You don’t become a great photographer without practice, constant practice. And one of my goals is to be amazing at everything, don’t worry, I’m humble. So when the opportunity arises to photograph some married couples on the shore of Utah Lake I grab my lighting and gear and head out! These photos were created during a Utah Strobist meetup. A group of photographers who occasionally meetup to talk, learn, and practice photography with special lighting setups.
Photographing a couple on Utah Lake
The more I use my off camera lighting the less I find the need to “fancy up a photo in Photoshop.” People and photographs look great with some creative lighting. And the blending of existing light with my own lights does allow for some truly unique photographs.
Overcast skies turn out great for portraits
Couples need to open up for the camera. That is partly my responsibility to get a couple relaxed and let go of their fear in front of the camera. I often joke that people rank being photographed right up there with public speaking. People can hate it! The groom or husband may hate it more… they are just there to humor their better half. But with some humor and chit chat hopefully we can get people out of their shell and ready for some cool photos.
Couples should be comfortable in front of the camera
Some individual portraits
Some individual portraits
I don’t do a lot of black and white photography. I guess it depends on the image. Often I just feel obligated to create a balance of color photos and B&W photos. To be honest, I love color. I really like the color to be bright, colorful, bold, and contrasty. I often look at black and white photography as a way to hide some color problems in a photograph. Maybe someday I’ll change my mind, maybe.
I don’t do a lot of black and white photography
The fun with the small lights, you can hide them all over the place. And you can attach a little color strip to change the color of the light. It can definitely change the mood. I wanted to see if I could warm up the color, almost hint at a golden sunset. I’ll keep up the practice.
Getting creative with light
One more couple to photograph
