"Dream Dancer"

"Dream Dancer"
©David A. Ziser

I love the technique used in this image so I’d thought I’d share it again with you. What makes this image interesting is the fact that it was made on a residential street right outside the church. Yet, it appears to be made at a beautiful park location. This is the kind of situation wedding photographers encounter all the time - no shade, bright afternoon sun, and not much to work with in the background.

I chose a 100mm F2.8 lens for the shot. I figured I could shoot it nearly wide open thus making the background go softly out of focus. The longer focal length lens also served to expand and enlarge the foliage in the background too.

The sun was Las Vegas intense so I had the bride standing facing me with the sun behind her right shoulder. I still needed to get her face illuminated. I chose to use my SUN SPOTZ reflector[link]. It's super silver on one side and black on the other.

My assistant caught the sun's rays and bounced them back onto the bride's face creating the beautiful loop lighting pattern I prefer in my images. You've got to be careful not to blind your subject with the bright sun reflecting back onto your subject. Even looking back into the camera was too bright for my bride to keep her eyes opened without squinting. I opted to have her just look at the ground in a more reflective pose. I love how the image turned out in a very difficult situation.

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 100mm F2.8 IS macro lens, F3.2 @ 1/2500 second, ISO 200. Enjoy! –David