Prom Photography Ideas

prom photography ideas couple sitting under gazebo

MWPImages – Prom Photography

I just thought I’d share some prom photography ideas today.  I can’t believe I actually accomplished this crazy idea of having an all out photo session with prom couples outdoors in a park.  I did it!  Since I normally shoot weddings, I just used my pre-planning skills and calm nature direction to move quickly through these awesome models.  I think one of the best prom photography ideas I had was to treat everyone like a model.  They are in front of your lens and posing to your direction, therefore they are the most important person in that moment in time.  Thanks to the 2 last week in Lapel, IN and the 26 this weekend in Sodalis Nature Park on the SW side of Indianapolis.  Here are some prom photography ideas to use with large groups, couples, and singles.

More Prom Photography Ideas to Consider

1. Think about your lighting, I chose to use a single strobe.  I let the sunlight be the hair light and rim light by placing their backs to the sun.  These were all taken outdoors so there was no power.  I used a Photogenic ION, Alien Bees 800, Paul C Buff 36″ Octabox, radio poppers triggers.

2. Consider the environment.  There were a ton of people out on this day.  Watch each frame for items like signs, poles, people, men fishing, etc.  If you can see these as you’re looking through your camera, you can save a ton of time in post.

3. Get some battery powered music.  Music always help people relax and a relaxed model will move and have fun.  I used my Samsung Galaxy to pump Pandora EDM via bluetooth to a Beats XL Portable Box.  6 – D sized batteries rocked 2 1/2 hours with no problem.

4. With 26 models, space the schedule with a little overlap.  That allows you to continue to shoot continuously without getting out of the groove.  Yeah, they may have to wait around 5mins or so but usually their parents and friends are there so it’s not that bad.

5. Get some sneak peaks out.  I know I was asked a few times if I’d have all 500 images ready the next day. HAHAHA!

I hope these prom photography ideas help you in some way.  Maybe I should start booking now for my next year prom models!  So much FUN!  Check me out on FACEBOOK

MWPImages | Indianapolis Senior Photographer

Indica | Fishers High School | Senior Photographer

©2014 Mike Washington PhotographyIndica’s mom found me on Google, which I hope others will too. She thought it was too late to have her daughter’s senior pictures taken, but it’s never too late.  Well, I suppose if you’ve been out a while then yeah.  Anyhow, I had a blast working with Indica on her images! We met in the studio downtown and took a few images.  Then we jump down to the canal, which is only a 5 minute walk and absolutely gorgeous this time of year.  On our walk, I found out that Indica is a rugby enthusiast and plays on a team at her school.  How cool is that???  She wanted more of the industrial urban feel and I believe we captured it for her senior pictures Fishers Indiana.  Check us out on Facebook too!

MWPImages | Indianapolis Senior Photographer

The Greatest Photography Training | After Dark Edu 2014

MWPImages - Photography Education

Remember the very first day you picked up a new camera and started clicking away? Well, I don’t really either. I do know that at that time I thought it was awesome to push a button and freeze time! Billions of clicks later, I realized that I needed some photography training. I had the basics under my belt, but I wanted more. Imagine if you could just pack up every great photographer in the world and take them along with you on your personal shoots. How awesome would that be?!? Seeing as how I still haven’t flipped the switch to become a full-time photographer, and I haven’t won the lottery, I just can’t do that right now. So the next best thing is get some live photography training. I’ve read many books and watched many videos, but there comes a point where you need that one-on-one interaction. You need to be able to ask questions, get answers, and build a support community around yourself.

After Dark Edu has been that outlet for me. I hear a lot of people say that they want to take better pictures and photography training is the way to do it. I’ve experienced After Dark twice now and the take-aways from both years have been nothing short of fantastic. At AD, I had instant access to photography training from awesome mentors, assistants, other photographers, and even models. It’s quite amazing to see this program come together and the amount of equipment, hard work, and dedication is rather inspiring. From planning, to lighting, to shooting, editing, delivery, and business every base was covered! I fully expect that you will see an outstanding amount of growth from my previous images and business ethics from now moving forward.  You can follow along with me on Facebook too!

I already posted some behind the scenes shots from my mobile at on this page, After Dark Edu bts, now here are some finished images from the greatest photography training ever!

MWPImages | Indianapolis Fashion Photographer

Dance Photography With Flour | After Dark Edu 2014

MWPImages - Photography Education

While I was at the After Dark Edu workshop this year, I had the opportunity to play until my heart was content.  As I walked through the grand hall of the St. Louis Union Station after a class, I stumbled on the end of another class that had a very large group of photographers and I popped in for the end.  This class, led by Travis Gadsby was all about dance photography with flour.  It was so awesome, I just had to take a few shots.  I’ll attempt to explain the setup here.  Keep in mind this is in the middle of Union Station and the lighting wasn’t quite idea, but it was all about grasping the concept.

The Setup

Ideally, to shoot dance photography or motion of any sort you have to use a quick shutter speed and flash to freeze the subject.  Unless you want the blurred look of course.  Here the model was on a huge tarp to contain the mess from the flour.  She would grab two handfuls and go to town.  There were two strobes, one left and one right of model just outside of the field of view with huge soft boxes.  Of course, when using strobes to capture dance photography, or any photography, you must stay inside your sync speed.  Since there were a ton of photographers, we had to shoot and pass the triggers.  Until someone came up with the bright idea of using Bulb Mode.  Whoa!  We actually had the staff of Union Station give us a 10-minute window of semi-darkness by killing most of the house lights.  Then everyone was able to shoot while 1 person triggered the flash once or multiple times per frame.  Dance photography is pretty neat in that you can create something spectacular as the model moves across the frame.  You can see from my shots that the ambient light was still a bit much, but like I said, grasp the concept.

MWPImages | Indianapolis Fashion Photographer

Tattoo Shoot | Ink Fam

What a way to spend a birthday! I had a blast shooting with ShadowInk – Ink Fam and Melissa Kinnett – Royal Bliss Accessories! I’m reposting this tattoo blog because silly me blew up my first website and now I’m rebuilding. This tattoo photoshoot was a great experience. I’m honored to have been a part of this opportunity. Melissa and Royal Bliss took home Accessory designer of the year 2013 from the RAW Artists RAWards while I claimed the Photographer of the Year Award. I was so excited to shoot along side 3 other great photographers, Dauss Foto, Rock Candy, and Tru Vision. The models really brought their “A” game and delivered an outstanding 4 hour session! Make sure you go check out TTFU and INKFAM for all of your tattoo needs and join the family with their new line of gear to wear! Much thanks goes out to Palm Studios in Carmel, IN for hosting this event. I can’t forget Kaleb at Drifter Productions for this awesome behind the scenes footage, thank you!

If any of you are looking for tattoo services, check out ShadowInk at Fallen Empire Tattoo in Beechgrove, IN.

If you want to see more of my work check me out on Facebook and click “Like” 🙂 Also, my first fashion btw video is Here. I used to have a blog post about it, but you already know what happened to that blog. I will continue to work on my new blog here and of course my photography in general. I just got back from a 5-day photography workshop called After Dark Education, which was held in St. Louis, MO. So, be on the lookout for an outstanding blog post from that experience.

 

MWPImages | Indianapolis Fashion Photographer