375 - Terwilliger Hot Springs
*Note: This adventure also features an in-field vlog.
The odds were completely against us for this photography session at Terwilliger Hot Springs, but we somehow managed to pull it off.
Technically, hot springs shoots are the most difficult- especially if you're swimming in them. Which, let's face it- why would you go to shoot a hot springs and not even get in?
For starters, there's steam everywhere, which means high humidity on your lens. Mix in hot water, slippery rocks, (often) nude strangers, and early mornings, and it adds up to be a bit of a mess.
My best advice is to arrive early to avoid that crowds, but often times hot springs get so crowded you'll even find people there even in the mornings. Luckily, that wasn't the case today. Well, kind of.
We arrived around 6:30AM, a little after sunrise, only to find the entire place to ourselves. Now, we were smart about this. Visiting the National Forest website, we figured out that Terwilliger Hot Springs closes from 8:00AM - 12:00PM on Thursdays for it's weekly cleaning, so that's the morning we arrived. We figured no one would show up BEFORE the cleaning day.
But apparently a few people didn't get the memo. About 10 minutes after we got there, another couple arrived. Luckily they were super chill with us shooting the place even though they were nude, so we just kept the camera away from there general direction.
The first shot we lined up was an overview of the entire place. Took me a little while to scope out this composition, mainly because I was so focused on getting a waterfall in the shot. I had to sacrifice the waterfall for the greater good- the only way to see the entire hot springs in full frame was to shoot behind the waterfalls.
Pro-tip: Don't get too caught up on holding onto one object in the frame, in may be holding you back. This is what I lined up:
Obviously we used Haley as the model because red bikini's are basically made for hot springs. I enjoyed the moodiness in that shot, and brought out those green/blue tones to contest the red suit. I also added a little steam in Photoshop with the Render > Cloud + Gaussian Blur Filters, which came out pretty slick.
After that shot, I promised myself I'd just relax the rest of the time because it was technically our Friday, and I was trying to enjoy it. Expect the sunlight came out...
And ohhhhh did it come out. Hot mist and sunrays are something special. I couldn't resist.
I dug back into my camera bag and snagged another shot of the springs, this time of Haley and I being a couple. She loves these types of shots, and sometimes you just got to make the lady happy.
And, uh, that's about it. Not much else I can think of to write down... Probably the biggest thing that I learned on this shoot besides how to add fog in Photoshop was to keep shooting/vlogging in the space of others. I often get self-conscious about filming/photographing, especially when strangers are watching so intensely.
In situations like a hot spring where there's really nothing else to look at than the idiot running around with a camera, the situation was amplified and I got in my head a bit. But I prevailed.
Sure, the people were nice, but it almost felt like there was an aura of judgement because Haley and I definitely looked like your typical "influencers." Running about taking photos everywhere instead of just enjoying it.
But, we're trying to create a business here and our "enjoyment weekends" are a little different than everyone else's. They often involve restaurants, museums, or binge watching movies in the van. We're out in nature so much sometimes we just want to be indoors for a bit. Maybe I'm just too in my head about this. But there, at least you know what it's like sometimes on these intimate location shoots.
Alright. Bye!
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
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