Natural Light Swimsuit Photo Shoot in Croatia | Canon EOS R5 + RF 135mm f1.8 + RF 50mm f1.2
What an incredible photo session! We had the opportunity to photograph Julianna in beautiful Croatia at sunrise, and let me tell you, it was a photographer's dream. We started early, taking advantage of the gorgeous directional light that really made the scenery come alive.
We shot on a rooftop pool with the sunrise glowing behind her, creating those perfect soft tones in the sky. Julianna actually suggested this shoot, and the combination of her natural beauty with the stunning backdrop was breathtaking. I made sure to get some saturated shots with the light on her face to really enhance both her and the vibrant Croatian skyline.
One of the best parts of this shoot? I was able to show Julianna her photos on the spot. Using my Lexar mini USB reader, I transferred the images from my SD card straight to my phone and let her pick out her favorites right there! I pulled them into Lightroom Mobile and started editing on the go using my personal presets. You can grab those same presets on my website here. My favorites for this shoot were "Join Me Pretty" and "Joy Ormond" – a stunning black and white preset that’s perfect for moody vibes.
For this session, I shot at f/5.6 to get the city details in the background sharp while keeping the focus on Julianna. It’s always a balance between capturing the beautiful surroundings and letting the subject shine. The location was too gorgeous not to showcase.
And speaking of showcasing—editing on the road is a breeze when I use my Lexar SSD Armor drive. Not only does it make backing up my files easy, but it’s also fast and secure, perfect for my travels. I edit directly off this drive on my laptop, so I never have to worry about losing any important shots while bouncing between locations.
After editing a few favorites on my phone, I took the images into Lightroom for a deeper dive. This is where I really played with the colors. I adjusted the blues to make that water pop and even experimented with Lightroom’s new generative fill to remove some distractions and enhance the overall image. Some of the photos looked so different, I even transformed a few to look like they were shot at night! The creative options are endless when you shoot in RAW, and that’s what makes these trips so fun.
Julianna was an absolute star, and I can’t wait for you to see more from this shoot and others. I’ll be sharing more content from this trip soon, and spoiler alert—Julianna is joining us next year in Bali! We still have a few spots left on our Bali photo trip, so if you're interested, check out the details below. It’s going to be another unforgettable experience, and I’d love for you to join us.
We have so much more in store, and I can’t wait to share it with you. See you soon!
