Alright, alright, alright. It's been way too long away from the blogging so to get back into it I'm starting with something new and that's 'Single Shot Monday'. This is simply where I will choose one image, from a recent or past shoot, wedding, engagement, commercial, portrait, architecture, etc. and try and dig a bit deeper into why I like the image. Why it works for me. What I was going for when I made the exposure. What I did to try and make that one particular image a success. Should be fun!
So for today's Single Shot Monday, here's a very recent image from an engagement shoot (click on the image to see it big).
First of all this is a spectacular location, so many opportunities in this one area. But one of the biggest and most interesting parts for me is the vast size of this structure. I love the massive Greek columns, all the marble, it's just so classic and elegant. So I knew I wanted to show off the entire, or most of, the building = wide angle lens. Next thing was the light. Lucked out to have the sun out and those dramatic clouds overhead. I walked around the entire building and instantly knew that back lighting my couple was the way to go. It's what gives that gorgeous edge light all around them, in Meg's hair, on Andy's face, on their clothes and what all that does is etch them out of the background. They are the subject so of course I want them to stand out and not get lost in this amazing scene. Next was my perspective. I choose to get low for a few reasons. It helps remove some distracting elements from the background, emphasized the size of the structure and even added a bit more drama to the overall scene. Lastly what to do with my couple? Again I knew they had to stand out from the scene so I framed them in the opening between two columns. But I also wanted some action, something fun so I prompted Andy to pick Meg up and swing her around and around. That's all it took for some genuine smiles to happen while I was shooting away and caught this perfect frame. And of course Meg's lovely red dress does help :) Love it all around.
For anyone interested in the technical mumbo-jumbo - shot with a Nikon D4, 16-35mm f/4 lens at 16mm, iso 200, f/8.0 at 1/1250 sec. Processed in Lightroom.
Hope you enjoyed this and please leave any feedback or questions, love to hear any.
- Randall
