Top 10 of '10 - Bridal Portraits

2010 was a wonderful year! I had the chance to make so many interesting images and meet many, many incredible people! I was thinking of how I wanted to reflect on the year and this is what I decided.
I'm starting a series today of my top ten images from 2010 in different categories.The criteria are simple. They're MY favorites. I'm excited to break them down and figure out WHY they're my favorites, it should be informative for me at least. I will comment on some and tell you my thoughts as well.
Up first, BRIDALS!

Bridals are a lot of fun to shoot because it mixes the technical aspects of lighting and posing with the more creative aspects in a nice little package. I really like helping women realize how beautiful they are. All of these shoots could have had multiple entries into this top ten, the brides were simply amazing!

So without further ado, here are my 10 favorite bridal portraits from 2010!

Oh, it was hard to choose one from this session! Janna wanted classy vintage. The Ogden Union Station was the perfect venue for the style. She pulled out every stop in making the look her own. Classy.
Click here to see more from this shoot.

I love the way she looks and moves towards the fairy tale steps. The color temperature is cooler than what was shot. Go check out the highlights of her session so you can actually see her from the front, Lauren is stunning!

In one of my favorite shoots ever, Andrea Hanks took Las Vegas by storm in an original couture dress. She took the over-the-top feathers and makeup and made it feel like a comfortable pair of jeans. She pulled it off like no one else. We shot mostly with her husband, John, but this is one of my favorite images of just her.
Click for the whole Vegas tour with Andrea and John.

There is nothing as fun as being told by the bride that she's not photogenic and then watching her transform and own the camera and project the kind of confidence and grace that burns right out of the image. Sorry, Samantha, you are photogenic!

To be honest, I'm not sure what it is about this image that I love. It just feels right. You really can't beat Thanksgiving Point as a location.

Amanda. I knew she was going to be a fun bride when I used a baseball analogy and she not only got it, she did the pose perfectly! I love this image because it feels like she has taken charge of the situation and is posing on her own terms. I also love the lighting. It's one umbrella up-left and a 1/16 speedlite from behind to make the veil glow. I just dig this image. Click here for the whole shoot.

After a crazy string of events ate up most of our time and moved us down to about Plan F in the list of locations, Mindi brought it from the very beginning of the shoot, allowing us to get everything we needed in the short time we had. I love this image because it has a candid, natural feel and demonstrates that you can shoot amazing images in ANY location. This was a vestibule between two sets of doors.

I LOVE images with a mood. We were out of light and done with our shoot and walking back, hoping not to get rained on. We saw this tree and figured we'd do a couple more. Sarah jumped in and despite basically zero light, she worked it. We ended up with a dark, mysterious, magical mood. Love it.
The location was Red Butte Gardens.

This image is technically not a bridal as much as a product shot but I love it anyway and I shot it like bridals so I'm putting it in here anyway. This was a shoot in Las Vegas for a dress line for Modest Couture by Elizabeth. I like this one because you simply have to smile when you see a bride running in a nice poofy dress, in Vegas pretending to be Venice. You just have to!

I like this image because it's a simple, straight-up portrait. Zenya looks stunning, and that's the point. Some people want something crazy artistic, some people don't. Portrait photography, beyond lighting and posing and whatnot is about connecting with your subject. When it all comes down to it, I love that you can see what an amazing person she is inside as well as how stunning she is on the outside. The little wisp of a smile is just coy enough to hint at a complex, interesting person.

Lauren - Bridals at the Utah State Capitol

Since I'm done processing their wedding and it will be going up soon, I thought I'd post Lauren's bridals.
Lauren is beautiful, both inside and out. She wanted something elegant and striking. The Utah State Capitol was the perfect location with its white marble and stone pillars and stairs.

For those of you who can't see the slideshow below, click here to be whisked electronically to the facebook album.

{Photo IQ: For the tip today I'm going to diagram the lighting for the shot below. I wanted dramatic and striking which usually means bringing in extra lighting.}

There were three speedlites in this shot. The main light is from high camera right, diffused with a Fong Bong. It's at 1/8 power. The back-light is directly behind the bride about 5 feel high, pointing at the camera. It was at 1/16 power. The third is a bare flash behind the pillars on the right side hitting the stairs. I wanted the stairs to really trail down on her. I don't remember the power but my guess is probably 1/2 or so. I liked the shadows it cast, creating a kind of cross-hatching in the background.
It's important to use a slow enough shutter speed to still get the color in the background but not so much that it takes focus off the bride. It was shot at 1/125 at f5 and 800 ISO. See below for the lighting diagram.

See more at www.jonwoodbury.com

Amanda's "Field of Dreams" Bridals

Amanda has such a lively personality that we couldn't HELP but have a good shoot. Her looks ran the gamut from sweet and demure to downright vixonian. (Yep, made that up. Vixonian: adj. Having or showing the qualities of a vixen.)
She ran, jumped, sat, and pretty much brought it til the sun went down.
I have to admit, in some of these images she reminds me of Ingrid Bergman and that's about as big a compliment as you can get!
A fun tidbit about this shoot is that I used a baseball metaphor to describe a pose and Amanda understood perfectly! Pretty rare bride, if you ask me!

{Photo IQ: Simple tip on this shoot. Watch what you wear! I did this shoot in a red shirt--then wondered in editing why all my closeups had this weird red tint on her face and dress! Yes, you can fix it in post, but why? Now I try to wear something more neutral. If you wear something in a nice white or gray you can use yourself as a fill reflector.}

For those of you on smart phones who can't see the slideshow below, click here to be whisked electronically to the facebook album.

See more at www.jonwoodbury.com

The LDS Bride, Killer Videography, and My Wedding Photography

 

I am the focus of the world! ...or at least the focus of The LDS Bride Blog...for a day or two...but still pretty cool. Jason and Kylee's wedding has been one of my showcase weddings for a long time and I'm thrilled to see it on the LDS Bride Blog. Spencer Hale of Giant Brothers Films did an unbelievable job, as always. You should also go see Kylee's Bridal video, he won major awards with that baby too, because it kicks butt.

Elegant Bridals in Utah Valley - Blayr - Provo Castle Park

Blayr is one of the two Holmgren sisters I photographed last fall. I realized that I never posted her bridals on my blog and they are some of my favorites!
Click here to see her awesome vintage-inspired wedding. 
Blayr wanted a mixture of the classic sweet with the modern sassy.  With her graceful dress and feminine curls in contrast to the hot pink Steve Madden heels and cheeky daisy bouquet, it was so much fun to find locations to shoot that met the needs of both sides of her personality.  Castle Park in Provo proved to be the perfect space.  The stone castle overlooks the entire Provo valley and offered beautiful views, impressive structures, and even a lake where we shot on the dock.  It was a beautiful setting for a gorgeous girl! 

Photographically speaking, most images have a -1 ev fill from an off-camera speedlite in a Gary Fong Lightsphere.
In processing, I also played around with the Indian Summer filter from Nik Software. Way cool. It turns all your leaves into fall colors.
She had great shoes, too.

For those of you on smart phones who can't see the slideshow below, click here to be whisked electronically to the facebook album.

See more at www.jonwoodbury.com

Janna's Vintage Train Station Bridals - Union Station, Ogden

Janna and Dave are getting married in Manti, Utah on Saturday.
Their engagements captured the various sides of their personalities with a glam portion in down town Salt Lake and a more natural side up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Wonder which side Janna chose for her bridal session? Vintage Glam all the way, baby! Janna brought some fantastic classic portraits of Hollywood starlets as a reference point of the looks that she hoped to achieve, and I'm happy to say that not only did she channel Lucy and Grace in certain angles, but I was able to capture some Janna-out-of-the-50's herself...which I like even better than when she mimicked the stars. Thanks for the trip through time!

If you can't see the slide show below click here for the facebook album.

See more at www.jonwoodbury.com

The Best of 2009 part I - Bridals

I'm going through last year and analyzing my work and setting goals for this year. I feel so great about the work I did last year and am excited for the amazing clients we have booked so far for this year. So here is the first part of my 2009 review, Bridals.

Maree - Bridals - Union Station, Ogden Utah

Maree and John were referred to us by Summer and JD (See the last post) so we knew right off that we'd love them, and we do. The inspiration for their engagement session was derived from her wedding colors so when we were looking for a location for bridals we needed a similarly inspiring location. Maree gave me a lot of creative control through the whole process of her wedding and that's always exciting. I knew what feeling I wanted but not really where to find it--Maree's not really a nature girl but also isn't the urban graffiti type. She needed a location that was classy and unique but still relaxed and approachable. Ogden's Union Station fit the bill perfectly.
Stay tuned, John and Maree's beautiful wedding is coming up soon! (Their formals overlooking sunset on the red rock hills of St. George are killer.)

For all you smart phone people who can't see the flash slideshow below because of the amazing injustice that withholds Flash from all of us, click here to see the images on facebook.

Ali Newton's Bridals

I'm posting the bridals BEFORE THE WEDDING!! (Feel free to picture the chaos that ensues when Yosemite Sam starts shooting into the air)
Don't worry, it's not sacrilege. Erik has already seen these. Ali couldn't wait to show him so that's exactly what she did. (That's the reaction I want, I'm certainly not complaining.) So I get to post bridals before the wedding for once!
These were shot in the Crandall Building in downtown Salt Lake City. As you can see, Ali is not a difficult subject. Most of these were lit by a single strobe with a softbox on it and an on-camera fill so nothing complicated. They have a fun, unique feel mostly because that's who Ali is. I'm thrilled they chose me to be a part of their day and I'm excited for them to get married in a few short hours. Good luck, guys!

If you cannot see the flash slideshow below, you can click here to see the album on my facebook page.

Brittnie - Bridals

After her engagement session was one of my favorites ever, I felt a lot of pressure to create some really classic bridals for Brittnie. While she did most of the work, I think they turned out awesome and I'll take some of the credit.

Brittany - Bridals

I don't really have to say much about these. They just rock. I'll give you the recipe: One beautiful bride, a diverse and interesting location, and one excited, slightly nerdy photographer.
We shot these at the Castle Park in Provo, Utah.

Ixchel - Bridals

Ixchel won our free shoot at the Thanksgiving Point wedding show in January. It worked out well for her since she is in Utah currently but getting married in Arizona. She has a photographer down there to cover the wedding but needed someone up her to shoot her bridals. She wanted a high-fashion look so that's what we went for. I found out quickly that she didn't need my help to strike the pose and go all vogue. I just let her do her thing.

Sonia - Bridals

I just posted Sonia and Anthony's engagements. They were so fun and personal that I expected no less from her bridals. Since she is obsessed with vintage cars, the perfect place to do her bridals was a classic car museum. The cars were all pretty packed in so the challenge was to minimize the background distractions.
I used one monolight with a 48x18 softbox and a speedlight with a grid for a backlight most of the time. I shot at the fastest sync speed to cut out on the ambient light and darken the background. It was a challenge to shoot in and around all the cars. We were very careful not to scratch or ruin anything. Most of the shots were taken with the Canon 17-40L because there just wasn't enough room to shoot anything longer. The conditions were tough but that makes for a fun challenge. It turned out great!

Bridals at Lagoon? Why not? -- Calle

I'll admit it. I've always enjoyed doing things that earn me quizzical looks from passersby in public places. In high school we were always the group that was having so much fun at the Village Inn late at night that people looked at us like we were on something. This was that kind of shoot.
Calle decided she wanted to do something for her bridals that she hadn't seen anyone do. I hadn't seen it either so we made the arrangements to shoot at the Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah.
Rain nearly washed the whole thing out but we were able to squeeze a lot of shoot into a window of an hour and a half between cloud bursts. It's almost too bad she's getting married...she had the Whac-a-Mole guy wrapped around her little finger.
(Shouldn't "Whac-a-mole" rhyme with "guacamole"? I'm confused.)

Sarah - Bridals - Wedding Photography

Congratulations to Sarah and Kerry! (Click here to see their engagements)
Andrea, Jason, and I had a great time shooting them last week at the Draper LDS Temple and Noah's. Now that the wedding is all over but the honeymoon, I get to post Sarah's bridals. We shot at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown SLC. The JSMB is a common location for bridal portraits but Sarah is not your common bride. She wanted things done with a different flair and she felt I was up to the task. We pulled out the filters and played around with light, color, and texture. Sarah looked absolutely gorgeous and the images we ended up turned out pretty freakin cool.

Sassy Cindy and her Bemusing Bridals

Cindy is sassy. That's really all I have to say, the photos speak for themselves. We shot Cindy's bridals at the This is the Place State Park. It's a phenomenal place to shoot there's so much variety! I loved it. We could have shot for hours. Cindy was fun to pose and willing to try anything from the traditional to the funky. It was a very collaborative shoot with ideas coming from both sides which makes for grand results.

Capitol Idea!

I wanted post these earlier but Brenda and Angel just got married yesterday so I didn't want Angel to see the dress (You cheeky monkey blog-looker.) They got married at the Salt Lake Temple and we had a great time at their reception at the Woods On Ninth. Brenda looked absolutely gorgeous and Angel didn't look too bad himself. (a bit too much tush grabbing in the groomsmen photos perhaps?) There will be photos of their wedding as soon as they get processed.
We took Brenda's bridals at the Capitol building. It's both a beautiful and challenging place to shoot. I feel like I have just scratched the surface of its many possibilities so I'm excited to shoot there again. Here are Brenda's bridals for all the world to see...you too, Angel.

Kylee - Bridals

Today's post is one of my favorite shoots I've ever done. I've talked a lot about it in the past so I'll spare the details. Suffice it to say that Kylee was a blast to shoot. She wanted a Hollywood-style starlet feel and hired me because she felt I could pull it off. Judge for yourself, I loved it. I'm posting some of my favorites here but you can see all the highlights on my website at: http://www.jonwoodbury.com
The videographer, Spencer Hale, shot a video as well. You can find that at his blog.