Farmers Image of the Week #258

Phantom 4 Drone, 3.61mm (3.6mm) | ISO 200 | f2.8 | 1/240

Having finally settled on a colour preset I'm happy with I have been using this one for about a year and a half now. I honestly can't remember what it started off as. I think it was from a VSCO pack and I've tweaked and re-saved it numerous times. It's now called 'banging preset3'.

Drones! I'm not sure if we have had any images from them yet as winners for this but I'm certainly seeing more and more wedding shots from them. Some I think are really naff but I also think some people are doing these exceptionally well. Like UK photographers The Crawleys and our FarmShop mentor Eric Ronald based in Australia. They can offer a unique perspective on a wedding and the opportunity to creative something fresh. So this shot from the brilliant Nikki Leadbetter was a total stand out for me this week. I love that contrast she has created with the bride on one texture and the groom on a very different one. Then flipping them so they are opposite in their poses too.. this is one of those shots that looks super simple but is actually incredibly clever and thought out. As we are exploring the background stories to these winning images from now on, I asked Nikki to tell us some more on what we are seeing here...

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"Raph and Ciara are one of the most laid back couples I've had to date. They got married at Coos Cathedral in Aboyne in the North of Scotland. Coos is an old converted cow shed. You can't imagine it ever being occupied by cows when you see it, it's stunning. Ciara and Raph are my favourite kind of couple in the sense that they 100% trusted me and were up for trying anything I asked them to do to get a good photo. I did a couple shoot for them in Aviemore before the wedding where I dragged them up hills, had them straddling ruined walls and lying on the ground. They laughed and giggled their way though the session and were so easy to photograph. I knew come the wedding I was going to get some good shots of them because they were up for trying anything and had a smile on their faces while doing it.

So when it came to dragging them outside right before their desert to lie on the ground in their finery while a mini flying machine was hovering over the top of them they said 'lets do it'. During dinner I had been chatting to the videographer asking questions about his drone. I've always been dubious of drones as God they make some racket! However, having seem some stunning drone photos online over the past year I was intrigued. The videographer Nick asked if I wanted to have a shot and I didn't need to be asked twice.

I wanted to take the shot while it was still light. I didn't have time to look around for locations as I didn't want to keep Raph and Ciara back from their desert. I knew I wanted to take them back out for some photos after the first dance when the light started to drop, so knew I had to keep it simple and be really quick. I wanted something clean and something that would show contrast whether that be in shape or colour so this was taken literally right outside the door of the venue on the gravel road. You couldn't get much simpler than that. I knew the colour of Raph's kilt would be a great contrast to the pale gravel and Ciara's dress would stand out against the grass. So I chucked them on the ground and it was done in about 2 minutes. Then it was back to booze and desert....for Raph and Ciara and I was like a kid that had just discovered a new favourite toy. I think really fast when I'm doing couples shoots and move around a lot so this was a different way of thinking for me ... having to quite literally ground them and set them up in such a precise way. It was fun. The Videographer flew it as I dont have a license and I set up the shot and took it... so a little bit of cheating involved. Now I want a drone of my own so have to start saving the pennies".

Farmers Image of the Week #258

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