It’s kind of bittersweet shooting here. It’s by what used to be Candlestick stadium but is now just flat land for development. The 49ers had a storied history there and so did the SF Giants before they moved to whatever-it’s-called-now stadium.
The Location
To get back to this shoot, Bayview Park is somewhat of a hidden gem. It’s easily overlooked because there’s only one street that gets you to it and it’s in a residential area. You really have to be looking for it and it’s hard to just stumble by it. Once you get past that first challenge of finding it, you also have to go up a big hill to get to the main park. And look, it’s a steep hill and the gear gets heavy so I’m not ashamed to say we didn’t even make it to the top due to me being winded carrying everything. Okay, I’m a little ashamed. But we had already gotten all the shots we wanted so we didn’t go all the way to the top. Heizel and I had been to this park once before and we did make it to the top, before you all get all judgey. I know that’s not a word. It’s definitely worth the walk up if it’s your first time, but for shoot purposes, there’s a lot to like along the way.
If you want to check out the park, you can find it here.
The Model
Isabella, who is currently not IG but when she is, you can find her @bella_dominici
The Shoot
I really like flash photography so this was one of my first shoots in a long time where I went for it and went all out with flash on one of the looks. Isabella had a great look and an awesome sense of style so it was a great opportunity to get a look that was a mix of editorial and lifestyle having a baby.
We began walking up and stopped by some large rocks that matched the outfit. The sky was clear and it created a good contrast with the outfit. I would have been okay if things were more on the monochromatic side too since I’d just use a larger aperture to have more blur to create separation between Isabella and the background. In this instance, I didn’t have to and I let the sky do its thing and act as a backdrop.
As we wrapped up the first look, it started getting a bit dark. We started walking up with the intention of getting to the top of the hill but by the time we reached the top and setup, a lot of the good light would have passed us. I’m not a huge fan of golden light for my style and for the most part, I try to avoid direct golden light. As we walked up the hill, we stopped by a dry, grassy area to shoot the second look. It was a bit dark but good enough to where got more of a moody, natural light look.
Check out the behind-the-scenes and the shots below.
Behind the Scenes
The Shots
