Bridal Portraits

I did some bridal portraits last night for a very good friend. I have been trying to get brides to let me shoot them indoors on a black background so that the images could be black and white. The white dress with a black background really creates some powerful contrast and draws attention to the dress. Finally I was able to, mainly because my friend was nice enough to be my guinea pig.

For the project I rented two 6' tall strip boxes. The guy at the rental place acted like I was crazy for wanting to use them for bridal portraits! But I wish he could have been in the room with me as I shot some of the most powerful and dramatic bridal portraits I have ever shot. I put one on either side of her so that only her sides were lit. The bride loves them and I'm hoping that now that I have something to show to future brides I will be able to do it more often.
I mean, why would you not want to shoot indoors in July in Texas??? Its 100+ degrees outside, with 90% humidity!! This way you can do your hair and makeup and it stays the way you want it. You are not wearing a 10lb dress and sweating for 2 hours. OK, I can't promise you won't break a little sweat in a studio with lights and a heavy dress, but I guarantee it will not be anywhere near as bad as if you were outside!

I can't show you the photos I got for another month or so, but this is the basic setup I did: