"The Perfect Evening"

"The Perfect Evening"
© David A. Ziser

This is a DAZ classic wedding image taken back in my Nikon days. Every time we are at Drees Pavilion, one of the most popular venues in the Greater Cincinnati, OH area, this is a “must get” photograph.  The timing is important though.  Wait too late and the sky goes coal black and you have no details in the shadows.  Take the photograph too early in the evening and the city lights are not all on, plus the sky is a bit too bright.

The image was made at the perfect time in the evening – the sky had taken on some richness and all the city lights were fully lit.  Nevertheless, this is still a high ISO, slow shutter speed shot which means that we need to take more than one or two to be sure the bride and groom hadn’t moved.

Notice, too, the veil blowing gently in the breeze, or so it seems.  Actually my assistant “floofed” the veil and dashed out of the shot.  I made the exposure just as the veil was settling back to the ground. This too, takes a few tries to get the veil just right, and adds a bit more beauty to the image.

Lighting is from my Quantum off-camera flash set to 1/4 power out of frame camera left.  The secret here is to feather the flash head off the ground slightly so you don’t over light the grass in the foreground.

Like I said, this is always a “best seller” and is not to missed when working in this location.

Camera specs:  Nikon D1x fitted with Tamron  24-125 lens at 28mm, F 4.0 @ 1/5 second (on tripod), ISO 400.  Enjoy!  -David