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Staff Winter Selection 2015
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Behind The Lens

Location

My niece was getting married, and found that Wedding Photographers were not cheap. Her father came to me and asked if I would photograph the wedding. My wife and I talked, and decided it was finally time for me to get that DSLR I'd been waiting for, and that shooting the wedding would be our gift to our niece. I purchased my camera several months out, shooting nearly every day to get back in the swing of it (I had been a 35mm guy for some time, back in the 90's). I took this shot in 2013 at Two Rivers Mansion in Nashville, TN.

Time

This shot came at the end of a very long day. The bride and groom were about to make their exit, heading out in to their new life together. I thought the whole scene was very symbolic, with them leaving their old lives behind and heading out into the unknown of the future.

Lighting

I wasn't using a flash, having just the light from inside the foyer and out on the porch. I got incredibly lucky with what I had, as her placement got great highlights off her hair, shoulders, and the ruffles of her dress.

Equipment

This was shot with my old Nikon D3200 (my first DSLR) using the 18-55mm kit lens, without a tripod or flash.

Inspiration

I had seen Katlyn standing by the door to Two Rivers Mansion, looking out into the darkness in her beautiful dress, and said "I need to take one more shot". You had this amazing old plantation mansion along with her gorgeous modern dress. I quickly told her what I wanted, while her new husband held everyone else at bay, and took a half dozen shots similar to this. It isn't perfect, and I wasn't using a tripod, but that contrast of her in front of the darkness just worked.

Editing

I was an Adobe Community Professional, at the time, so it was a great excuse to finally open Adobe Lightroom to learn this "new way" (for me) of handling post-processing. For this shot I didn't have to do much in post, except I did take the landscape in front of the bride and drop the exposure a few clicks. It wasn't yet total darkness, so there was a faint shadow of the hedge line out there, and I wanted to bump that down to get a bit more drama from the shot.

In my camera bag

Today I carry a Nikon D7100 with an 18-55 and a 300. Weddings I'll carry two cameras. I have three Yongnuo YN-560 IV speedlights and a transmitter, for complex setups, but most of the time I only carry one. Aside from that I typically carry a travel tripod, remote trigger, and lens wipes, as well as a mic for those rare times I shoot a little video.

Feedback

I shot 35mm for many years, then put down my camera for personal reasons. When I finally bought my DSLR, to get "back in the game", I spent a lot of time to learn the ins and outs of my new equipment. The more you shoot, the better you get, and after a while you walk around seeing the world frame-by-frame. Don't be afraid to shoot the same scene many times, from several different angles and using different settings. Sometimes you don't realize what you have until post. The more you shoot, the more you have to work with.

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