Stressed bride

Digitalis · Mar 11, 2007

One from a wedding yesterday...Very hectic day. The bride was very late getting ready, she started putting her dress on about the same time people we starting to sit down for the ceremony. On top of that the baker messed up and did not even make the cake that she ordered :grumpy:

. That sort of thing seems to stress out brides.

She didn't give me much time for photos but I got this one just before she left the house.

brighteyesphotos · Mar 11, 2007

I can feel the frustration. It's an excellent shot of the back of her dress which she will treasure. I hope the rest of the day went off smoothly.

EOS_JD · Mar 11, 2007

Great image although I think you need to bump up the exposure here. Maybe just personal preference but the backlighting I think has underexposed the shot somewhat. The dress should look white.

brighteyesphotos · Mar 12, 2007

I don't think the dress was white. It's possible that it was actually ivory.

Peanuts · Mar 12, 2007

In my opinion the exposure works perfectly. The curtains aren't completely blown, and the darkness of the drapes and walls looks accurate to what it actually was. Beautiful - I am certain the bride will be very happy with the results, I know I would be

emogirl · Mar 12, 2007

GREAT shot!!!!...with her fists grabbing the curtains it looks like shes ready to pull them down!! ha

btw, .i think its a perfect exposure - the dress is definitley not white....

ShelleySnapz · Mar 12, 2007

I love it! I like how the sides are vignetted and the focus is on the back of her dress (which is ivory), lighting is pretty much spot on!

The_Traveler · Mar 12, 2007

Super composition, DOF, focus.
A good example of when a centered object of itnerest can be fine. The tension is created by her actions, which are symetrical.

I would like to see this edited a little with the shadow/highlights tool. (amount 32, width 42, radius 4) There is some beautiful texture and color that is currently hidden in the shadows that really enriches the shot. (IMO)

drgibson · Mar 12, 2007

This is a great shot and reminds me why I don't do weddings. Way too much drama.

Digitalis · Mar 12, 2007

As always thanks for the feedback guys. The bride is quite a good photographer herself. I'm glad this one turned out as there is always a little more pressure to produce when the client has a trained photographic eye.

Hair Bear · Mar 13, 2007

Great shot, I wonder if I would have spotted the tension without reading your comment?

What sort of lighting did you use, is it bounced flash?

Did you create the vignette or is that from the lens?

Digitalis · Mar 13, 2007

Hair Bear said:
Great shot, I wonder if I would have spotted the tension without reading your comment?

What sort of lighting did you use, is it bounced flash?

Did you create the vignette or is that from the lens?

I used 2 SB800's. One on camera, set to zero output. One on a stand connected via wireless IR in manual mode at 1/16th power, shot into an umbrella camera right. ISO100, F/2.8, 17mm, 1/60 s on a D2X.

The shot was setup before the bride arrived so that we were able to simply put her in place and snap the photo. Less than one minute of her time was needed. Given the fact that the wedding had basically started at this point and we were still several miles away from the ceremony this turned out to be quite important.

The vignette was done in photoshop. The room was very small. We moved as much furniture as possible but the vignette was put there to hide some distracting items in the shot and hopefully focus the viewers eye on the subject as much as possible.

Hair Bear · Mar 13, 2007

Thanks Digitalis, its all in the prep!

NYBrit · Mar 17, 2007

This is great. The lighting is spot on. You can feel the tension in those clenched fists lol. I bet she loves this one. Can you give us an update as to how she reacted to this shot? And the rest of your photos.