South Atlanta Flickr - Bridal Theme Shoot | davem photography

The South Atlanta Flickr group had a wedding themed shoot a couple weeks ago. It was a hot day, even early in the morning when we first met, you could tell it was going to be a hot day. This was an outdoor shoot and hydration was important for photographers and models.

I was very pleased with the results from this shoot. Despite shooting in the heat, we were also shooting with direct sunlight that can create harsh shadows and unflattering light.


I love shooting outdoors and capturing as much of the environment as I can. That includes details like clouds and blue skies. Capturing those details can be difficult if you're only using natural light. Which is why I always use strobes, so I can control my flash exposure and ambient exposure separately.

I started out with real life couple Adolfo & Maria. These are a couple of my favorites from this couple.

A couple of the admins brought their own kids to play the part of flower girl & ring bearer.

I've got a couple favorites from this shoot. But this one of Felicia is definitely my top pick from the day.

I love the pose she gave me with eyes closed, head facing toward the sun and an out streached arm.

Here are a couple more of Felicia.

Because there were so many great areas, we moved to another location by a lake to work with some of the other models. I was able to work with Bonnie at this location. Because it was already noon and the models needed a break, I had to work quickly to get the shots I needed. So it was very much like a real wedding.

All of these shots of Bonnie were taken in less than 5 minutes. By changing the angle, camera orientation and even Bonnie's pose, I was able to get a variety of shots. While she was taking a break and drinking some water, I dialed in my exposure and positioned my light allowing me to work quickly so that we could get out of the sun and move onto lunch.

After lunch we stayed near the main house and barn. I found areas of shade so that we could work without direct sunlight. This time I got to shoot Bonnie again, but with Seth as her groom.

It took a bit more post production work to get the detail in the sky back than I'm used to. The sky was almost white as it started getting blown out by the sun. Because I was using a strobe, I was able to underexpose the ambient and preserve some of the detail. Using Lightroom, I was able to bring out more of that detail into the image.

I also shot a couple individual shots of Seth.

The next setup was with Reagan. She was playing the part of a bridesmaid.

I don't normally do black & white images, but I love black & white images from other photographers. I decided to take one of the images of Reagan and convert it to black & white.

The way she was dressed and her hair was done reminded me of a classic 50's movie star. Rita Hayworth, maybe? Which is why I prefer this in black & white.

Next was Brittany & Jason at the barn. They were definitely doing a southern theme wedding look.

With both of them wearing cowboy hats, it was a bit difficult to get them close together so they wouldn't be blocking each other. I asked Jason to dip Brittany to get a more active shot.

I finally packed everything up around 3pm. It was a long day of shooting in the heat and humidity. The models were great and easy to work with. The South Atlanta Flickr admins have done another great job of finding professional models to work with.  Big thanks to the admins as well. They coordinated this whole shoot, drove us from each location, arranged for lunch and had coolers of bottled water to keep everyone hydrated.

I really enjoyed shooting these, but I would have to think twice about shooting a wedding outdoors in the middle of summer. It isn't easy and it isn't glamourous. Wedding photographers work hard to get these kind of images despite weather conditions.

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