A Sunny Lakeside Elopement in Penticton Sampler

It was actually in Naramata. Should mention that right off the bat, but that’s pretty close to Penticton. And I’m not sure if you could call it an elopement. There were about ten people there. Jokingly the bride said to me, “We wanted to elope, they wanted a big wedding, this was our middle ground.”

It was very informal. It was quick, unique. Those two were very personable. I’m always interested on the effect my subjects have on my camera. Some folks will give the photos a colourful look. Other couples, I get a classical look. By no means is it ever just me – if anything, I’m looking to reflect the personality of the couple and feel of the day.

My goal is for the feel of the day to come through, so you can feel the personality.

This wasn’t hard. Her dress was unique and undoubtedly painstakingly picked out. We chatted in the shade while we waiting for the ceremony to start. Beachgoers frequented the warf, completely unaware their dock was to be taken over by friends and family of this beautiful bride.

The sun beat down upon us mercilessly. I realized the only way to compensate for it would be to use a 600-ex flash. That created a soft, tungsten bulb light that mixed in with the natural light seamlessly. Always go tungsten if you’ve got a choice in the matter.

See that nice colour balance, where the subject’s skin tones are well balanced? That’s because of a gentle diffuser in front of my flash to scatter and soften the light. My goal was to focus the light on the centre of the image, creating a soft graduation of light from the middle to the sides – however, still to keep the flash at -1ev in order to not overdo it. A flash that is too bright will make the suit look a light instead, instead of the dark charcoal that it is. I metered off the flowers for this shot, underexposing the background and overexposing the foreground.

Although the colours were incredible, I made sure to keep the contrast nice and high in order to be able to provide mostly colour photos. There will be a few black and whites. The album demands it!

It was hard picking photos for this sampler. And that’s what it is – it’s a sampler! The full album will be out in a week or so. Try to be patient! Albums like this take an incredible amount of time for me to adjust the colour, get the exposure nailed just right, and crop it so that it looks good no matter what size it is.

I hope you loved this sampler! If you’d like to follow me, give me a like on facebook, instagram, or twitter. Talk to you soon, and thank you for reading my blog! If you’d like to be notified when the photos are ready, shoot me a message by clicking here. Just let me know the date and last name, and I’ll put you on the email list to be notified when photos are ready. Talk to again soon!