The South 40 Creative Spotlight showcases creative talent we love to work with! Discover some of our favorite photographers, videographers and more!
This month we’re featuring a photographer who helps families celebrate the milestones of their lives. Photographer Maria Latham helps her subjects feel seen–through careful posing and capturing of real emotions. Her photography tells our life’s journey–capturing everything from engagement photos to pregnancy shoots to family photos as the years progress. Her use of natural lighting and careful consideration of colors keep these memories vibrant.
How do you prepare for a portrait session at an outdoor location like South 40?
Typically, my assistant and I spend some time researching whatever genre we’re doing–for example engagement or senior photos . We find some poses we like, and consider the location and the clients. We want to find poses that will best suit the client and the location. Most of our clients really like the flowers, and so we tend to think about posing in the flowers first, and then working our way around from there. We want to make each session individual for the client.
What elements of the South 40 scenery do you find the most compelling for portrait photography?
Oh gosh, I love them all. My favorites are the flowers, obviously. Everyone wants flowers. We like having a creek here, because creeks are kind of hard to come by. South 40’s is shaded well, which means the camera won’t be blinded by light bouncing off the water. The tall winter wheat that grows around it also provides a great harvest or fall feel–something we find resonates with a lot of people.
The environment here really helps us to create authentic memories and moments in our photographs. That’s why we really love it at South 40. That environmental backdrop is so important, but, ultimately, people are really what makes the photos. We try to put them in pleasing environments, and then we can showcase what’s best about the people we’re photographing.
How does the setting at South 40 contribute to your experience during the photo shoot?
The private areas are really nice. It was more comfortable to take photos in nature here than opposed to something like a park, where you might have other people watching you. Being in nature also relaxes you, so I’ve always thought it makes for better pictures.
Being in a natural setting can have its own set of challenges, can you share some tips on working with natural light and outdoor locations? And how do you choose your equipment for a shoot in varied landscapes?
Primarily I shoot natural light here, but we do bring our own lights. They’re for dark or cloudy days, or if we want to do something a little more dramatic with shadowing.
My biggest advice is to keep the sun to your subject’s back. Make sure you don’t have bright or hot spots on their faces and try to keep them out of dappled light. Dappled light is where there is dark and light all over the subject—it’s important to avoid it because it’ll distract a viewer’s eye away from the subject
Honestly, for equipment, I like to bring everything I have. I want to be able to shoot a variety of looks–everything from close-ups to wide panoramics. The four lenses we bring are a 50, a 24-70, a 105, and a 70-200.
What inspires your creative process when shooting in a natural setting?
I think the creative process for me is the same no matter where I go. I tell everybody: it’s kind of like having really bad ADHD. You have a plan in mind and then you see something, and you go, ‘Oh my gosh, that would be beautiful with what they’re wearing, or with the color scheme, or with the light,’ and you just see it. It’s hard to explain how “you just see it,” which is why you can’t teach creativity. It just happens.
What kind of post processing do you find the most effective for your outdoor portraits?
We edit in Photoshop. Lots of people edit in Lightroom nowadays, but I was taught Photoshop 40 years ago, and I’ve been using Photoshop ever since. My assistant also edits in Photoshop because we find that we have more control over the images. We do color corrections, we remove stray hairs, we remove blemishes, etc. We want you to look the best you can while looking exactly like yourself.
Would you recommend a South 40 photo session to others? And what advice would you give them, if so?
100% we would recommend South 40. We come here all the time, even though it’s an hour drive each way for us. There’s so much variety, and everyone is always so friendly and kind to us–and so accommodating to our clients.
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