"Looking to The Future"

"Looking to The Future"
©David A. Ziser

I thought I’d begin this year’s image post with an image taken last year at one of my favorite educational shooting sessions.  This image was taken during my Dave Cross Workshop class in October.  Our bride was beautiful and our locations were amazing!  This was one of the first images from that session.

OK, why do I like this image so much? For me it’s all about the lines.  Look how the lines created by the branches of the trees seem to surround the bride.  Part of that effect was created by how I positioned her within the composition too. The branches on the left all lead the viewer’s eye directly to the bride. And, the trees on the right constrain the image forcing the viewer’s eye to stay within the image. The interplay of these many lines offset by the simple S-curve line we see in the bride’s pose makes for a striking wedding image.

Lighting was simple – my strobe at 1/2 power coming in, from just out of the frame, camera left  shooting through my light softening Zumbrella . The proper balance of the ambient with the strobe illumination made the bride to “pop” out of the scene. I think this style of an image is still one any bride would love to have in their wedding collection. What do you think?

Camera specs: Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 135mm, F5.6 @ 1/125 second, ISO 200.  Enjoy!  -David

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p.s. Here is a little compositional test for you today. As I mentioned above, I flipped the image in Lightroom.  Hit the “Read More…” link below to see the original.  Which way looks best to you?

Amazing how a simple change of perspective can effect how one feels about the image, isn't it?

-David