"The Warmth Of Your Smile"

"The Warmth Of Your Smile"
©David A. Ziser

This is an image I made a number of years ago in one of the very popular parks in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I remember one Saturday there were 5 photographers, including myself working with wedding parties throughout the park - pretty crowded that day.  This location offers really soft light in the late morning. The pillars supply a nice background for the shot as well. One point I want to make is that whenever I'm photographing pillars as in this case, I position myself and camera, in this case, to the left till the pillars just start to overlap.  That way I get a much better background that if I saw gaps between the pillars.  The long lens helps the "overlap" happen since it makes the pillars in the background seem larger.  I also chose to “wrap” the bride in her veil – I call it the mummy wrap.  It’s just a way to add more white tones to the portrait. The light is natural light coming in from camera right. I just turned the bride's face into the light till I could see a highlight start to form on her right cheek. Now I had my highlights next to shadows for a sense of dimension in the shot.  The warm tones and high key processing finished the photograph's presentation. Camera Specs: Nikon D1x fitted with 80-200 F2.8 non VC lens at 155mm, F 4.0 @ 1/500 second, ISO 125.  Enjoy!  -David