One Just For Me

As long as you've got a bride all dressed up, and three assistants ready to work, you might as well make some images you'll like, right? I don't think that Mom will buy this one, but I sure enjoyed making it with them all, and everyone had a good time viewing it, too. Maybe because we all had to work together to make it happen.

It's dark outside, and raining. Fortunately, we had enough umbrellas to go around! This one has two lights, both outside the building (might have had three, but a friend was borrowing one of my speedlights!). First of all, we got the light on the background set up. J was holding my SB-800 zoomed to 105mm with a heavy red gel and a slight orange gel taped on the front. The wall is painted a deep red/maroon, so it usually ends up black in photos. This gelled light brightened the wall, and cast shadows from the muntins in the door across it, too. This is just what we were trying to do. 

The other light is an SB-600 with a diffusion dome shot through an umbrella into the door's sidelight so that it would interfere too much with the red light. The flash itself is not colored, but a Flash White Balance setting warmed up that light just the right amount. 

Three tricks to making this image. The lights outside the building had to be triggered by my pop-up flash! This meant aligning everyone so that the pop-up could be seen, the 'brollied light would hit the model, and the gelled light would enter the door just so to get the shadows cast. It was not simple, and it was not warm outside for my assistants. Next, I had to get focussed on an eye that Neither I nor the camera could see in the dark room. That 70-200mm f/2.8 lens gets heavy very quickly. Finally, the model had to not blink with three flashes pointed her way. It was a good bit of team work, and I'm pleased with the result.

I like the detail in the dress, the cookie shadow on the wall, and the single flower in the light; the shadow of the bricks is a little bonus that I didn't ever imagine. What do you think?