Nothing says Sonoma County like the Mustard flowers growing over the rolling green hills! They are so beautiful for the month or so that they are here! I love being able to capture them when timed just right. You can literally find them all over the side of the road, but finding a location with the right lighting and background can sometimes be a little challenging.  Thats where a professionals expertise comes into play. It has taken me years to fine tune locations, and time sessions just right. I have a few tried and true techniques and strategies that I use when scheduling these. Would you like me to share a few tips with you? 

Tip #1

Start your shoot 1 to 1/2 hour before sunset. This is always my favorite time to shoot, no matter what it is. If you've worked with me before, then you have seen me geek out at this time of day. I get super excited about how pretty the light is right before sunset, and sometimes cant stop myself. I'll keep lying to you and telling you "just one more" :)  You'll quickly learn its never just one more. 

Not only is the light really perfect at his time of day for skin tones, but also for  the flowers. Yellows and greens can be very harsh and really outshine your subject, in portraiture you always want your subject to be the main focus, so when the light is too bright so are the flowers. 

Tip #2

Walk carefully! For 2 reasons: 

One, walk around the mustard, not through it. You don't want to trample all of the flowers, it will ruin them and they will not be as pretty in the photos. Have a plan before you get into them and know which direction you want to be shooting in. 

Two, they get alllllll over your clothes. Mustard is messy and is not fun to Photoshop out of clothes, or try to wash out later! 

Tip # 3

Wear safe footwear. I like to wear my rubber boots when I'm out in a field. If we have been lucky enough to have a little rain, there might be some mud, and there is always going to be uneven dirt. Mustard flowers are usually grown as a cover crop and the fields can have giant holes (see tip #2) walking in heels would not be fun, and these type of photos are very rarely going to show your feet.

Looking for more tips and tricks be sure to follow me on Instagram studiojbysj & studiojseniors. 

If you would like to book your own Mustard Field Session reach me here, we still have time this year!