Have you ever put off taking some photographs just because of a perceived obstacle? The lighting wasn’t ideal, the backgrounds were poor, the camera didn’t have the best lens for gee if I just had a better....? I recently encountered that situation and learned that sometimes the challenge of making do with what you have may just be the challenge you need to get creative and take a good shot.

Recently I wanted to try a piece of equipment for an informal portrait of a young mother and daughter. I had only a short time to accomplish this task. I found my self in a back yard in the middle of the afternoon with no shade. Walking around the property I could not find an ideal backdrop. There were no tall flower beds, no trees, no real shade and even the house had chipping paint which would be distracting. Time would not allow me to move the couple to a nearby park.

Give up and try another time??? Of course not! Upon continually looking, I settled upon using the small shrubs in the front of the house which was about the only area not getting direct sunlight. I had my subjects sit on the ground so they would not tower over the shrubs. I allowed for some of the sunlight to catch hair highlights for effect and moved in tightly to crop out any unwanted background. It was not what I had in mind when I started, but it worked.

There are several morals to the story but the one that stands out is: It is the photographer who makes the picture, not the equipment.