Hanging Lake, Colorado

This was one of my first photoshoots. I had a camera...and that was it. So, I convinced Michelle Natoli to be my model. I was nervous, and wanted to do it right, so I chose a location in Colorado called "Hanging Lake", which was supposed to be one of the most picturesque places in Colorado.

We ended up booking a road trip/vrbo trip, and it was a bunch of fun, besides the photoshoot itself. I had enough fun that I'm considering doing a photoshoot/trip with several different people in the future, even if it's more work and less pay. Maybe rent a van or something and cross some amazing country: 

Anyway, we hiked, oh, about an hour, and thank goodness back then I didn't use any strobes or off camera lights. And I think I only had a single lens. Maybe two. Anyway, the hike ended up being a bit longer and tougher than expected, with the costumes and extras we had to bring, and I seem to remember that it was surprisingly slippery.

But Michelle was extremely patient, and we got lucky with this surreal location, right after sunset when the light was soft. I'm still quite fond of this image.

ISO 64, 28mm, 1.8, 1/100, natural light. (Based on this, I guess I must've been learning the basics of DOF and Aperture and low light, at the time).