Kyle Carnes Photography

I was sweating bullets the day of this elopement in the Sawtooth Mountains of Stanley, Idaho because it was raining cats and dogs while doing getting ready photos at the couples small rental. It was a cute space but we were there for mountain background, and by golly we were going to get a mountain background. I floated the possible idea that we wait until the morning if the weather persisted. Normally, I wouldn’t do that, but I didn’t come all the way to be stuck inside. There had been thunder and lighting the days before and the day of the elopement it was looking like we might get more. But we decided to push through and hope for the best. As soon as we got out of the car at our first location the rain was a mere trickle, and by the time we reached the location in this picture the sun started breaking through and we were treated to a wonder evening for their vow exchange.

Stepping way back from the dance floor to get a wide shot like this can be risky. First dances often are short with some couples only doing half a song. You might only have 90 seconds to get a couple solid close up shots with good reactions and then run way back to get a couple well-composed wide shots. From far back, however, if the couple dances off to one side they may be behind a column and the shot just doesn’t work, and you waste valuable time waiting for them to come into view. It’s a little nerve racking. I knew at Horning’s Hideout a wide shot would be beautiful so I wanted a good chance at nailing it. I approached the bride and groom just beforehand and asked if they would be able to dance in the center of the dance floor at the beginning. They agreed and they did at the start, but I wasn’t particularly happy with what I was getting, and they had a choreographed dance so they eventually moved off to the side for a bit. I was nervous I wouldn’t get the shot, and I was contemplating moving close up again to get more useable images. But right at the end they came back to the center. He picked her up, they did a couple twirls, and I rattled off several shots, trying to time it so they’d be facing the camera. I was using a slower shutter to balance the ambient light with my flashes and a lower ISO so I could later lift the shadows in the trees in the background with less graininess and more detail. That way the background wouldn’t be completely black after the edit. This is also risky because the couple could very easily blur at the low shutter I was using, but I was banking on the flashes I set up behind the pillars to freeze their motion. It’s a delicate balancing act between settings and lighting conditions. When I first reviewed the images, I was bummed because the first one had motion blur, but the second one came out super crisp with just a little motion blur in the lower dress, and their expressions were great, as well. I only wish I could display this bigger here for greater visual impact.

Today’s post is a little longer than usual because Katie and Hunter decided to have private vows down at the Redwood Deck in addition to their more formal ceremony in front of their friends and family at the nearby Steven’s Pavillion,in . I couldn’t decide what to focus on for the carousel so I just decided to max out the slides and include it all, lol. We enjoyed a lovely stroll through the forest with biker’s and runners comically entering the frame. Afterward, we hightailed it to for their reception that was capped off by some fun piñata whacking.

Here’s a little before and after editing magic for your Monday. Check the next image for the before. This was a hot one from this past weekend at the . I think near a hundred degrees. Beads of sweat were running down Andrew’s face standing in the hot direct sunlight while Kelsey was more shaded. The last thing I wanted to happen as a photographer is to blow out the highlights on Andrew’s face or lose detail in the guests or flower petals in the sun because of the high contrast scenario. So I metered for the brightest object I could find in the scene, probably Kelsey’s dress and ended up underexposing by about 5 stops at the lowest ISO possible. This resulted in a very dark image straight out of camera. In post, I lifted the exposure and balanced the highlights and shadows for a more even, nuanced image. Having a nice camera only gets you part of the way. Shooting for the edit and a little extra intentionality in these kinds of bright sunlit scenarios goes a long way.