Talent: Enaakshi Adhikari
HMUA: N/A
Date: 13-Apr-2021
Location: Mount Lavinia Beach
I met Enaakishi during a promotional campaign I did on my Instagram Page, offering free portrait shoots for a few selected individuals with good camera presence and a story to tell. I usually do my portrait shoots in a studio environment. That is where I am mostly comfortable. Since she insisted on doing an outdoor shoot, I too felt intrigued to take the challenge.
On the slippery rocks of the Mount Lavinia Beach
I had very little to worry about posing Enaakshi since she already had a bunch of posing ideas for this shoot, which made the shoot faster and way more fun.
As the shoot progressed we tried different poses and movements to create a series of interesting photographs. We explored how the contrasting colors of her dress could play into the creative process.
Before we hit the Mount Lavinia Beach
One of the most interesting challenges of an outdoor photoshoot is controlling light. In a studio environment I could easily use Strobe lights and small flash lights to create the exact light that I need to tell the story. Since I did not want to carry a lot of equipment and then worry through out the shoot about wind toppling over my expensive lighting equipment, I decided to take advantage of the natural light of the Sun.
After a brief discussion we agreed to do the shoot during the Golden Hour of the morning. In the morning the Sun rises from the land side since we were on the West Coast, so we could easily position the beautiful Indian Ocean to the background of most of the shots.
On the slippery rocks of the Mount Lavinia Beach, letting the wind carry the shawl
As beautiful as the Indian Ocean is, we were shooting at the famous Mount Lavinia Beach; so there was no way that I would call it a day without capturing Enaakshi in one of her alluring poses while showing the iconic Mount Lavinia Hotel in the background.
On the Mount Lavinia Beach, in front of the iconic Mount Lavinia Hotel
If there is one message that I would want to leave behind with this post, it is that sometimes stepping out of your own comfort zones could help you think fresh about your photography while having fun with the craft that we all love so much. Think about the light that you will have to play with. Plan and run through the shoot in your mind multiple times. Arrive on time, and make sure to leave only your footprints behind.