Photo Recipe: shoot on the balcony

May 12

After a little mishap with her dress, Cassandra and James found themselves in a Ritz hotel room. He sang her a song while someone sewed her wedding dress. He order room service for her and the friends who had followed them to the room.

And when all was sewed and they were ready to head downstairs for couple photos, I asked them to enjoy a moment on the balcony. A moment to themselves to just be married and soak up their wedding day...

Get the light and airy look

Light and Airy photo recipe

Questions

Film or digital?Digital! Edited with the Light & Airy Preset Suite!

Posed or candid? Both! I asked him to hold her from the side and he kissed her. When I'm posing a couple, I like to give simple prompts or direct them to do something. Then they can make it their own.

light & airy Camera Settings

Aperture: f/2.2
ISO: 160
Shutter Speed: 1600

When you're shooting on a balcony, you'll want to pull out a reflector to bounce some light back toward the couple. Use the white side of the reflector and place it on the floor, or prop it up on the bed and toward the couple.

Unless the room has windows on another wall, the walls of the room will be darker because there isn't as much light inside the room as there is on the balcony. Own it! Shadows don't mean that you aren't shooting the light & airy look. Shadows create interest in your photos and pull the eye toward the light.

Quick tip: add a personal detail to the foreground if you have an object in the frame that feels distracting. I added James' guitar when I realized the bench would be a distraction.