This weeks shot is a ‘Rock the Frock’ image taken in Uppermill in conjunction with the wonderful Isla Jean bridal. We wanted to get some lovely dreamy back lit images to compliment the beautiful dress (and model).
Tim’s top Tips
I shot this image on a Nikon d800 using a 70-200 mm f2.8 lens set to 200mm. The shutter speed was 1/250 with an iso 0f 100.
For this type of shot I would normally recommend using spot metering (not matrix) and metering on the face. You want to expose for the skin and are not bothered if the background highlights blow out, in fact that is good for this dreamy type of shot. It’s quite a difficult shot for your camera to work out and often you will get a silhouette rather than getting any detail in the face. Aside from using spot metering there are a couple of other ways you can make sure that the exposure is nailed. I shot this in manual exposure mode (don’t be scared of this mode I shoot in it around 50% of the time), if your spot meter has not given you the required result you can come up or down on the exposure until you are happy with the results. If you want to shoot in an auto mode you can still get the right result by using the exposure compensation dial, typically you would want to add a couple of stops to what your meter thinks is the correct exposure. This technique can also be used for bridge or compact cameras (with the + and – function) also. Don’t be scared of experimenting and getting it wrong it’s the only way forward in photography and sometimes those mistakes come out looking fab.