Wednesday, May 12, 2010

"Thinking Of You"

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"Thinking Of You"
©David A. Ziser

When was the last time you saw a beautiful profile of a bride? You sure don’t see them very often these days. I still think the profile view is one of the most beautiful and dramatic views of a woman. Here is another image from my Digital Master Class - one of my favorites.  Our model, the setting, the light - all simply gorgeous.  In many, many posts here at DPT, I've always discussed off-camera flash and how to get that beautiful lighting on the subject.  This image was illuminated with only the light coming in from a nearby window - no flash at all. It's not the light source that makes the image, it's many times, simply the light itself. I just positioned the bride, relative to the direction of light coming in through the window, so I would have a flattering loop light pattern falling on her face. I just don't believe that you need the latest, greatest most expensive piece of gear to capture a great image.  Understanding and using the light knowledgeably and creatively will often times lead to a stunning result.  That's what happened in this example. Behind the bride was a blank wall.  I simply moved a floor planter into the background of the shot to break up the monotonous look of the blank wall.  The flow of the palm frowns worked beautifully in the composition.  Their dark green color was a perfect compliment to the dark skin of my beautiful bride. The palm frowns seem to almost add a certain sense of motion to the background, too.  I love the image.  Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 200mm, F 5.6 @ 1/40 second (handheld), ISO 1600. 

Enjoy! -David

13 comments:

  1. David this profile looks like one that Monte Zucker would have taken. I love the quality of the light and the smooth texture of her skin.

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  2. Very nice portrait, absolutely beautiful light. I find it hard to believe that it was shot at 20mm with such a shallow DOF. Maybe 200mm?

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  3. I'm sure lots of people are telling you about this typo, but I thought the idea of a frowning palm was kind of funny! Ah the things spellcheck thinks we want to say...

    Anyway, the image is gorgeous. Beautiful use of color! I love the complement of the green palm (brilliant idea, by the way) with the red flowers. Well done as usual!

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  4. I think this is one of your best images I've seen posted on this site in the last 6 months of reading it. Fantastic shot!

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  5. Absolutely beautiful and timeless image!

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  6. One of the best profile views I've seen! Excellent.

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  7. I love the details of this set up and it is making me think of other ways to accomplish a similar effect even if there was no window, like bouncing the flash off the wall to simulate the window light effect.

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  8. Two words, absolutely exquisite

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  9. I usually don't post everytime I like some of David's photo because all of them are simply great, but this one is truly expectional! Very nice indeed.

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  10. Brad Gingerich6:13 PM, May 13, 2010

    Perfectly Stunning! Love this image! It makes me feel good to see you do profile shots of your brides as I do as well...I haven't seen many profile shots of brides. Blessings, Brad

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  11. Very nice, exceptional even, one of the best I have seen.

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  12. since LR gives you different previews of raw files then your screen on camera how you get around this for presentations.(very dull images at LR viewer)

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  13. With the ISO @ 1600 shouldn't there be more "noise"? How do you accomplish that?

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