Wedding Photography, Somewhere North of Battleground

8/2/09 – Rebecca Getsfrid – Commercial Portrait and Wedding Photographer in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon

I don’t shoot weddings often, but when a friend of my mom’s asks, and is willing to pay my full asking price, I can’t much say no.

The ceremony took place about 2 hours up into some mountain north of Battle Ground. The location was absolutely gorgeous and you could see for miles. They (and I) were on a ledge hanging over a good 500 ft. drop to more rocks. Thank god for wide angle zooms, because using the 50 would mean stepping back to my death.

The reception was at the Bride’s parents house, a much safer location. I had a couple hours to cool off, back up memory cards, etc. before people started showing up. I couldn’t cross light the dance floor exactly how I wanted to, but I got a setup that worked. To make sure I had enough light no matter where I was, I shot in Aperture Priority with autoEV set down half a stop, setting the aperture for whatever the flash would be where the subject was standing. That way if there was flash light in frame I’d have some fill as well, and if there was no flash, I could just bump the raw up a half stop in lightroom before exporting.

While I didn’t like not being able to cross light the dance floor, having nothing but backlights led to what, I hope, will be the family’s most treasured shot for years to come.

AB800 in Large Softbox, back camera left. AB800 with reflector only, back camera right