Michael Anthony creates dimension with the Profoto B1 and B2
Our work at Michael Anthony Photography is surreal, cinematic and goes against the grain of wedding industry trends. Rather than conforming to what is popular in wedding magazines, I have learned that by shooting the images we love, we attract clients who share our esthetic and vision for their wedding day, which leads to more profitable sales and happier clients.
We plan conceptual shoots every month as a team-building exercise and as an opportunity to create something unique and amazing. During one of these exercises, we photographed this image at El Mirage Dry Lake in California. Our goal was to create images that would be unique and different from our normal wedding work. We partnered with hair-and-makeup artists Perfect Day, Perfect Look in Santa Clarita, California, and the theme was inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” music video. We envisioned a red dress with a long train flowing in the wind to compliment the blue skies in California, but were not sure if the wind and the light would be cooperative. To compete with the bright sun, we brought our Profoto B1 and B2 systems along with zoom reflectors.
Two lights were used to create this image: We used a Profoto B1 as the key light, modified with a Zoom Reflector and placed it in the same direction as the sun with the camera right in front of the model at 45 degrees. We underexposed the ambient light by one stop to create contrasting shadows. Then we added a Profoto B2 behind the model camera left and a rim light at a 45-degree angle to add dimension to the model. My wife and assistant held the dress and moved it up and down to catch the wind and create motion.
Photography is about creating a three-dimensional feel on a two-dimensional medium. I believe in using short lighting on my subjects to create shadow and highlights to create that dimension. When lighting a scene, I make sure to use the correct modifier to match the ambient light. For instance, in this image, we went with a hard light source to match the hard shadows and contrast created by the sun. When it comes to lighting, do not forget about color: You can modify light using gels, so make sure your light is the correct color to get an image that looks natural and cohesive.
See more from the Michael Anthony at michaelanthonyphotography.com.