18th Jul 2007
rim light
going to make this short…still on vacation 
I have been thinking about this shot as I was browsing the digital wedding forum the other day, looking at some images from many awesome photographers posting images with strobes behind their subjects or coming in from an angle, adding a halo of light to the frame…
I believe this technique is one you can put in your bag of tricks to carry around with you…its one that allows you many many very different possibilities. Include the flash in the frame, just out of the frame…shoot wide, shoot tight…. 1 million more possibilities here..
In this case, I was shooting a first dance… I decided to layer my composition by placing the couple between the shoulders of two of the members of the bridal party… this technique pretty much works all the time…So now that the framing of the image is out of the way, its time to decide where to place the light…
I was trying to contrast a soft elegant moment with some harsh strong powerful light and came up with the following photo example…Ethereal almost.. This photo would have failed had the best man’s head not been placed in front of the flash…IMHO.
I honestly have NO IDEA what my remote speedlight settings were in this frame…I was mixing it up by shooting available, then switching to on camera bounce, and mixing up just about every possibility I had and then decided to switch on the Pocket Wizard and fired away… my assistant was on the other side of the dance floor. OH, My on camera bounce added the exposure on their faces! yep, it is possible to add some on camera flavor ttl style
Thoughts?
Cheers!
matt
Great, great shot and idea! I´m going to do a wedding next saturday with my son, and maybe we´re going to try something like this
This is a great shot. So clear and nice. Artsy but romantic and to the point.
I’ve seen this technique in many shots throughout flickr (where i live my online days) and i find it to be an interesting and honest technique. For the person viewing the photo it becomes clear that this is done intentionally so lighting doesn’t become a question.
The visual effect i’m not sure where to put. It makes it romantic. It gives a splash of art to it. I think it makes it an interesting picture, not necessarily a better image quality wise, but more lively and fun.
I most definitely like it
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Great picture, fantastic technique!
I recently used the same idea:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98609590@N00/835307375/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98609590@N00/835304607/in/photostream/
Keep up the good work!
greetz,
Bert
Very nice. I, like Bert above, (accidentally) had a similar approach on this shot:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=540778847&size=o
A happy accident!
What a wonderful surprise on my 30th birthday to find another post on this awesome blog!!! I knew you couldn’t wait until the 23rd…
I’ve admired this shot since I first saw it on your wedding website, and I’m so glad you decided to put it up here. I can’t wait for the opportunity to try this one out. Keep up the fantabulous work!!!
Great shot…
What technique/mounting system are you using to run PW’s and TTL at the same time.
Florida Photographer
It seems that on-camera flash bounced off the ceiling would have illuminated the two people in the foreground as well as the couple? Either way, great shot.
Yes, I’m curious, too, about how you run your on-camera flash and trigger off-camer with PW.
[…] Here is another one from that same sequence, this time I decided to use a rim light to strengthen this moment, emphasized by the wind. […]