bridal portrait at midnight

[Pukka312]

So I generally stick to outdoor photos before sunset with my bridal portraits. This was my first attempt at anything after dark...and it was on the fly, after the wedding reception. At midnight, we saw this stretch of beach partially lit by a flourescent bulb and we climbed down to try to get a few shots. This was about a 3 second exposure at ISO 800 with my instructions to the bride and groom to "hold really really still". I only had 1 off camera flash and used the flourescent light to light their faces (as well as to aid in focusing, because hey, it was midnight). I put the off camera flash kind of at a 45 degree angle to my right to give some dimension to them. I'm rethinking my light placement after the fact, but at the time, it seemed the right move.

Oh, and next time I will take the time to pull them out of the frame and shoot a second low ISO scene to merge later to reduce noise. This time I made the mistake of getting a bit overexcited and yanked the tripod and camera over to the bride and groom to show them how it was coming out. I added a few textures to bump up the drama, but otherwise not much adjustments except for white balance. Thoughts of what else I could have done (besides have more off camera flashes lighting the scene)? Overall I am pretty happy with my first attempt. I certainly will be more open to trying this again in the future.

 

[Fairdale]

I am not expert on photography as I am still learning but I like and think you have done a good job it something different.

 

[Granddad]

I like this shot A LOT and I think you have every right to be VERY happy with your first attempt, especially given the circumstances and the additional bonus of what you have learned. At the magnification you provided I don't see too much noise.

I'm sure the happy couple will be delighted and you have another shot that deserves a place in your portfolio. :thumbup:

 

[Photographiend]

Nice. If there were a way to edit out the beach debris I might try it also I noticed in the sky area you can see where you had a little dust or something on your lens.

Otherwise very nice. Great idea.

 

[ronlane]

I like this shot as well. Looks good to me.

 

[Pukka312]

Nice. If there were a way to edit out the beach debris I might try it also I noticed in the sky area you can see where you had a little dust or something on your lens.

Otherwise very nice. Great idea.

Yes, I do plan on taking a second pass at it and wipe out the debris...I hesitated because I was concerned my cloning skills may end up showing. As for the dust on the lens, it is possible it's the textures I added PP... I will go back and look at my original and see.

 

[Photographiend]

Would love to see what you do with it. I also hesitate when it comes to "retouching" in my case (I don't have Photo Shop). Sometimes it works like a gem and other times it is quite the eye sore. There are some masters at cloning here though maybe some of them can give you some tips if you hit a tough spot.

 

[CherylL]

Wow, a 3 second exposure? They did stand very still. I like how the beach ripples mimic the sky.

 

[Pukka312]

^^ then I may try to upload the cloned image if I think it's passable, then the firing squad here can let me know if it's too noticeable. I'm assuming the couple may want this shot enlarged so I don't want the cloning to be obvious. Guess that will be my project tonight ;-)

 

[Granddad]

I think 'Phiend is talking about dark spots in the sky area; there are quite a few faint ones that should be simple to clone out. The beach débris is another matter; there's quite a lot of it but it appears to be natural, not plastic bags or other rubbish. I think you'd be pushing your luck to try and do realistic cloning to remove it. I'm fairly decent at doing that kind of thing but I'd consider that to be a daunting task and I'd probably give it a miss. It doesn't look so bad to me, you could spend hours trying to create a Disney beach and ending up with a dog's dinner.

Good luck!

 

[OfMikeandMen]

I like it. The orange lights in the back are a little distracting to me (and there's the dust or whatever in the sky, too), but I really like the lighting in this photo. I could never stand that still for 3 seconds Someone also mentioned the debris, I actually like it. I don't know much about photography, but I really like this photo. :thumbup:

 

[Derrel]

Turned out nicely.