By Monique
After attending the wppi convention, I was excited by a lot of the dramatically lit imagery I saw there by world renowned wedding photographers, and it motivated me to experiment with some dramatic lighting during this fun Lake Tahoe portrait session with Sara and Tim. Sara is one of my closest girlfriends, and this was the second time I had met her new beau, Tim, so it was a fun way to get to know him better. He was a great sport, especially when we got to the part of the session that required a little more intimacy. They trusted my vision, and I think, as you will see, it resulted in some fun and edgy images.
We started in the living room in front of the fire place. I love capturing those “in between” moments when the couple is not even aware of the camera, they are just enjoying each other’s company, sharing a moment together.
More candid moments in front of the fire.
After spending some time in the living room, I had them change their clothes and we moved into the master bedroom’s bathroom to the steam shower. This is where they had to trust in my ultimate vision for the images. Each image from this series is lit from inside the shower with a Nikon SB800 flash. I had to put the flash in a plastic bag to protect it from the steam. I started out with some fully clothes portraits, with no steam, as seen in this image. As you scroll down, the images get a little more risque, yet are done tastefully and artistically, resulting in some super interesting shots.
Sara by herself in the steam.
Sara and Tim, silhouetted by the flash behind them, getting steamier!
This is my favorite image from the series, it was taken towards the end of the session, they were eased into it, and became completely comfortable with the process, so it was the perfect time to get their shirts off. They are being lit from behind by the same flash, and Scott is holding another off camera SB800 high up to get the detail on Sara’s face. With a little polishing in photoshop, this image completely fulfilled my vision for the shoot.
