A Bridal (Family) Portrait with a Train
I’m happy I can finally show you this image! I have an unwritten rule with the images I take for my clients: I never show any images publicly until after the wedding. That way, if the couple is hoping to surprise anyone with an image (say, the printed portrait displayed at the reception, like this one was), I won’t spoil the surprise by showing it early on this blog.
This image was shot last fall. The groom works for the railroad and wanted a portrait with his fiance and his son, dressed as they would be for their wedding, with a train. Unfortunately, the railroad companies have these all-too-serious regulations against using their equipment for something like this. Fortunately, I knew just where to go: The Science Museum of Virginia! If you’ve never been, the Science Museum is housed in what used to be a very large railway station. They still have the tracks in the back and some nice trains to show off too!
For this image, I have a polarizer on the lens to darken the sky and increase the contrast with the clouds. I’m shooting with a Canon 5D and a 16-35mm f/2.8 lens at about 20mm. ISO 400, 160th of a second at f/5.6. There’s a Canon 580exII flash on a light stand just out of the frame to the left gelled with a 3/4 CTO, creating the warm pool of light falling on the subjects. the flash was triggered with Pocket Wizards.
The couple had me print this up as a 16×20 and they had it framed beautifully. The wedding took place at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and the reception was in the dining room of the Robins Center there at Lewis Ginter. Wonderful location for a wedding. I’ll be showing more images from this portrait shoot as well as the wedding itself soon.