Though I struggle between letting loose and being constrained by emotion in the creative process, I’m thrilled to face an empty workspace without a set plan. If preparation is a safe roadway for expression, spontaneity puts you at the edge to wonder: “what if?”

In the context of this photoshoot with Natasha, my blank canvas was a rental photo studio we had to ourselves for two hours in Middletown, CT. I barely had anything planned. I worked with my battery-powered modified with a 2 by 3 softbox for fill light and a small flash paired with a 12-inch reflector facing the background for even spread. My aperture was set at F8, and I adjusted both shutter speed and ISO with my flash trigger set to TTL. The resulting images from this initial sequence gave our pictures a subtle contrast which I like. Location shoots make a visual narrative, but taking photos in a studio magnifies mood and character, especially when experimenting with light control using the inverse square law.

As we progressed with this shoot, I started playing with a gridded standard reflector and color gels and got more diverse pictures as we were getting to the end. Adjusting the distance between key light and backdrop made our shoot mode dynamic. Underexposing the background and turning that small flash toward her back made Natasha seemed edgier and more dimensional. We didn’t start adding color gels until we had about 20 minutes left in our shoot, and my camera was tethered to my laptop to watch how the shoot was going.

Uncertainty and techniques go hand in hand in the creative process. Though guidelines are necessary to maintain consistency. In the nearly two hours we had the studio for ourselves, Natasha and I come up with a variety of looks. When you realize your constraints, it's great to take risks and make adjustments to enrich the experience.

Follow Natasha on Instagram, and If you’re a photographer in Connecticut looking to shoot, check out 52 north studio