What to wear in the bluebonnets

[sioleabha]

Well, I heard that there are bluebonnets in Terry Hershey Park (or at least, there were a week ago), so I'm heading over there tomorrow to try and get some shots of the kids. I read in a magazine that it's best to wear white, so I bought my younger daughters the cutest little white dresses and a pretty white blouse for my older daughter. Unfortunately, I could not find ANY white maternity blouses for me.

(Side rant: The Wal*Mart by me is making me so mad! If you ask an employee where the maternity clothes are, they point to this big sign that says, of course, "Maternity." The problem is that if you go stand under that sign, you're in the middle of the lingerie section!!! Um, hello, think it's pretty obvious I got that part covered, right?? It's been that way for months and the employees are still shocked when I tell them that there are no maternity clothes anywhere near that sign.)

Anyway, unless I can swing by Target tomorrow morning and they happen to have something perfect, the closest thing I have is a mostly white blouse that has blue flowers all over it. That's gonna look terrible, isn't it? Should I not even bother getting in the photos myself? I seriously don't have ANY solid color tops, AT ALL. So should I just stick to shooting the kids, or do you think the top I have would photograph ok?

[johnastovall]

How about nothing?

[sioleabha]

That would quite probably get me arrested. On multiple charges.

[jeffkohn]

White goes well with blue, but white clothing is also more difficult to photograph in full sunlight due to the contrast range. Avoiding blown whites can be a real problem. Complimentary colors such as yellow would probably work. Maybe pink also.

Avoiding patterns or anything else 'busy' is a good idea because the flowers themselves make for a fairly busy scene.

[toverman]

Get some pics of the kids alone, but definitely get into the photo! Especially because you've got another kid on the way, looking at it will instantly blast you back to this time in your life (and when you couldn't find white shirts for yourself).

Good luck!

[dlanter]

I did a shoot last weekend of a little girl in bluebonnets. Her mother brough 3 different outifts for her. The yellow dress really came out nice. The white top & shorts looked nice while shooting, but didn't come out that great. The blue patterned dress I didn't like at all, she was almosted camaflouged amongst the blue flowers.
I have another similar shoot later today and I asked the mother to dress her in either yellow or pink.
Dan

[bigwavesurfergirl]

I still really like white. Although you may also consider a solid red top, which will look very patriotic!

[myelphoto]

pale yellow would blend nice IMO

[Tim-in-TX]

Don't forget the bug spray...

[centtex1]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

How about nothing?

mr. stovall.come on now, let's be reasonable- i was going to suggest a thongevil:

[kenw]

I read an article in the Chronicle several years ago, let’s see if I can recall the gist of it:

Solids not prints
Primary colors, tending towards mid-darker shades rather than lighter

Yup, that’s about all I recall…

[sioleabha]

Well, it turned out not to matter. Not only could we not find bluebonnets, we could not find ANY flowers anywhere. Of course, it's a big park, and we certainly didn't cover the whole thing. At least it was a nice walk.

[rfortson]

The bluebonnets around Clearlake have been on the decline for the past week or so. I think their time has passed. You'll probably need to drive north to find some still viable, I guess.

Of course, all TPF'ers know not to tromp around in the flowers. It kills me (and the flowers) to see someone walking all over the flowers for their pictures. It looks good for that one shot, but then there's nothing left for anyone else.

[canoflan]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

White goes well with blue, but white clothing is also more difficult to photograph in full sunlight due to the contrast range. Avoiding blown whites can be a real problem. Complimentary colors such as yellow would probably work. Maybe pink also.

Avoiding patterns or anything else 'busy' is a good idea because the flowers themselves make for a fairly busy scene.

Back to the sun can help this and then properly expose for the face using either a gray card, or spot/partial metering. You most likely only care about the people and bluebonnets in front of them anyway. Some fill flash with a stofen would be good as well.

Pat