Fred & Bekah

This past weekend I had the opportunity to do a portrait session for Fred & Bekah. They were wanting a picture to use for their Christmas card this year, and I was happy to help them out. When I first talked to Bekah, she told me she wanted to do something with a "woodsy" type background. Once we chose the location, I knew I would need some lighting. Of course I could make a good picture with available light there in the shade of the woods, but would it stand out and "pop" the way it would if I used a little lighting?

I set up one light shooting through a Lastolite Tri-Grip Diffuser and balanced it with the ambient light in the shaded tree area we were in. Because they were both wearing black shirts, have dark hair, and we were in a relatively dark place, the camera was tricked and thought "hey, I need to slow down and let more light in because this picture is really dark." But the camera was wrong and ended up blowing out their faces. So I had to dial down my exposure compensation two whole stops to get the proper exposure. Here's the keeper: