A few Sundays ago, some photographer friends and I went to a “Strobist” get together at the Minneapolis Photo Center, a cool new photography coop in the Twin Cities.

“Strobist” comes from the Strobist site, which teaches photographers how to use off camera flash. This group meets once a month in various locations to just practice and learn from each other. The organizers hire models and participants pay a fee to participate.

This event was a little different because the Photo Center is new and it was also an opportunity for photographers to check it out. They actually had studio strobes set up and we mostly used those for some of the photos. The Photo Center had some amazing natural light photography areas too, which my natural light loving photography friends and I played in, probably more than we did the strobes.

We got to work a lot with a model named Chris Scott. He is a Ford model and was really fun to photograph. I don’t think I have ever worked with a “real” model before and let me tell you, it was a treat! It’s fun to photograph someone who poses well and changes poses constantly. We hardly had to give him any direction and he was just generally a really good guy. He and I talked about doing a session together this summer with horses. I seriously cannot wait!

These first portraits were with one studio strobe with a big octagon soft box in front of it.

I have a new friend – her name is Heather Kough and she lives in the neighboring town of Montrose and is an up and coming wedding photographer. We made a decision before going that we would photograph each other at the event, because we both needed new head shots and photos for social networking type sites. She is a bubbly, bright, fun person and I really looked forward to photographing her!

Here are some of my photos of her (all with natural light only):

Here is a photo Heather took of me in that location.

I have a growing passion for storytelling, so I popped into the makeup room to take a few “behind the scenes” photos:

Then we found a great setup where a couple of other photographers I know had a couple of diffusers set up – one with direct sunlight coming through it, and one reflecting the light. The lighting it created on our favorite model was totally amazing. I am going to use this technique in the future!

I’m sad that I don’t remember this model’s name. I so enjoyed photographing her. It was in a similar location to the last two photos, but over more to the left and I’m not sure we had the diffuser in the window anymore. I think she looks a bit like Audrey Hepburn!

Then Heather and I found the “cold room” where there was very soft natural light coming in through windows. They didn’t have the heat on much in there, making it a cold room. ;)

Anyone who knows me well, knows I HATE to be photographed. Heather and I had coffee together on our way to the event and I told her about my hangups and concerns. When it was my turn to be photographed in this room, she shot from floor level, and I was really not sure about it, because I never like photos from below because I don’t have a strong jawline (and photos from a low angle tend to make people look heavier).

But I trusted her, and I’m glad I did. The photos she took from that angle are some of my favorite photos I’ve had taken of myself. I also thought she did an amazing job with the composition. I was really impressed and I learned a little something that day about trusting and being open both mentally and emotionally. :-)