Deep below the peaceful facade of the UC Davis campus, evil villains line a stark concrete gauntlet, ready to pounce on the innocent. The only hope for the poor soul who ventures down below campus is Monica and James – action heros!
I love this concept from last weekend’s Davis photography session with Monica and James! We were exploring the open courtyard below a building on campus when we started talking about how the place could be the setting for an action video game. Yes! We had a great concept for that location!
Meet James and Monica!
We were having lots of fun!!
Monica.
James.
In November, doing outdoor lifestyle photography in Davis you never know what sort of weather you will encounter. This weekend we had great, warm weather in Davis!
Monica and James.
Walking around we found this bench in front of one of the few brick buildings in Davis.
James.
James and Monica.
We walked over to the UC Davis Arboretum.
Monica and James.
Monica and James.
Monica and James in the Redwood Grove.
Yes, we are still in Davis!
We finished up near Putah Creek downtown Davis as the sun was about to set.
Monica.
Monica and James.
A nice ending to a great afternoon shooting with Monica and James in Davis!
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I had a lot of fun yesterday taking photos around downtown Davis with Katherine and Kevin. It was a great day and the trees were just starting to turn colors. We had to get this afternoon shot under the trees.
Katherine and Kevin.
We loved these flowers!
Katherine.
Kevin.
We wanted to use the red phone booth downtown Davis.
Katherine and Kevin.
Kevin and Katherine.
This next photo was taken when we started shooting. We met up at the Davis train station and right when we were about to get started a train pulled in. We ran over and quickly got some shots right before the train pulled back out of the station!
Kevin and Katherine.
Kevin and Katherine.
Kevin and Katherine.
Katherine and Kevin.
Kevin and Katherine.
One fun thing about walking around is finding new locations and interesting backdrops. We ran across this coffee stand when we were headed for another spot – and had to get some images at the coffee stand.
Katherine.
Kevin.
Katherine.
Katherine and Kevin.
They have great smiles!
Katherine and Kevin.
We had a fun session in Davis!
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I love this image. It’s a last look at the bride and groom on their wedding day, before they leave their reception to start their lives together as husband and wife.
People often ask about this shot – where I took it and how I created it. I took it at the Brazilian Room in the Berkeley Hills. It’s one of a series of romantic, fashion-oriented images I did with just the bride and groom near the end of their reception. It was pitch black outside. Here’s how I created this shot, which highlights one technique that can be used when creating a fashion-style wedding portrait in the dark.
We had been shooting outside near the reception hall using architectural details for a backdrop and I turned around and noticed the black open space with no lighting behind it. I thought it would make an ideal frame for the couple sharing an embrace. But, I needed some sort of backlight to define the couple’s outline. I decided to use a strobe as a backlight.
My assistant had a video light he was using to light the couple. In order to get separation and light up their faces, I placed one of my strobes on the ground behind the bride and groom. The bride’s dress hides the strobe. I used a radio trigger to fire the strobe when I pressed the camera shutter.
When positioning a flash for backlight at night, it’s important to have an eye for how the flash will hit the couple’s faces and how reflections of the flash from one of the couple can be used to light the other. Notice how the flash lights up the front of the groom’s face, providing separation between him and the dark night. The strobe light also reflects off the groom, and that reflection lights the front of the bride’s face. If it weren’t for the flash, the front of the bride’s face would not be lit and would be lost in the darkness because the video light, which is aimed over the bride’s left shoulder, only lights half of the bride’s face. Using the main video light and reflections of the backlight strobe together gives the full lighting needed for this image.
The strobe light is blue because I had my camera set to a tungsten color balance to match the video light I used to light up the couple from the front. Daylight, or flash, turns blue when the color temperature is set for tungsten. I could have put a CTO gel on my flash to match the video light, and then the backlight would appear white – because the gel would make the flash light the same color as the video light. But I wanted the flash to turn blue here, to give some color separation and to create an illusion of cool-tone moonlight behind the bride and groom and the illusion of warm-toned light from the reception celebration lighting the front of the couple.
The key to shooting in pitch black is to remember to backlight your subject. A strobe firing remotely using a radio transmitter is a great way to get backlight when there is no natural light.
Camera Settings:
f/2.8
1/80 sec
ISO 2500
35-70mm lens @ 40mm
Equipment:
Nikon D700 camera body
Nikon 35-70mm lens
Lowel i-Light video light
Bescor video light battery
Pocket Wizards – 1 transmit, 1 receive
Nikon SB80DX speedlight
Nikon speedlight stand
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I had a great engagement session yesterday at UC Davis with Jessica and Kyle! We started out where they got engaged. Awesome!
Jessica and Kyle.
Jessica.
Kyle.
Jessica and Kyle on the Putah Creek bridge.
We walked over to the Mondavi Center at UC Davis.
Jessica and Kyle.
Jessica.
Kyle.
Jessica and Kyle.
We continued down along Putah Creek.
Kyle and Jessica.
I just love their expressions!
Jessica and Kyle.
Jessica and Kyle.
Jessica and Kyle.
Jessica and Kyle.
Kyle.
Kyle and Jessica.
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