The Importance of Details
Once I was photographing Baptisms at my home parish on the Easter Vigil. The church does not have the greatest lighting, but I was confident in my settings. Afterwards, my father looked at some of my photos and said, ‘I love how crisp you captured the water, it looks amazing pouring down onto them.’ I really appreciated the compliment because that was not an easy feat with the situation. As photographers will agree, when the lighting is low, you use the slowest shutter speed you can without compromising your style. However, I was still able to make that water look sharp and that is a win in my book!
I love looking for how I can make a specific detail pop in a photo. Whether that be the sun shining through your faces, the rainbow caused by reflecting glass, or the shadows nature creates across the frame. For instance, in the photo above, I loved the windows, and wanted to incorporate them into my detail shot of the table. It was not super sunny, and the sun definitely was not shining directly through the window. By lowering the exposure, I was able to catch some of its shadow across the wall, table, and floor. You can also notice the shadows of the chairs and glassware.
I like being intentional with the details. This photo tells a greater story than one just straight on. It gives insight to the time, mood, and feelings prior to the ceremony. This may be artist mumbo-jumbo, but I hope you agree! Once again, thank you for being here, have a great day!