Heather & Rob – Rock the Dress!
This is our third photoshoot with Heather and Rob! How cool! This time we got a chance to rock out her wedding dress in the city since their wedding had a very elegant, country fall feel to it!
Matt and Val : Mr & Mrs Rock the Dress!
Matt and Val are an amazing couple. Matt is an aspiring photographer and helps us out on a lot of little projects.
We did these photos for them after their wedding because we weren’t able to shoot their wedding. They’re such great shots!
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Rock the Dress: Stephanie!
Stephanie was great. She got married 2 years ago and decided to fit back into her wedding dress to give it one last hoorah! She’s actually cutting her dress up to preserve it in a shadow box…so seriously…these are the last shots of her beautiful dress! We walked around Oakland and used some of the gorgeous back drops it has to offer. We came away with some stunning photos! Enjoy!
Kenny’s Five Faithful Years
Kenny and Faith just celebrated their five-year anniversary! Faith surprised Kenny with a little photo shoot with us to celebrate this milestone moment in their life together. But Faith had also another surprise in mind… She brought along a tux for Kenny and her wedding dress for herself (those photos are further down). After five years and three beautiful children, not only did Faith fit in her dress, but she looked stunning! The funniest part about it is that we shot along the North Shore when they were all dressed up, and cyclists and joggers kept complimenting them thinking they’d just gotten married :)~ Â It’s always great seeing other people’s joy for new couples… or couples that are going five years strong and counting.
We actually started the shoot on our own street. We live on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Not the prettiest neighborhood, but there’s a lot of industrial buildings and businesses on our street that we’ve been wanting to use for a shoot for a while! Finally we got a chance. There’s still a bunch more left to photograph, too.
I really loved Faith’s dress. It added a lot of motion and drama to all the photos. The black lines went well with this trailer wall we found.
So playful and cute!
What’d I tell you about the dress?
Random red ball we found and decided to use because it matched Faith’s shoes. No, there is no metaphorical meaning behind it. It’s just a red ball.
Peek-a-boo! This pose was Heather’s idea, but I love how natural and cute Kenny and Faith made it work!
You hold me, I hold you… Kenny was a bit skeptical that Faith could hold onto him though.
This shot would not have been possible without a little strobist action. I can’t say enough how much I love using off-camera lighting. It’s good to have a wife who works with you on these shoots 🙂
They really did look like a newly wed couple!
Usually we have to beg brides to see if they’re willing to rock out their dress in suspect places. However, getting in her dress was all Faith’s idea, and when I first heard they’d been married five years I was skeptical about the whole thing, but she looked great!
The sky was crazy beautiful. Clouds so puffy they looked like whipped cream!
A good man holds his wife’s shoes when she has to walk on a shoot. Kenny, you sir, are a good man.
I simply couldn’t believe this sky. So glad we had an amazingly beautiful day to work with. That’s a rare occasion in Pittsburgh.
We usually walk our dogs (well, Blake walks us) along the North Shore by the river, and when summer turned and I saw this foliage climbing all the way up the bridge, I knew I wanted to take shots here.
Can’t do a shoot without a little danger! Right in front of the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
Kenny & Faith, you guys were amazing to work with. You looked great and were really fun and easy to photograph! You made our job look easy 🙂
Rock The Dress: Marie
This shoot was so much fun to do! I had a chance to take my sister around to various locations and do a Rock the Dress shoot that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Finally, today the weather was pretty bearable, and Marie braved the cold as the sun came down and the breeze picked up. Originally we thought we could squeeze all of these shots before it became dark, but it turned out to be a blessing all the same because my wife, Heather, and I got a chance to test our lighting skills. I was very, very happy in how all these shots turned out.
I wanted to make sure that with this shoot I came back with a broad variety of looks, poses, angles and feels. I’ve seen a couple Rock the Dress shoots around the web that were phenomenal and aimed for the same type of quality, while keeping my own style involved. I’ve also seen a good share of Rock the Dress photos that all looked just about the same with little to no variety from one picture to the next.
More of my thoughts below…
Climbing up on the train was a must. I didn’t know whether we were going to get in trouble or not, but as soon as we started shooting I wasn’t even worried any more. Marie really pulled off a lot of good poses and faces. She said she got a few tips from “America’s Next Top Model.” Hey, whatever helps.
Heather and I agreed that this was our personal favorite. To me, what’s so powerful about this picture is the angled framing. It gives the image some movement, but I also bumped up the contrast to have everything pop. I wasn’t even planning on taking this photo originally, but as I came down the train I saw my sister there and it looked perfect.
I took several shots similar to this one where Marie was holding on to the bar, but I loved this one the best. In focus, we see her wedding ring which matches the color of the blue train, and it’s in contrast to the warmth of the picture in the background of the image.
Marie looks so powerful in this shot.
There were a lot of images that showed Marie’s tender side, and I think this one definitely captured that.
I love the downward gravity of this picture, but how Marie’s neck holds her head high. Very strong.
I caught Marie off guard in snapping this photo, and I love the look of surprise on her face. She wasn’t ready for it, and it gives the image a sense of playfulness.
The framing of this image is really engaging in my opinion. Marie’s eyes draw you right in, and yet there’s these layers of separation that keeps the picture at bay all the same.
Playfu. Had to show off the shoes 🙂
Again, another unplanned shot. She didn’t know I snapped a few photos while she ran to the one stretch of the tracks. Love the fleeting sensation of this picture.
Innocent face. Rocking shoes. Perfect.
I give Heather all the credit for this one. I was so busy taking photos of Marie up close, I didn’t even notice the framing of the horizontal tracks and the train with the graffiti. Heather said, “Take it from over here,” and she was totally right. Funny how a few feet of distance create such a change and transformation in an image.
Marie looks like a superhero striking a pose here.
I got to use the Gary Fong flash diffuser for the first time, and I love the results. Heather was a huge help in these shots as she held the SB-800 speedlight off camera. I simply used my camera as a remote to sync to it. The lighting looks truly sharp, and the diffuser gave some very impressive results.
We found this abandoned church along Route 28 that was really a beautiful sight for taking photos. Unfortunately by this point the sky was turning dark and my flash was acting up because I think the batteries were dying. Always check the batteries people! The only thing I don’t like about the SB-800 is that it doesn’t give you an indicator of the battery life, but we could definitely see it struggling as the flash refused to go off if it was too far from the camera. I definitely want to come back to this spot during daytime for a future shoot. Any takers?
Took a few by this railing. This was my favorite. Love the glow and aura of light around Marie.
Heather bounced the flash off the ground. Gave this image a very distinct, mysterious look to it.
We almost walked away from doing photos using this cubby-hole type ledge in the wall. I’m glad we stuck around for a few more photos. Heather did a nice job stretching out to have the light come down on Marie from the top right. Love the effect.
This image looks superimposed, but I assure you it’s not. Just a long exposure and Heather lit Marie witht he flash a bit. I really had a tough time with these shots because by this point it was getting cold out, and Marie was getting pretty chilly. Plus guys started cat-calling her as they drove past. Don’t hit on my sister! Can’t you see she’s wearing a wedding dress!
One Way Street Production (OWSP) - Chicago Wedding & Family Photography 