Homecoming King and Queen

On Saturday night I had the opportunity to shoot the Homecoming King and Queen of First Academy before they left for the dance. The setting was her house that had access to a dock out by the lake. We took some shots in the yard and then went down to the water. We started pretty late and had hardly any sunlight left. Here are a few of my favorite shots with a quick explanation on how I got the shot. I used my 85 f/1.8 the entire time.


This shot was in the backyard, no flash. I just dialed down the exposure compensation to make up for the dark background. Great formal looking portrait.

This was our walk across the street toward the lake. I got on the ground to allow for the street to lead up to them. I usually don't like keeping some color in a black & white picture but the shoes being red turned out pretty cool and Rachel loved it so the shoes will stay red!

For this shot, I got up on top of the railing going around the dock. Getting a different perspective will really make your pictures more interesting.

My favorite shot! I feel like this could be an ad for some fancy perfume or something. I cranked up the ISO on the D700 for most of these shots on the water because it was DARK!!! I love that sensor!

Flash. If you know what you're doing, you can make great looking shots at anytime of the day. I had Tyler (Rachel's boyfriend... I mean King) hold the SB800 high and to camera right while standing on the bench going around the dock. I lowered my shutter speed to 1/5 of a second and held my breath like crazy! Any faster shutter would have made the sky totally black and I wanted to show as much color as we had left for this shot. I kept my aperture all the way down at 2.8 because any higher, and Rachel and her dad would have been totally blown out. It sounds like a lot of stuff to think about, but when you understand it, you can get this shot on your first or second try.

On this shot of Rachel and her dad, I exposed for the beautiful blue sky and the moon which totally put them in a silhouette. Nice moment.

Thanks Rachel and Tyler for letting me be a part of your special night. Congratulations on being the King and Queen of the First Academy Universe!