It was a rainy afternoon. It would have been nice to shoot in the rain, but on second thought, NOT really. Autumn rain in California is coldest compared to the tropical rains in the Philippines which I am used to. Not only would the subject chill on these drizzles, but I most probably would freeze first, and also the camera would get wet and sick. I told Anamika (the East Indian beauty you see in above photo) to feel comfortable near my kitchen window, while I take her photo. I pulled back the venetian blinds, and the light fell softly on her face. Facing the window, she positioned her head where I want the light to fall, and the shadows where I want them to be.
When the window light was getting dim as the skies became more gloomy, I told Anamika to lean closer to the window to catch more of that remaining light available. Resulting shot has this washed/over-exposed effect, I like this effect as much as I like the natural and calm expression of her face. And of course those eyes.
Take a different angle. Request your subject to lie down, be it on grass, on the table, on the ground, (in this case, on the railroad), and you'll be amazed you'll get interesting perspectives. This also makes the subject comfortable, ( I can hear you holler what's comfortable lying down on a railroad?!) believe me it was, at some point. Until two minutes later, the pretty Z. and I were both running away from the appraoching train. I've been using this simple trick, and it works all the time. Above photo is one of the Editor's choices, in 
