"View From Above"

"View From Above"
© David A. Ziser

This is another one of my favorite images captured at yesterday's wedding shootout. Although I worked in this church at previous shootouts during Photoshop World Las Vegas, I've never had the opportunity to work with my new Canon 8–15 MM zoomable fisheye lens. I thought yesterday would be the perfect opportunity to give it a try. 

The problem in composing this photograph was the placement of the crucifix above the couple’s head. I was able to get it slightly above their head when I had the camera at eye level position. That just wasn't good enough for me. Instead, I chose to use the “live view” feature of the camera which allowed me to lift the camera arm's-length over my head, recompose the image, and shoot away.

I love the much higher vantage point for this image. It features a bride and groom predominantly in the foreground but, with the fisheye lens attached, this image still captures the full expanse and the wonderful architecture of this modern church.

Lighting was accomplished by having my assistant hold one of my Canon 600 TX – RT strobes, camera left, pointing directly at the subjects. I chose to not shoot through my Zumbrella in this case, because in our first attempts, I was throwing too much light on the ceiling which was a distraction to the image. So, we zoomed the flash to a much tighter lighting pattern to restrict the light only to the couple and not any spill of light to the surrounds. I love the final results of this photograph.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with Canon 8–15 MM fisheye lens at 15MM, F5.6 @ 1/100, ISO 1600. Enjoy! – David

p.s. Rest of post coming later today.  DZ