Recently, I ran into an image shot by some friends of mine, a husband and wife duo in Atlanta, Chris and Katie Torres of 6 of Four Creations. This image is a must see! How many times have you been at a wedding for 7,8, or 9+ hours, and at the end, you are totally dead tired and ready to give up.... Chris & Katie's story about this image will WAKE YOU UP at the end of your gig! I really wish I had this one in my portfolio!!!

 

Katie writes: Rome, Georgia, is one of our favorite places to photograph weddings. The stunning architecture of the historic buildings in this little Southern town has always inspired us. This image was made on the campus of Berry College, at the Ford Buildings. Couples who have their reception at Ford Hall usually exit through this archway. Earlier this year we photographed a couple whose exit was during the daytime. The exit photo we got from that wedding, shot from behind the couple under the tall, beautiful arches, became our signature image on our website. Then, on August 4th, we had a couple who had an evening wedding at the same location. Chris and I knew we needed to think of something to showcase the architecture and the dramatic exit of this wonderful couple. We are really focusing on our exits. We feel that it encompasses the whole wedding. Chris says it best: “…to me it depicts what marriage is about. Your friends and family around you, the newly married couple, cheering you on, encouraging you forward into the unknown as a life together, as one, new family." With this goal, I started to think how we could make it work. We had a lighting set up at the reception. Three Calumet lights and one SB800 on a stand by the dance floor. We took the SB800 out to the exit area. Chris put it on the other side of the car, so it would not block the bride's ability to get to the car and also to create a way to get light in the archway. We both had pocket wizards to trigger the flash. He set it to 1/2 power. I stood on the other side of the arch and tested the light for a few shots. I shot the image with a Nikon D200 with the 17-55mm 2.8. As usual, I was in manual mode and exposed it at 1/30th at F/5, ISO 800. In the settings process, I knew I wanted certain aspects. I wanted the ambient light of the sconces, and I needed the light from the flash to be dramatic, but not over take them. I then saw the couple walking toward me to go through the archway. I asked them to take their time and not run through it. They did just as asked. I kept placing myself so that the flash would keep on the other side of the bride's head. I did not want a large flare. Some of our favorite aspects for the image: the blue feel the flash gave to the black night in the back ground, the golden feel from the ambient light in the archway, and the fact that they used rose petals and bubbles. Bubbles filled the archway on the left and petals on the right. The bubbles on the left actually come right out to the camera and give good depth to pull you into the shot. To once again quote Chris, to us, this image captures their "timeless beauty, wrapped in the mystery of marriage."

 

 

Great stuff Chris & Katie....I respect your ability to balance ambient in this photo, beautiful! I love your desire to keep your creativity all the way to the end! This type of dedication will result in imagery that will define your portfolio! Be sure to check out their blog for recent updates, 6 of Four BLOG. Cheers! mateo PS. I'm in Riviera Maya Mexico for the next 10 days with 2 weddings, tell that hurricane Dean to GO AWAY!