Reflections & Punctuation

[Rocco]

It was time to do Nicole's bridals. We went out to the local botanical gardens and got the standard catalogue style shots.. and I wasn't happy with them at all despite getting some really good shots. It just wasn't her. It had nothing to do with her personality. The very same day I called her and got her to agree to a reshoot.

I knew right away that she needed to be the badass bride (an idea supported by all of the middle finger pics from the last shoot that didn't make the cut.) My first thought was to use an urban setting rather than outdoors. Then I got the idea to do a night shoot.. Not too many bridals done after sunset. Then I thought of my buddy and his 57 Chevy pickup. I was worried about a truck like that being in the shot and stealing attention from her and her dress. The only way I could justify having it in the shot is if it was helping to tell a story and lighting her at the same time. But what story? To save you from reading a novel, here's the pic. You can decide what the story is. The main elements being the red police beacon light (powered by a vagabond mini), the handcuffs hanging off her wrist, and the grumpy cop getting out of the truck (my buddy, the owner of the truck).




There was quite a few challenges in this shoot. Firstly I knew going in that with my settings it wasn't likely that the headlights would be bright enough for a kicker light on the bride, my solution was to gaff tape one to each headlight. I also knew that it meant that the beacon wouldn't illuminate in a believable way. I dragged my shutter to get color and detail in the light (1/30-sec) and took a stylistic license with a red gelled flash on the wall. Also the smoke needed a dedicated back light to show up on camera. My amazing girlfriend was nice enough to hide behind the bride holding a flash.


I'm stoked with the results. I came up with an original idea and was able to capture her dress in a way that more closely matches her personality.

As always, I welcome criticisms and comments. Thanks for looking guys!

-Rocco

[Busted Knuckles]

It was time to do Nicole's bridals.
-Rocco

WOW - "out of the box" for sure. Really like it. Somehow the garden shots while executed well (eyeglass reflection not withstanding) don't seem to fit her. Clearly by her putting up w/ all this staging, I bet she really liked it.