Monday, January 10, 2011

Engagement Photos - Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers

Pittsburgh Weddings - Engagement photography
These photos were taken in Cannonsburg, PA near Cannonsburg Lake which isn't too far from Pittsburgh.  The sun was bright but the temperatures were falling and the air was cold.  These were taken in late fall when 70 degrees was normal and 50 was 'cold'.  Today, 50 degrees would feel very warm compared to the single digit temperatures that we had recently.


The sun was a beautiful golden color and since it was late fall, it set fast and presented a beautiful glow to everything.  We were able to get many photographs that had an amazing look.  


I am not from Cannonsburg and asked a friend of a good location that had water.  I didn't need much else since the theme in my mind that I wanted to create was a sunset session overlooking water.  I could not have been happier with the look and feel of the area. The critical part that I want to emphasize is that there are many locations in our backyard that present tremendous photo opportunities.  


Not far from where I was standing was a 'boring' parking lot.  By using fill lights, reflectors, and some ingenuity, we created a look that is a very romantic fun look. 

Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers - Engagement Pictures
Pittsburgh Wedding Photography - Cannonsburg Lake
Tip: When selecting a location, I look for where the sun is setting (or rising if early enough in the AM), and use it to help create dramatic lighting.  I carry with me two light stands that fold up to less than 36".  These combined with two umbrellas, a 40" five in one reflector, a few clamps, and other items fit easily into a large duffel bag. This set-up enables me to be very mobile and I consider this a studio in a bag.  With the sun behind the couple, I used fill flash (flash was on a light stand - camera left - shot without a diffuser and fired via Nikon's wireless CLS).  I wasn't interested in overpowering the sun with the strobe but was interested in getting enough light on their faces to give some detail but leave the beautiful glow from the sun.  

Beaver County and Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers
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Sunday, January 9, 2011

In your backyard - Pittsburgh Wedding Photographer

This Civil War Era home in Beaver, PA is a favorite site for portrait photography.  Beaver is located north west of Pittsburgh, PA and is the county seat of Beaver, PA.  I visit this site often and marvel at the simplicity, yet elegance of this home.  I can imagine other homes like it in the area with kids playing outside while others went about their daily duties and chores.


I use this site for high school senior portraits since there are many different opportunities for lighting and effects.  


This shot was done around 0800 after a moderate snow fall.  I wanted to capture the lines and elegance of the scene.  Post processing was done as an HDR image via Lightroom, HDR efex pro, and color efex pro. .  I shot 5 bracketed shots with the main image being around f/8.0 and 1/60 second.  ISO 200 - shot on a Nikon D300s with the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens.
I used a tridpod for support.


There are many tremendous photo opportunities in our neighborhoods and those around us.  We only need to get out and find them.  I suggest taking different routes to and from work, school, shopping, church, etc.  


Keep your camera with you and you will be amazed at the many different photo opportunities.


Beaver Civil War Home


Book dr Frank to photograph your wedding in and around Pittsburgh, PA.
www.kendrallaphotography.com
www.kendralla.com