Midnight Streetlights: A Downtown Memphis Portrait Session After Hours | Missy Kelly

There are sessions that I do that are planned weeks and even months in advance, carefully mapping out times and dates and locations and outfits, and then occasionally I have sessions that are the complete opposite, that start (and really never go much more in depth than) "Hey, let's go take pictures."

That's pretty much how this night played out. 

I think it was only a day or two before, I messaged Missy and just asked, "Do you want to stand in front of my camera for a bit Thursday night?" 
We didn't want to start until the sun went down, which sounds a bit backwards. Usually I'm wrapping up when the sun goes down, chasing that good afternoon lighting and soaking up the beautiful golden hour. But I wanted to push myself past that. Golden hour is easy to make beautiful pictures, but when you're limited on light and you have to make do with your surroundings... it forces you to get creative. 

Before we got creative though, while the sun was still floating just above the Mississippi River illuminating Downtown Memphis with a golden glow, we headed to Loflin Yard. If you haven't been to Loflin Yard, the best way to describe it is a perfect blend of lawn chairs, live music, yard games, a bar, and lots of dogs. We swung by there to kill a little time, grab a drink, and to do probably the only thing I like to do just as much as take pictures... pet dogs. 

After a brief hula-hoop incident that consisted of me hula hooping a kid in the face (which resulted in no fatal injuries and mostly just embarrassment and shame on my part) we decided it was probably time to head out and explore. I used a couple locations I had shot at before, but I had only been there during the day. I loved coming back at night, it was like shooting at a completely new spot; every bit of it was different.  I also found a couple spots that I had never even considered before that were perfect for an After Hours session. 

I used only the city lights, my camera, and this gorgeous lady that let me drag her around downtown; alleyways and rooftops and everything in between. Thanks Missy, can't wait to shoot again! You nailed this shoot and I had a blast hangin' out and cloning you and stuff.