Prom season is in full swing and I had the pleasure of going back up to Charlotte, NC., Concord actually, to do the Cabarrus-Kannapolis Early College Academy prom this weekend.  I shot this event last year while I was living up there. They asked me back and I was happy to get back up there to do this for them.  Great bunch of teachers and students at that school and it was a lot of fun.

But the main reason I wanted to share about this event is to point out that you always have to have a plan going into whatever type of shoot you are preparing for.  In this case, it was not very complicated.  The standard background and lighting setup for prom couples and groups.  That hasn't changed much since I last attended a prom almost 40 years ago.  So while you have to have a plan, it's good to be flexible enough that you can throw that plan out the window at the last minute if you see a better way to shoot it.

In this case, we were at the historic Hotel Concord and the area they set aside for my setup was really beautiful.  The prom theme was "Hollywood" and I took one look at the place and decided it would be a real shame to throw up a background and cover up what was already there.  I mean, we photographers will spend two or three hundred dollars on a painted background that depicts the scene that was already there in front of me.  So I ran it by the prom coordinators and they agreed with me.  The result was some really unique prom photos and some of my favorites I've ever done.