It’s 2024, I had justtttt purchased my R6 second hand from a fellow wedding photographer friend. It was literally missing the battery door, and instead of waiting for it to come in the mail, like a sane person, I decided to just tape it over and take it to the beach so I could practice shooting before officially being my best friend's wedding photographer. I’ve got my taped camera, and I’m driving over to my test shoot (shout outs to Olivia & Greg for letting me practice on them), and I’m googling how to adjust all my settings on my new body, Raw, record to dual SD’s, all that jazz.
The night before the shoot I made an Instagram account in case someone happened to ask me at the beach if I had socials. I was editing our bio and added a slogan, “The best memories are made when you’re having fun.” The idea came to me instantly, and I never second guessed it. I knew I wanted to create memories that were warm and fun, photos that you could feel, not take pretty pictures that were posed and perfect.
I kicked off the session by playing some music and asking my friends to show me the bird while I worked to adjust my settings to the lighting. It was a gorgeous day at Coronado Beach in San Diego. Once I organized my settings I took a deep breath and just played through the different ideas and prompts I had noted for couples portraits.
Some things we tried were to hold hands and walk, swing your hands as you go, run up the sand dune and try to reach for each other’s hands. Dip kiss. Wrap your arms around one another and look at each other. I had seen a TikTok where the prompt was give your partner a piggyback ride and try to buck them off. Lol those ones came out too funny. And another where the couple essentially plays tag with their hands, little did I know my friends would take off in a full sprint ha. It was all turning out great, we were having a blast, and getting some great pictures in the meantime.
Something that makes these photos super special is we got to include their sweet senior bulldog Lucy, making this my very first professional pet portrait too. Lucy, who’s now resting easy in the big dog park in the sky, was an amazing model. I got to take family portraits of my friends, and every time I visit their home I see their sweet photos on their walls. I don’t think I’ll get over that feeling, capturing moments special enough to be framed.
Recently I said to another friend that it’s a challenge to pick which photos to include in a gallery, because often what a photo means to us changes over time. Maybe a photo from two years ago didn't have my favorite composition or edit, but now holds a sweet memory of what was happening in that moment. I hope Lucy knows just how loved she was and that I’ll always be grateful she was a part of my first ever photoshoot as a professional.
One thing is for sure: this session solidified that having fun was and is what I always wanted to center all my photoshoots around. I’m grateful for the memories I made not only at my first portrait session, but at every session since. Thank you to everyone who’s said yes to us, and trusted us to capture your memories forever, it is an honor and a privilege.
If you scroll to the very bottom of our Instagram you’ll see our first post of our first ever session as angelhamidehphotos.
In sweet memory of Lil Lucess 🐾🤍
-Summer
