Behind the Scenes of Sorensen Studios

Many of you wonder what it is like to go out on a shoot with me so I thought I’d take you

Behind the Scenes! 

First off, I’d like to go over some of the equipment that I bring on my shoots. I photograph with a Canon 5D Mark II and I have a variety of lenses. But the lens I use about 85-90% of the time (AND LOOOOOVE) is my 70-200 mm L 2.8 IS or in other words it’s a telephoto zoom lens. This lens is my absolute favorite! Because of its zooming capability, it allows me to get a variety of crops and angles quickly.  Also, it adds a beautiful soft and blurry background while at the same time keeping my subject crystal clear and separating them from distracting backgrounds.

 I also use an Alien Bee 800 flash and softbox during my shoots. This light helps make colors more vibrant, and balances out exposures in my images. It gives it a little extra pop of perfection. In order for my light to function properly, it needs to be plugged into a portable battery pack and needs to have two pocket wizards that allow communication between my camera and my light.  That is why I always have my handy dandy assistant with me to not only help make your kids smile, but to help carry the majority of the load (and make sure I don’t lose anything on the way!)  Thanks Danylle!  =-)

So, how do I use my equipment to enhance my photos?

Well, one main element is lighting! I use my Alien Bee light at almost all of my shoots. When setting up, I position the light and soft box at a 45 degree angle from the subject’s face to get a nice direction of light and to create highlights and shadows in the image.  This helps make the image look like it has more dimension.  If you were to play connect the dots with me, the light, and my subject it would make a triangle (just to give you a good idea on placement of everyone).  =-)   Although this light is quite inconvenient to haul around sometimes during shoots, it is completely worth it.  The additional light makes my images super sharp and makes the colors more accurate (no weird color casts).  Also, it helps balance out exposures.  For example, if my subject is in the shade and the background is in the sun, the flash allows me to add more light to my subject in the shade, without overexposing the sun in the background. In these conditions, shooting in natural light can be risky as it is very likely that the background would have been overexposed. Don’t get me wrong—I love natural lighting, but it has to be done right.

Another reason I like using the flash is because it is FLATTERING! It gives individuals hot jaw lines and beautiful light and color in their eyes.  In my opinion, having light in the eyes gives life to the person and photograph, while the dark eyes (or dead eyes as I call them) do not.

Here are some iPhone photos that my assistant, Danylle, snapped yesterday at the senior shoot of Brooklynn Barry, whom, might I add, is a breeze to shoot with her photogenic and easygoing personality.

Here you can see the set up of these photos, where the light is positioned and where I am positioned.

 In the first photo on the car below, I was shooting from a lower angle (I squatted down with her), and the second photo I came and stood above her. I shot with my zoom lens which also added the soft blur to the background, while adding sharpness to the subject.

Notice the different types of lighting in these photos—they have both have a mix of sun and shade. I used the flash in all of these photos to balance out the shadows and the highlights to get an accurate exposure all around. 

 I came at a lower angle (yes, I am laying on the ground) so that the beautifully colored tree would be in the background. I also used my Alien Bee light to perfect the exposure, which allowed the sunny tree in the background to not appear too overexposed and to really show off it’s pretty color!

Check out the rest of Brooklynn’s shoot here.  I used these additional lenses during the shoot:  85mm L 1.2 and 24-70mmL 2.8.