Like most everyone in Southern California, I’ve been sheltered in place for the past couple of months as a precaution against the COVID-19 outbreak. In the meantime I’ve still been working behind the scenes assisting clients, working on business-related tasks, and catching up on some learning opportunities. While I don’t mind having a little pause to catch up on those things, I really started to miss doing the thing I love most- taking photos!
I started seeing a lot of my fellow photographers online come up with all sorts of creative photography projects and I’ve been super excited to try my hand at a few of these projects myself. One of my favorite photo challenges was the Barbie and Ken engagement photos, so I decided to give it a try!
I decided to challenge myself to use lighting that’s typically considered “bad” or interesting, so I scoped out areas around the house and yard for ideas as well as sprinkle in some creative lighting like I would on a typical engagement session.
Here are some of my favorites from the shoot:
As I was scouting around my house for interesting light, I started to see my familiar surroundings in a new way. This frosted glass window sparked a creative idea for an interesting, textured silhouette.
The hard afternoon light coming through our blinds created a cool pattern on the wall with leading lines that made for a great photo-op with Barbie. The hard shadows reminded me of something you’d see in a high fashion ad, so I did my best to pose her in a way that would reflect that vibe as well. Needless to say, she was a little difficult to work with 😜
This next image had been in my mind for weeks as I impatiently waited for the delivery man to bring Ken to our house. Of all the Barbie and Ken engagement photos that I had envisioned, this was the one I was dying to create! During this past black Friday, we bought ourselves a backyard firepit and I wanted to incorporate some flames in my shoot somehow and I kept going back to the idea of a double exposure (that is, two photos taken on top of one another). It was so much fun bringing this vision to life!
I can’t wait to get out there and start photographing real couples again, but it was great to get out (or, should I say “stay in”) and flex my creative muscles!
If you enjoyed this shoot, feel free to check out some of my other engagement sessions, tips, and wedding photography
