APRIL IN THE WILDFLOWERS: A SUNSET PORTRAIT SESSION IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN
Sometimes the best locations are the ones you would never expect.
I’d spotted a patch of wildflowers that had been grown in a corner of a sports park right in the middle of town. Not a “remote magical secret spot”. Just ordinary, familiar, and weirdly beautiful.
I mentioned it to April in passing. She said, “I want to see it.” That was the whole brief.
So we turned up at sunset, and let the place do what it does when the light goes soft and gold.
The Idea
This session wasn’t about perfect posing or looking like someone else.
It was about making portraits that feel etherial, warm, nostalgic, and a little cinematic. The kind of images you can live with on your wall for years without getting sick of them.
Why the photos look the way they do
I shot this with an old Russian Helios lens. It’s not a “sharp modern” lens. It’s the opposite.
It flares. It swirls. It has a few imperfections that make the images feel like they came from another time. That’s the point.
Just so we’re clear though, the lens isn’t the magic trick. If the photo has no feeling, “cool lens” doesn’t save it. The lens just supports the mood we were already going for.
How we shot it (so it stayed natural)
We kept it simple and fluid.
We started standing in the flowers, letting April settle into the space and the light. Then we moved through a loose flow:
- slow walking through the patch, letting the dress and hair move
- small adjustments with hands, shoulders, and chin to shape the light
- sitting and leaning into the flowers to soften the body and face
- a few quiet moments looking away, then back to the camera
- finishing with a more playful vibe once the nerves were gone
The goal was never “hit a pose”. It was to give her something to do so the expressions stayed real.
The light made it
Sunset did the heavy lifting. That low, warm light gave everything a glow, and the backlight turned the flowers into a soft, dreamy foreground.
That’s why you see those rainbow flares and that hazy warmth. It’s not filters. It’s timing, angle, and letting the lens react to the sun.
What I want you to take from this
You don’t need a dramatic location to make meaningful portraits.
A patch of flowers in a sports park can be enough, if the light is right and you’re willing to slow down and actually be there.
And these kinds of images are made for print. The whole feel of this session makes more sense as a framed piece or a small album you can pick up and flip through, not just something that lives on your phone for a week.
If you want something like this
If you’ve got a place you’ve noticed, or a vibe you want to explore, tell me. We’ll keep it simple, plan it around good light, and I’ll guide you the whole way so it doesn’t feel awkward.
Send me a message and tell me:
- what you want the photos to feel like
- where you’d love to shoot (even if it sounds boring)
- whether you want these for your wall, a gift, or just for you
I’ll take it from there.
