In late summer, I was asked to take pictures by a friend of a friend for a home church plant in Columbus. I was honored by the request and was both excited and nervous to be shooting for people that I didn’t know closely. It was a great experience getting to know the small group of members who had been attending the church that would later become known as Shiloh Hiawatha House.
I worked with Taylor, who founded the church, in selecting locations for the shoot. We picked both the Park of Roses here in Columbus and also their home church where the meet weekly for worship, music and teachings.
It was late summer and the bugs were out in force, but the group didn’t seem to mind as they pulled together some praise and worship songs so that I could capture them in their element. I hope you’ll agree, the locale and subject matter made for very impactful photographs. We found a great spot in the prairie where there was room for everyone but still some really nice backgrounds for the shots. Here are some additional photos from the park (slide show):
I have to say that seeing how these pictures came out as I was editing them was one of the most gratifying feelings I’ve experienced in my short life as a photographer. I didn’t screw it up, haha! And Taylor was so excited as were other members of the church with the images. On top of that, they all chipped in to raise money for Design Outreach in exchange for my services and that money will go toward installing a water pump in a village in Haiti next year for hundreds without access to clean water. That’s what it’s all about.
Some of the ladies were more than willing to pose for portraits as well, which is one of my favorite things. I have a Sony 50mm 1.8 and Sigma 30mm 1.4 that take some killer portrait shots. Click into the images for the full version.
After the trip to the park, we headed back to the house where they sang some more and had some teaching and conversation. The light was challenging and I was glad I brought along a shop light to help cast light on the ceiling. It also gave us a really nice, warm glow.
The goal for these images was to help their fledgling church transform into something more official and to announce their church to the world. I hope you’ll agree that the final result came out great: