying I'm going to put you through the work to get dressed up to get soaked in a tempest (unless that's your thing or something, but it's not MY thing so we'll take a hard pass). But a bit of rain? No biggie:
Here we have clouds. Honestly some people's hearts would sink with weather like this. But the really cool thing about clouds (if you're careful about where they're bouncing shadows) is that you can shoot almost anywhere at any time of day - the whole sky is literally a softbox, filtering and softening the light and creating amazing contrast:
And finally haze.
I won't lie to you... I really dislike haze. But only because it is entirely individual to each session and makes my job harder. Not impossible. Your girl could use a little brain teaser. I'm gonna get a little technical - Haze comes in two forms: with sun or with clouds. You know, overcast. It gives you shadows without accompanying contrast, weird tints and photo temp, and an overall flat feel to the photo. I fix this in camera by being careful about foreground, watching the white balance like a hawk and utilizing that reflector. I fix it in post processing as necessary. So it makes me run my paces. But the results are still stunning:
All this to say, I understand the desire for a photo to look how you pictured it. My trademark sort of runs on sun flairs. That's because that's what makes my heart happy. We know when we book that neither of us can predict or guarantee a certain look based on the forecast. But there is no need to be afraid of Oregon's weather. On the contrary, I mean look at these! I think it's pretty worth celebrating.
Love,
Sarah
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