Another high sun cloudless afternoon engagement shoot

Took a plane to Vancouver for this shoot. Vancouver is known for it's overcast skies, but there wasn't a single cloud in sight that day. Which actually doesn't bother me so I didn't care.

But the sun was sooo darn bright I could hardly see a thing in the viewfinder and had to manual focus a few shots because it was causing AF havoc.

It was also the Cherry Blossom season! Never been in Vancouver during this pretty bloom!

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Great shots, I especially like #4.

Yep, Vancouver weather is weird and unpredictable... On the island it snowed today...

I also like #4. The light looks VERY challenging. I'm guessing that what I'm seeing on the back of the bench and the couple is reflected light? Whatever it is, you work it well!

#1 and 4 are my favorite. Love your off camera lighting.

While I like the warm tone of the sepia in #3, I'm not sure about the composition. The attention is clearly drawn to the couple (which is centered in the photograph ) so this is a plus. But I don't get a good feel of the location and, as you mentioned, it is a significant one for the couple. The pond is quite dark and I tend to miss it when looking at the shot.

I'm just not sure about the small tilt of #5 or the shot in general. It looks like there was a good potential for a very nice shot at that location (albeit with some distracting elements in the background), but I feel that the one you showed doesn't quite cut it.

Some very nice shots overall though! I'm just trying to push you a bit further

Scott_Quier wrote in post #2970318
I also like #4. The light looks VERY challenging. I'm guessing that what I'm seeing on the back of the bench and the couple is reflected light? Whatever it is, you work it well!

No (well I don't think so anyways... Lloyd can confirm that though!). Very often, Lloyd uses off-camera lighting. So what you see lighting the couple is a flash unit (or two) working at full power (esp. since a small aperture was used).

On this forum, Lloyd is the king of off-camera lighting applied to wedding and engagement photography!

love 1,3,5 beautiful!

some great shots there. the lighting is fantastic.

I'm surprised these turned out so well. #4 is my fav. when I shoot in full sun I always have someone squinting or the exposure doesn't turn out. Great job!

sounds like the kinda light we get herer in australia everyday

Nice job w/lighting and exposure.

Great stuff! Did you use a reflector or a flash to compensate for the direct sun?

Thanks for the nice comments guys. It was really a lot of fun. And it was nice to see some green. It's still cold, white and brown where I live.

Scott, the bench was lit with a 580EX. Just as sebastien said, it was shot at full power because of the F/16 aperture.

Sebastien, you have really pointed out my weaknesses. I really have trouble sometimes keeping the camera straight or the landscape level when I'm shooting while walking at the same time. I have to admit, every picture of them under the cherry blossoms had a different tilt to them as I was crouched and waddling clumsily backwards. I must look really stupid when I shoot... LOL

And this one, the horizon is sooo off angle it's not funny. But in my defence, the sun was SOOOO bright in the viewfinder I couldn't see a darn thing at all! I could just barely make out her hair, to use as a manual focus point. Autofocus TOTALLY fails in these compositions.

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Would you be so kind as to explain your lighting technique? I am VERY curious.

MrsOpie wrote in post #2970856
I'm surprised these turned out so well. #4 is my fav. when I shoot in full sun I always have someone squinting or the exposure doesn't turn out. Great job!

thanks! I think the key is turning the couple so the sun isn't in their eyes. I like to put the sun behind the subject, then fill them in with flash. And when the sun IS in their face, just make them do something dynamic instead of standing in a pose. The squint usually disappears once they do something active.

CyberPet wrote in post #2971591
Great stuff! Did you use a reflector or a flash to compensate for the direct sun?

No reflector. I don't bring one on my destination shoots. Too bulky. Also, a reflector doesn't put out NEAR enough light for the kind of shots I like to do.

Woogie wrote in post #2971598
Would you be so kind as to explain your lighting technique? I am VERY curious.

Very very simple, and standard photo practices. Expose the background so it looks how you want, keeping your subjects a good deal darker than the background. (which is why I put the sun behind them so their shaded side is facing me) Then fill them in with flash. If you can get the flash off camera, then even better!