Over the past decade, the first measurable Colorado snowfalls have occurred in October and November. But on September 3, 1961, the 4.2 inches of snow that fell in Denver was the earliest snowfall recorded since the Weather Bureau began keeping records in 1872.

Regular readers of the blog may be seeing some of these models for the first time and that’s my intention because another thing they have in common was how much they helped improve my photography

All of the cameras and lenses that are used to make the photographs that appear on this blog, my books or social media accounts are equipment that I bought and paid for with my own money. Any exceptions are mages that were captured with equipment on loan from manufacturers, such as the Lumix S1R camera and Sigma L-mount lenses that were used to write product reviews for this blog.

High key subjects typically consist on lighter tones, use soft lighting and contain white or pale tones. High-key lighting is typically soft and free from dark shadows and often contains small darker areas such as the subject’s hair or eyes to keep the portrait from becoming too boring. This technique also uses bright lighting to reduce or completely blow out any dark shadows that may be lurking in the image. The high key look is generally thought of as producing an images that is positive and upbeat, although I am not sure that I agree with that assessment 100%.

In working with the model during a test shoot I don’t have a formula for posing. I pretty much let them do their own thing, which also helps show off their creativity.