Model Behavior #2

This is my (rather poor) attempt to create a dramatic bridal shot somewhat in the style of Michael Anthony or Sal Cincotta. Not liking the outcome much but it was a fun attempt. Like yesterday, maybe it is more interesting to see the before picture. Remember, nothing you see in photography is real. Here is the proof:

So, Michael Anthony, who was setting up the shot, was in the primary position. I was standing just behind watching the action. That caused a problem when I decided to edit this picture as I normally would want the top of the building in the shot. As I wasn't really shooting, I just took a shot of the initial set up. Michael's wife is doing the 'fluff and run' honors to get the veil to catch the wind.

Michael was shooting using the ProPhoto B1 being held by an assistant (actually, an amazing photographer in his own right and one of the owners of SylkMarti Studio in Chicago). I didn't use the light on my shot. My interest was originally just watching the set up. This meant that I had to "relight" the bride and groom in post by separating them from the background in Photoshop and adding some light. I started to adjust the background to add drama:

First step in editing this shot is to do a second shot with them out of the frame. I forget to do that so I had to erase the human light stand out using Photoshop. The better way is to take a "frame" shot without moving the camera and then use that as a bottom layer. This gives a clean edit when taking out the assistants. Again, I am not going for competition so erasing them out and trying to clean up the edit by copy and pasting on the stairs also worked. Worked on editing the background to add drama and to keep the light on the bride and groom. As it was easier to keep the light on the bride so I decided eventually to take the groom out of the shot. He wasn't doing anything to make the picture better. I might have extended their hands towards each other to give more of a connection. So, taking him out was the better choice. 

I thought I would stop with this edit, but I didn't really like it. I think the final shot where I take out some of the color adds more drama. I'm in danger of doing this as a selected color shot which is a no-no for professional photographers. Very cheesy and overdone. Michael Anthony's style is a final shot that has its color suppressed. My attempt needs work but not bad for a first try.