Light Brigade: A Shot in the Dark

Once upon a decision to shoot an engagement at Botanical Gardens' first annual Garden Glow (and not quite knowing what to expect), I was stoked to face the outdoor nighttime glow and apply some creative spot lighting. Outdoor low lit scenes are extremely challenging. With practically no light, no ceiling for soft bounce, and the desire to capture the beauty of holiday lights, my weapon impervious to darkness is bankably the off-camera flash and/or spotlight, requiring use of one or two tripods. I was gung-ho for this shoot.

Enter Botanical Gardens security: NO TRIPODS. Curses... Foiled by a public event! After a stupid attempt to hide a tripod in my coat, I discussed with my clients a new plan with hopes not to miss out on capturing some potentially great scenes in here. I'm glad they were open minded and had some faith in my backup plan which, though limiting, still produced some magical results.

However, these low light points need to be considered in any situation not allowing flash or tripod use:

• Capturing extremely dim ambient light requires slow shutter speeds and practically no movement from subjects or camera, otherwise motion blur happens. This limits subjects to stationary poses for clarity (unless movement blur is desired). I often pose couples in motion, so this is a limitation for me!
• Ambient color lighting effects will produce unnatural skin tone coloration. Magical within context, or it can be disruptive depending on the intent for the portrait.
• Tripodless spotlight can be achieved with use of a lighting assistant (an expense not often preferred for engagements), or from light being positioned from the ground if no ledges are nearby... however, low angled light communicates a mood of horror rather than romance. For example, my Halloween portraits.

Limitations considered, I'm fairly pleased with the lovely Christmas-lit imagery here. (See more on Facebook.) Holiday lighting is so ethereal and romantic! What wasn't romantic, however, in this location at the time of the Garden Glow event, was that so many people were around! (Some were 'shopped out of these hedge maze portraits.) Regardless, these two pulled off some great intimate moments, but feeling free to emote in the middle of a crowd isn't something everyone can pull off!