Trash the Dress Composite Shot

Trash the Dress, watch it all happen in 1 photograph- this image was taken last week during my bridal trash the dress session with Randi, my bride from my Catalina wedding in August of this year. For this image I set my tripod up in a spot where I knew I could capture the full spectrum of everything happening within the frame. I then had Randi go from start to finish, getting her dress caught, and then we would cut with scissors. Each shot of her is a different picture, which were all stitched together in photoshop.

In photography it's so difficult to show a progression of something like a trash the dress session in only 1 picture. So, if you want to try and accomplish something like this, you pretty much have to do what I've done here. This is a lengthy process in shooting and editing, but the results are REALLY FUN! Camera settings: Nikon D700, 1/80 sec at f/4.0, 16mm at ISO 200, flash did not fire. Shot at 5:47pm on October 27, 2011 by Jason Lanier.

Broken down- using natural props in a bridal shoot

I just love abandoned buildings because they give you so much to work with....you never need to bring props...all you need is a bride, a dress, and your camera. This building was adjacent to the building where we shot the smoking break and it ended up giving us some great shots. I love the lines in this building, and with the roof being worn out the sunlight was coming through the top which gave us some great light. I also love how the left side and top of the building was circular and the right side was straight...

We found this chair just laying on the ground and thought that the broken chair with a bride in the middle mixed with all the lines of the structure would make for some dynamic shots. Being in Hawaii I was amazed there weren't more bugs...although we did encounter a wasp nest in the other building that we had to run away from...I think the smoke made them angry! I hope you enjoy the shots!

Trashing the dress- resting after a long shoot....

So we worked hard...and then took a rest. It was so relaxing just there on the beach in Maui watching the sunset go down...it was hard to leave. But we were both very wet from being in the ocean so that feeling kind of wore off and it was time to get back to the car. This was the second of three shoots that I was in Hawaii to do....and I can't wait to show you the next shoot which was smoking...literally...but that's for another day. Thanks Jackie for everything and for such a great shoot!!!