Creativity

Monday was another wedding down at the Washington D.C. Temple.  I have my tricks and things that work, but I also don't want every bride's photos to look the same, so I always try to add new poses and ideas each time. We were shooting at the height of the midday-starting at 12:15, so it was challenging to tame the bright, bright light and it was very humid, so the sky was hazy and pale blue instead of a bright, cerulean blue. On Saturday, when I was there with my family in the evening, this was the sky over the temple, and this is without filters or any digital adjustments:

By Monday, the humidity had soared and this was the sky that met us at midday:

But, here is a similar sky with some adjustments in Lightroom-a Graduated Filter in Blue and the vibrance pumped up:

So, we made it work. By shooting these from farther away to put the focus on the setting and their couple-hood, I was able to not worry so much about the shadows on their faces.

We also made good use of the many trees on the property and the shadows of the building itself creating open shade. There was some dappled sunlight to deal with, but I had a helper there who could hold a reflector over their heads if needed for some of the shots, as in the second one below.

Because of the schedule for the day, we only had about an hour for me to photograph the couple by themselves, but I think we worked well together-they were exceedingly happy and pleasant in spite of the oppressive heat and again, it was a special honor for me to photograph a dear friend. I've known this beauty since she was three, so I found myself steaming up my viewfinder occasionally as the emotions came to the surface.