A Beginner's Guide to the Making of a Brides Portrait

Hot summer temperatures and humid July Kentucky air awaited us that Saturday afternoon. Heat indexes pushed upwards toward 110 maybe higher. Simply stated, it was hot and my eyes were stinging from the sweat dripping from my forehead. At least we had somewhat of a breeze, not much of one but it helped, and it was shaded for the most part where were going to shoot. We were awaiting for a bride and groom for a quick "First Look" photo shoot before their wedding along with a few others we hoped to work in, so Kris and I arrived about fifteen minutes early so we could survey the location and evaluate the light plus take a few test shots. We were shooting behind Van Meter Hall at the Kissing Bridge on Western Kentucky University campus. These kinds of shoots are something I only do on occasion and consider I am still operating with a learners permit when I do one, but I still enjoy doing them from time to time.

We were only going to have just shy of an hour to do this shoot and that time frame shrunk to barely thirty minutes because the groom arrived about thirty minutes later than expected. We managed to get the first look shot along with a few others before we moved into the tunnel beneath Van Meter Hall.

The tunnel is a rather dark and dank looking location in and of itself. However, at one end there is a wonderful archway that opens onto a kind of plaza with a lot of trees arching across the back side. In the afternoon, the light floods this opening. My vision for this shoot was for it to be the main location because it offered some wonderful backlight against a dark background. Here, I believed I would have the best opportunity to capture a very good photo or two.

It was exactly what I was looking for; dark background, strong back lighting, and a arched entrance way. The only clutter was a handrail and a light pole that might cause an issue, but both could easily be cloned out in post processing.

Normally, I use at least two speed lights when shooting portraits outdoors, sometimes three. With that kind of setup I can apply one light for backlighting for highlights, and one light to open up the eyes. Both are fired remotely and I use just enough power to act like a strong fill light. It's important to use a light to open up the eyes for without it, many times the eyes look dark and empty. The light brings out the natural sparkle the eyes require for a successful photo. For this portrait I used no lights just the natural direct back light and some reflected light from the plaza and walls. 

The exposure was shot on manual...f/6.3 at 1/80 sec ISO 100 using my 50mm - 500mm lens adjusted from 75mm to 85mm.  For the close in shot I was maybe 35 or 40 feet away which with those settings offered a good depth of field with some slight blurring of the background. The exposure was set for her skin tone and I just allowed the rest of the light to fall where it may. Camera was on a tripod for steadiness.

For the full length shot I moved back a bit farther. She was set just outside the arch with the sun angled from her right. The rest was up to her and she did an amazing job just being herself and in spite of the hot weather, looked amazing. All I had to do for the most part was push the shutter release.

This kind of image also lends itself well for a black and white conversion. In hindsight, I probably should have used a reflector to bounce a little more light into her face, but the natural reflecting light filled it in pretty well. it would have been difficult to work in a reflector in those tight corridors. Overall, I was very pleased with the outcome and the young lady was a delight to work with.

Keith