Superhero Shoot Downtown Cleveland

So, I will begin with saying I wasn't quite sure how this was going to work... I have seen other photographers use an empty parking garage before for all sorts of different shoots, so I thought to myself...Let's give it a shot!! After all, when your little boy chooses Superhero's for the theme of his new bedroom, and your husband so conveniently works downtown and parks in this particular garage every day, you just got to give it a whirl!!

A little peak into my brain when I plan these types of things... The location is the top floor of a public parking garage, so therefore it's important to

A. Pick a night in Cleveland when there is nothing going on. (The Indians were away, and the Q is under construction.)

B. Shoot in the late evening when most of your business men and women have left for the day. (less parked cars) Which is when I shoot anyway, because as we all know that golden sunset light is THE BEST!!

C. Gather capes, masks , Spiderman Bike and HEAD OUT!

I arrive at the garage, (toddler in tow) and as I was hoping...Barely any cars. (YAY!) Now, normally I scout out every location before I shoot. I had my husband send me some cell phone pics of the surrounding buildings prior, so I had somewhat of an idea what the scenery was going to look like however, it was even BETTER than what I was expecting! Not only was the light amazing and perfect BUT the buildings look similar to something you would see in a comic strip!! I mean seriously...….

I couldn't have envisioned it to be more perfect!! I brought along a few other props of his, and just let him do his thing. Carter circled the roof top, ran like he was saving lives, and pointed out some favorite pictures in his superhero book!.. Oh and THE WIND!!! No fan here, the wind picked up perfectly and that cape you see was really blowing all on its own!!

After hanging out on the rooftop, we decided to head down below to the streets. I have shot MANY senior sessions downtown, and around East 4th Street. There was a particular gated wall I had spotted while on my last senior shoot and I knew the texture of this gate would make the perfect backdrop for a fierce headshot of my favorite superhero! Just look at those eyes! Intense!

Across the way, and around the bend from some of Cleveland's BEST restaurants like Lola and Chinato, was the perfect alley for some final images. The sun was almost completely down, but the pockets of light against the dark streets were like something right out of a movie. One of the best things about this age, is they are really in there own little world. Carefree, full of imagination, and not a worry about who was around or "watching". At this point, he definitely had gained an audience! Employees from the surrounding establishments were watching as this little guy was running, jumping and pretending to fight crime without a care in the world!

Overall, it was such a fun session. I came away with some awesome images for my little guy's bedroom wall. I will post the finished room when it is complete.