Downtown Imagery : Austin Wedding Photography » Engagements

Silhouettes for Wedding and Portrait Photography

Eric — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:24:29 +0000

As with most art forms, there are always good times to break rules. Whether it be lighting, composition, focus, movement, etc., it is sometimes a good idea to do something out of the ordinary to produce a photograph that is extraordinary. One of the tools in my bag is the silhouette and when the lighting allows for it, I do my best to use it. Silhouette photographs are strongly backlit with very little front lighting. The irony here is that this situation is typically considered problematic for photographers. Indeed, I long considered it the same until I had a personal breakthrough and began to use this “apparent” disadvantage to make an image that proved far more engaging and appealing than had I otherwise tried to shoehorn the scene into something that didn’t fit. What comes out of this approach is generally very artistic and interesting; not to mention that I absolutely LOVE turning a problem into its own solution

I don’t do it all the time as that would diminish the effect. But when given a strongly backlit environment that works in this manner, I find it to be icing on the cake of already enjoyable photography. Not to mention I love the “ooo’s” and “ahhh’s” I get from my clients when I show them a wonderfully artsy silhouette shot when they weren’t expecting it.

With this in mind I think brides should pay as much attention as possible to how their event location will be lit if they are able. By bringing in colored wall lighting, you can change the entire look of a room. In some cases we will even use gel colored flashes to create this effect if desired. This will let the photographer work with the walls rather than fight them (nobody likes ugly walls) and the effect is fabulous:

Thanks for looking everybody.

Ciao!

Your friendly Austin wedding photographer – Eric Kotara

The downtown Austin engagement :: Jessica and Dave

Eric — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:05:45 +0000

Had a great time Sunday doing the downtown thang with Dave and Jessica. These guys are super fun and I anxiously look forward to their wedding (hint: swing dancing!!!!!). I really like it when the groom to be is into getting his picture taken and Dave was a champ. He stopped traffic, cleared out the floor of the Capitol, and scared away little girls getting into our shot; what more could you ask for. OK, in all fairness he very kindly asked the little girl if he could move her stroller and the little girl did what little girls do, get scared of the stranger. Totally worth it if you ask me. All in all, they were a fabulous and lively couple and I look forward to working with them again.

See you next time

Engagement :: Allison and Scott :: Boerne

Eric — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:14:14 +0000

I had a lovely time yesterday hanging out with Allison and Scott for a few hours in Boerne for their engagement photo session. I will be photographing their wedding in September here in Boerne as well. I look forward to sharing in their Hill Country Wedding.

As always, the great old time textures of pressed tin and clapboard siding made for some fun photography. I hit up a lot of my favorite spots in that town and we got some good images from the day. Enjoy the photos everybody.

P.S. Anyone considering engagement photos should really consider a little road trip to one of these great hill country towns. They are all different, but all kinda the same too. The best times for these types of photo shoots is morning or evening, spring or fall. Shoot me a line if your looking for ideas for a great rustic Texas photo shoot.

Cheers!

Jessica and Reed :: Boerne :: Engagement in the fall

Eric — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:18:36 +0000

This session is getting posted as the first of a series on Jess and Reed. They just recently got married in Boerne and we wanted you all to see their engagement session they did in the fall. We spent that evening walking around the main street of Boerne. The holiday lights had already been strung and that gave us some cool stuff to play with.

Boerne is wonderful place to do an engagement sitting. There are plenty of different looks ranging from green gardens, rustic landscapes, to rural and old fashioned. Not only does it provide a great palette to work with, it makes the session feel much more like the fun walk it is rather than a photo shoot. If you get tired of smiling, stop in for coffee or ice cream and enjoy the town for a bit. This little town is right up there with Comfort and Gruene when it comes to great towns in the Austin/ San Antonio area to use as an environment for your engagement session.

Enjoy!