“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”
– Ansel Adams
With my origins as a landscape photographer, I still make the time to travel to the West Coast at least once a year for some artistic adventures. Some of my favorite settings have been Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend in Arizona. This year, I decided to do something different. I wanted to combine my love of landscape photography with my passion for maternity portraiture.
I chose the location of Badwater Basin, because the harsh textures and vast expanses of salt flats would be the perfect juxtaposition with the gorgeous curves of pregnancy. Not to mention, no portraiture had been done there before. Hmmmm, I wonder why no one else thought of finding a Mommy-to-be willing to trek all the way out to a remote area in the middle of nowhere, literally called Death Valley, likely without any cell phone reception, as the sun goes down… Not to mention, the lowest and driest area in the country, and the hottest place in the world!! Not exactly a casting call that will have pregnant women lining up around the block.
Thankfully we have an incredible network of fellow photographers, and I was able to find the absolute perfect model. Christina was tall and lanky, with gorgeous red hair, and imagine my delight to find out that she’d been a high fashion model in her previous life (She’s currently busy being a mother to two little cuties, and photographer extraordinaire.)! We had the most stunning chiffon maternity gown made by one of our favorite vendors, and it was ON.
Flash forward to the day of our big adventure. My wife Sophie and I spent the morning picking up lighting gear from a local rental shop. Followed by a quick trip to Whole Foods to stock up on snacks for the day, since there’s nothing worse than trying to get the creative juices flowing with the distraction of a grumbling belly. We’d wanted to pick up a leaf blower to add some motion to the dress, but realized too late that we would have had to charge it the previous night. As much as you plan, there will always be hiccups along the way. That’s what keeps these adventures exciting.
The drive through Death Valley was breathtaking. When we finally arrived at Badwater Basin, I must say we were somewhat disappointed. There must have been a recent rainfall, because the flats were a muddy brown, and the formations were all dried up and cracked. With my extensive research, I hadn’t even realized this could happen! After walking around for an hour, I finally found a small area of perfect formations. From the right angle, I could hopefully make it work. By this time, we had just an hour till sunset. I rushed to the car to get the lighting gear and set everything up, as Christina changed into her gown.
As a family photographer, it’s not often that I use a tripod or graduated filters. It’s also uncommon for me to use an ultra wide-angle lens (like the 14-24mm), nor do I recall EVER taking a portrait with my aperture down to f/16. Crazy, right? Although it took more gear than usual to capture my vision, I loved the unique experience of fusing my passion for landscapes and portraiture.
In the first three images, the sun is just about to set, and it’s light really defines the salt formations on the dry lake floor. The first two shots were taken with a D800 with 14-24mm. Due to the obvious wide-angle distortion of this focal length, I tried to keep the subject close to center to minimize the effects.
Twenty minutes later, we were blessed with some clouds, so I composed the shot with a bit more sky. However, the missing sun caused the salt formations to be rendered flat and featureless. Here the strobes provided much needed illumination. One reflected off a white umbrella provided the key light (camera left), the other was shot through a honeycomb grid and provided our hair/rim light (camera right).
Another twenty minutes later, I decide to use a telephoto. I am always amazed at the difference in perspective that a simple focal-length change can do. D4 with the 105mm f/2 DC. The sky behind the mountains was still pinkish, but the rest of it was deep blue. I had to tune my white balance in post to 25,000 Kelvin in order to render her skin tone nice and warm. Crazy! The 105mm brought the Panamint Mountain Range so much closer. That’s Telescope Peak to the left, blanketed in snow. Luckily the valley floor was much warmer, although I must say that the salt formations are razor sharp and not as soft as they may look!
Badwater is such an odd place. You’re standing at a dry lake, 282 feet below sea level, while out in the distance, Mt. Whitney soars at 14,505 feet high. The lowest and highest points in the country. Talk about extremes. But we didn’t pick this location because it would be easy. What’s the fun in that?!
Equipment used: Nikon D4/D800 bodies, 14-24mm f/2.8G, 105mm f/2DC, 200mm f/2, Gitzo Tripod, Lee Filters, and Profoto B1 strobes.
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Beautiful images – thanks for the pullback. It’s always fun to see behind the scenes. I also can’t believe the 25000k – crazy!
I would photograph in a tropical rain forest somewhere…
… and a location like this goes straight to my “shots to take before I die” list! Great insights!
Gorgeous pictures! What a location.
Lovely post! So interesting to read about the extremes of the location and how it affected the use of the gear to achieve such a variety of photographs! Thanks for sharing, Michael!
I think I would like to photograph in Santorini Grece 🙂 I’m always drawn to the photographs pf that place.
I just love desert landscapes! Beautiful work.
My passion is street photography, so my ideal place would be Morocco – for the markets and beautiful architecture.
Beautiful location, beautiful model , beautiful photos.
beautiful photos and great idea! if I could shoot anywhere in the world I would choose any lakes or mountains!
Hawaii 🙂
great idea to photograph in such a unique location
Fiji
Gorgeous! I’d photograph at the “Tunnel of Love” (Ukraine) or the Maldives starry beaches!
Gorgeous! I’d love to photograph Paris.
Gorgeous photo’s!! I would like to do a shoot in the mountains when the wildflowers are in bloom 🙂
Wow Michael, those are amazing! I’m from AZ and have never heard of any of those places around there. Makes me want to get out of my comfort zone and travel a bit. I love the contrast of her softness against that amazing backdrop. Thank you for describing your day and your vision. You’re very talented!
I’m a big fan of Michael Kormos’ work, and I would love to shoot my family in Central Park at sunset, or maybe wherever he shoots with all the cherry blossoms! We don’t have fields of them like that in Hawaii…
Anywhere in the world? That’s so hard to choose, but I’d have to go with Japan!
Would love to win this!
If I could shoot anywhere in the world, it’d be India. At this moment. I’m sure it’ll change tomorrow.
If I could shoot anywhere in the world? That would be easy – France
I’d love to photograph a model in a deserted industrial building.
GOGRGEOUS maternity shoot! wow!!!
If I could photograph any where I would choose Fiji!!!
-Tara
I would love to photograph in Ireland–green and lush countryside!!!
The alps! GORGEOUS shoot!
Interesting post!!!
Gorgeous session! Would love to shoot in the Caribbean. So many vibrant colors!
These are beautiful! My dream location would be some place tropical such as Costa Rica or Belize!
I would love to photograph the Great Wall of China.
Thanks for sharing!
There are so many options but I would love to do portraits in Paris. I’ve never been to Paris but I love the idea, and the photos I’ve seen there are stunning!
I want to capture the love of a family that is so captivating that it overpowers their surroundings. ; )
Beautiful work! I would love to have a shoot in Tibet 🙂
I would love to take photographs in Hawaii.
Beautiful capture! I’d love to shoot underwater in Bora Bora.
Great work! Thank you for sharing!!
I’d love to take an amazing shot in Paris with the eifle tower in close up behind my daughter!
Amazing! How I would have loved to come along and learn from a seasoned professional landscape photographer….that also knows about lighting!
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
And I’d love to go to France and take photos of the lavender fields.
How beautiful! Love the lighting.
Somewhere tropical!
Lovely images! Wow, love the look of the salt/ bad lands!
Beautiful pictures. Love the description of how and why you did it too.
Absolutely stunning!
I would love taking photos in Greece or Italy with all the beautiful classic architecture. Or, I might just join you in the desert. These photos are amazing!
Beautiful!
PARIS!!!!
Wow! Beautiful!!
I would love to photograph in a rainforest somewhere.
The lavender fields in France!
Greece!
These are amazing!
Beautiful!
Beautiful!
I would love to shoot in Provence region of France.
I would love to shoot in Hawaii! I’ve been there but I just had a point and shoot. I would love to go back with my DSLR.
Adventurous journey for sure. You must be very satisfied with the results of your hard work.
I would like to do some shooting in England.
Beautiful!
I would love to photography in England…love of the CM shares that come out of Wales.
These are just beautiful! I’d love to shoot in Greece-can’t beat the blue water!
I’d love to photograph in Tahiti or Bali – I won’t be choosy 😉
Beautiful work!
These are beautiful!
Wow – stunning landscape, stunning maternity photography – amazing.
That was the most inspiring piece! Thank you sooooo much. My passion is also between landscape and family photography and combining them makes my heart so happy.
just stunning! Great article. Thank you very much!