How I Shot This: pine forest portraits

I've had a lot of friends & followers comment about these pine forest photos from Andrew & Kasey's stunning Central Otago wedding. A few people even said they have a magical look to them with the colours and the light. So I thought I'd write a quick blog post about how I shot these photos for anyone who might be interested.

WIDE APERTURES - wide apertures such as f2.0 mean a smaller depth of field, or in plain terms; less of the image is in focus and the background blurs out to create a dreamy effect. These photos wouldn't have had that same dreamy, magic feel to them if I'd used an aperture of f11 because the background would be more in focus and defined, causing distraction. Not all lenses can shoot at really wide apertures, I choose to shoot with a selection of lenses that do because I love being able to create this look.

BACKLIGHT - even though we were in a forest the sun was streaming down through the trees so I made sure I was shooting with the sun behind my subjects. This created a beautiful rim light around my subjects and the golden highlights in their hair. The tree branches also acted as a way of diffusing the light so it wasn't harsh directional sunlight.

EMOTION  - for me connection & emotion is so important when creating portraits. I think a great photo is one where the viewer feels something when they look at it. I talk to my clients from behind my lens while I'm shooting; prompting them, giving direction and sometimes attempting to make them laugh!

If you love taking photos & found this blog post interesting, my upcoming Photography Workshop might be for you! Find out more details here: http://www.heidihorton.com/workshop-registration