Downtown Calgary Engagement Photography

Edited in "Old Blue" as I call it, this pic is one of my favorites.  Good interaction between Dave and Laura in this "negative space" style photograph.  However the "negative space" is filled with endless pattern, textures, and shapes keeping your eyes busy.

I met with Dave and Laura in Calgary last week to shoot their engagement photos.  We picked a perfect almost spring day with temperatures well above freezing.  All we needed were light jackets and sunglasses!  We walked the streets picking random locations along the way and even stopped for a pint in a local cafe.  I had a great time with Dave and Laura.  They were a lot of fun, full of laughs, and always joking around ;)

Here are a few of my favorite photo's from the shoot....
... I planned to shoot a variety of different styles of photographs for this shoot.  I wanted to try extreme wide angle and motion blur shots.  I wanted trendy and intimate photographs but needed to capture the fun loving couple as they are.  I also edited in a variety of ways including sepia, monochrome, vivid color, and "old blue" as I like to call it.  In the end, I was very happy with how the pictures turned out.

Another favorite of mine.  "Motion Blur" is created by shooting with a tripod at slow shutter speeds.  Since we were in the middle of the day I had to drop my ISO to 50 and shoot with a higher F-stop to accomplish this.  I love the artistic shapes surrounding Dave and Laura.  The lines and texture of the concrete are in contrast to the "framed" and blurred pink jacket worn by the little girl.  Very cool.

Another great example of "framing" is seen here where Dave and Laura sit inside this old metal doorway.  A perfect place for a little make-out session.... Again! haha

Shot with the equivalent of 16mm "extreme wide angle" which adds distortion all around the perimeter of the photograph.  A difficult lens to use in portraiture because of the distortion.  We wanted to show off Laura's beautiful ring in this photo.

Telephoto lens' add impact and compress images.  It's hard to explain but that is what is seen here.  Dave and Laura are nice and sharp and there is no distortion.  I love the mood in the photograph.  Empty benches and a lone man crosses the street in the background.  Just a lazy sunday out for a walk...

Technically still monochrome this image is split toned with a tint of yellow creating Sepia.  I normally don't tilt my photo's but in this case it added a creative twist.  By tilting the photograph in post production I was able to move the couple to the corner of the image and add more interesting lines from the C-trains motion blur.  It looked too "standard" at its proper horizon.  I think it  now has a little excitement!