The Wedding Dress
Isobel had spent all her life in one form or another on farms, and she came to her current one when she remarried 13 years previously. During the conversation i...
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Isobel had spent all her life in one form or another on farms, and she came to her current one when she remarried 13 years previously. During the conversation it transpired she still had her red velvet wedding dress and it still fitted.
We went for a walk a short way from the house where I saw a couple of old, gnarled hawthorn trees, and beyond was a wonderful view down the valley out towards the Solway coast. It was grey and overcast and the light was very flat, but I knew if the sun was out it could be quite spectacular. Red dress, hawthorn tree, wonderful view and a low winter sun - all we had to do now was wait for the right combination of weather and a day when we might both be available.
On the day we took the photo, the temperature was only about 6 Celsius (43 Fahrenheit), and there was quite a wind blowing, making it feel several degrees colder. After about 20 minutes, I was feeling frozen, despite being wrapped up in several layers plus my coat and wearing 2 sets of gloves. Isobel, on the other hand, had her genes and life history on her side and wasn't bothered in the slightest.
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We went for a walk a short way from the house where I saw a couple of old, gnarled hawthorn trees, and beyond was a wonderful view down the valley out towards the Solway coast. It was grey and overcast and the light was very flat, but I knew if the sun was out it could be quite spectacular. Red dress, hawthorn tree, wonderful view and a low winter sun - all we had to do now was wait for the right combination of weather and a day when we might both be available.
On the day we took the photo, the temperature was only about 6 Celsius (43 Fahrenheit), and there was quite a wind blowing, making it feel several degrees colder. After about 20 minutes, I was feeling frozen, despite being wrapped up in several layers plus my coat and wearing 2 sets of gloves. Isobel, on the other hand, had her genes and life history on her side and wasn't bothered in the slightest.
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Mar, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken down near the South coast of Scotland, where you get a lot of these wonderful, wind-sculpted hawthornsTime
It was taken near midday, but in early December - and as this was Scotland, the sun was still fairly low in the skyLighting
The sun was used for backlighting, while I had a flash off to the left to bring her out of silhouetteEquipment
Canon 7D, Canon f2/8 24-70mm lens, Canon EX-RT 600 speedliteInspiration
When I went out to see the client to discuss what kind of image she would like, it became clear she's a woman of the land. All her life in one form or another she has lived on farms, and she came to her current one when she remarried 13 years ago. During the conversation it transpired she still had her red velvet wedding dress and thought it might be quite fun to combine with her wellies. We went for a walk a short away from the house where I saw a couple of old, gnarled hawthorn trees, and beyond was a wonderful view down the valley out towards the Solway coast. It was grey and overcast and the light was very flat, but I knew if the sun was out it could be quite spectacular. Red dress, hawthorn tree, wonderful view and a low winter sun - all we had to do now was wait for the right combination of weather and a day when we might both be available. Eventually we managed to find a day when it wasn't raining, although the temperature was only about 6 Celsius (43 Fahrenheit), and there was quite a wind blowing, making it feel several degrees colder. After about 20 minutes, I was feeling frozen, despite being wrapped up in several layers plus my coat and wearing 2 sets of gloves. She, on the other hand, had her genes and life history on her side and wasn't bothered in the slightest. Despite the fact the last time she had any kind of photo shoot was at her wedding, she was quite relaxed and natural in front of the camera, which meant in a relatively short space of time we were able to get plenty of great shots, from the wistfully romantic to outright fun. The one she was most delighted with, though, didn't feature the welly-boots - in fact she wasn't even facing the camera. However, it did have a lovely combination the dress, the tree, the land and the light, which reflected how she felt about the place. And I have to admit I felt rather pleased with it too.Editing
The 2 main things I did in post production for this image were removing a barbed-wire fence that ran across the field, and giving it soft sepia overlay, which colour shifts it in the direction of old varnish, which adds to the old painting feel to it.In my camera bag
For nearly 4 years I was happy with my Canon 7D - which was used to take this photo - but now I'm even happier with my Canon 7D mk2. The 3 lenses I use most are my Canon f/2.8 24-70mm, which is pretty much my workhorse lens; a Canon f/2.8 70-200mm which is fantastic for shooting live performances - getting in close in low light conditions; and finally a wide angle Canon 10-22mm for when I need to take in a lot in a small space. I also usually have 2 or 3 Canon speedlights to hand and an assortment of softboxes and modifiers.Feedback
Scope out your location in advance and get a sense of where the light will be coming from at different times of the day.
