if you know us at all you know our interest in (read: huge obsession with) lighting. our personal aesthetic is so integrated with the use of all kinds of light and shadow that we often find ourselves more excited about that than the the actual locations where we are shooting! (but don’t get me wrong, we do love shooting in beautiful places!) one of the little details we love about lighting is it’s constant way of challenging us- forcing us to really look and evaluate a setting to create the best image we can in that environment. after almost four years, we felt like we had a pretty good handle on all of the different lighting scenarios we could think of. until we met kristen & jordan…
…who share a passion for theatre lighting and set design. so awesome! yet, when they suggested we start our shoot off in a little dark room, appropriately called, ‘black box theater,’ i will admit, i was nervous. we arrived at emory university ready for…we didn’t really know what! jordan and kristen came out of a little unmarked door to meet us and show us to the theater where they worked together, met and fell in love. we stepped in to find black walls, black floors, black ceilings and an intimidating circuit board that controlled the many different lights around the room. jordan had a vision for the lighting (thank goodness!) and knew the circuit board like the back of his hand (thank goodness!) so before we knew it we were all plunged into darkness except for the spots. and since we love a good backlit shot, the spots were pointed at our faces and the silhouettes of kristen & jordan were looking at us (i think?) expectantly. so, we did what we knew to to- we took a few quick test shots and went for it! quickly we realized the magic of creating images in this environment and we felt ourselves relax into the scenario. kristen & jordan were amazingly patient and sweet and we really hope we captured the images that they envisioned we would create in their special space.
after a quick wardrobe change, we walked out into the sunlit grounds of emory university. after a few seconds of rapid blinking, we transitioned into the second part of their shoot- complete with glorious (-ly hot) sun and beautiful architectural elements.
the construction by the emory university sign was kicking up so much dust! luckily kristen & jordan were game for sitting in the middle of it so we could take some images as the sunset bounced around the dust in the air. it’s crazy how the construction that was happening right next to them doesn’t show up at all in the image:
kristen & jordan, we are so glad to have spent this afternoon with you guys! you were really great and we are so excited about your upcoming wedding!