What instantly drew me to this setting was the lines and dynamic perspective created by this unique staircase. It very much resembled the shape of an eye and created a sense of looking upon the scene with a particular dramatic sense. It veered away from traditional bridal portraiture and more into the artistic side that I love to accomplish.
I wanted the staircase to become the framing in this image composition and to help it really draw in the focus to the bride at the bottom. In that sense I made sure that my ambient light exposure was dark but not too dark where you completely lost the detail of the railing and the shape of the staircase (since that was the whole point of this shot!).
When I went to position the bride I realized I did not want to just have her stand there and look up. being that the subject would be just the bride herself I wanted to feature more of her. We found a beautiful velvet chair that we moved to the base of the stairs and positioned the bride so that she appeared to be laying across it. Then, after laying the dress out in an added dramatic fashion, I had my assistant set up a light just off to the bride's left side. We focused the light to spill mostly over her upper body but to also illuminate the base of the stairs in an elegant atmospheric manner.