Jared, Portage, Michigan. November 24, 2001.

My favorite photo for today’s date is a portrait I did of our son Jared from several years ago. This is one of my favorite family portraits. Our children claim they have some of the most photographically documented childhoods on the planet, so as adults they are a bit camera shy. But every once in a while they will take time for a portrait.

The rest of my favorite photos for November 24 come from a photo shoot with Kristina, a model and actress who currently lives in Los Angeles.

Kristina, park, Worthington, Ohio. November 24, 2015.

This is my second favorite photo for today’s date. She is in a park and backlit by the sun. I didn’t initially like the sun flare, but Kristina loves it. This photo has grown on me so it is now one of my favorites.

Kristina. Natural light plus a flash unit inside a Halo softbox. November 24, 2015.

One of the reasons for this photo session, other than to create portraits for her portfolio, was to test a radio controlled, off-camera flash inside an umbrella. You can see the set up in this photo. If you want to learn how to use off-camera flash, check out the link below.

Kristina in the sunlight will fill flash from a speedlite inside a Halo softbox.

This is how the park bench portrait turned out.

Kristina, natural light and flash inside a Halo umbrella. November 24, 2015.

This Worthington park has trails, a bridge, a stream, and a bench. It is one of my favorite portrait locations.

Kristina, stairwell. November 24, 2015.

There is a stairwell across the street from the park.

Kristina, stairwell. November 24, 2015.

I like the gritty, unkempt nature of this stairwell, leaves and all.

Kristina, Worthington, Ohio. November 24, 2017.

And we made use of a brick wall as a mostly out of focus backdrop.

Kristina, alley in Columbus, Ohio. November 24, 2015.

Our first photo session was when she was a college student with plans to work in the business world. Right out of college she went to work for Neilsen (as in “Neilsen Ratings” in New York City. Now she has a film career and has been on camera with the likes of Halle Berry.

It is rare for us to have a chance to work together, so when we do we usually spend several hours shooting in a variety of settings.

Links

Series: Favorite Photos by Date – all about this series

“How To” Series: Off-Camera Flash

Kristina Jimenez at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)