Adoption Photography
Adoption Photography
(My first adoption photography job)
The client contacted me for adoption photography at Ventura County Juvenile Courthouse in Oxnard. They were finalizing an adoption of a baby boy. The adoption finalization was scheduled for Friday 1:30pm. I have never done an adoption photography before so I was looking forward to this job. Some of my friends also showed special interest on adoption process in Ventura County. They wanted to know what the adoption process was like.
County of Ventura Juvenile Courthouse - where adoption ceremony took place
Everyone arrived at the courthouse plenty early. We took care of the formal photography before we went inside. I looked everywhere for possible formal photography location. I also asked people who worked there at the courthouse. The only suitable location for formal photography was the front lawn with the Courthouse as a background. The baby was very cute, he had his mother’s hair. He was already fitting right in with the family. He was demanding his father to stand up while holding him. So the father had to stand up during the adoption finalization process (cute).
Adoption Photography - Formal Session
Above Picture: Photography wise my job was straight forward - “Deal with the situation.” It was very hot, over 90 degrees at Oxnard, and the Sun was piercing my skin. Heatwave was the top news in Southern California. I told everyone to stay in the shade while I was setting up the light. The only existing “small” shade around the Courthouse was at the entrance of the building (shown left side of the picture). The flash had to be strong in order to get rid of the deep shadows on the faces. A wireless flash was setup manually with a light-meter. White balance was adjusted on camera, so above image is pretty much straight out from camera. It may look simple, but above image was highly technical.
Soon the ceremony (court process) began. The whole process was quick. The judge was very funny. After signing some papers everything was complete. The Judge gave the baby and his sister candies and toys. I took the group pictures with the judge as well. Then we went go to a different office to take care of some more paperwork. The entire event took about 2 hours.
Web album was completed within 24 hours for the client to review.
* It was REALLY hot today.
Ventura County Juvenile Court
4353 Vineyard Ave. Oxnard, CA 93036
RSS
