My attention was taken by the color harmony present in the scene. The contrast between her skin tone and the environment, combined with her relaxed expressions was quite remarkable. As I continue building experience taking portraits, I get to understand how having a visual response is equally important to nailing the right configurations on the camera.

We were about two hours into the photoshoot when these photos were taken and ready to call it a day. Which is probably why I was able to respond to her casual expressions. Marianna is very much in tune with nature, so taking her portraits in her favorite element certainly made the entire shooting experience a great deal of fun!

Before we started working in this location, we also teamed up next to a waterfall and on a hiking trail that also gave us good results and probably will share in a future post.

A few words about the location: Southford Falls State Park is located in Oxford, CT, and it’s a place I would love to return in the fall. However, the day of this photoshoot with Marianna I left this park Feeling their locals aren’t very welcoming to photographers. So I recommend anyone interested to visit it, to be sensible on bringing any equipment that may take up space, like stands of tripods. That said, being respectful where you are will always set the tone for your overall experience, especially in this day and age when just about everyone is a photographer.