Easter Weekend in Wales - A Photographic Paradise

Finally I managed to do some typing after dislocating my shoulder (see previous post), obviously I have some stories to tell. A couple of weeks ago we visited some friends in Llangollen (in Wales), we met them last year thanks to the Rotary Club and they invited us again to stay for a couple of days.

I've never fancied living in the countryside but after seeing how they live I surely have to consider it again (maybe for retirement? ok, not really). Last time I was absolutely in love with the look of their house but I couldn't summon the courage to ask them to pose for a couple of portraits. Well this time was different.

The portraits were done on the very last day of our visit and it took some convincing from my part. At the end I think they were very good subjects ;)

For the first shot I chose the living room, one of the easy chairs was just by a Coat of Arms that I considered interesting. They are not sure who commissioned it, it was already there when they bought the house many years ago. R was willing to pose for me and I thought that Holly (a springer spaniel? was a nice touch). As I said before, time was of the essence and I didn't want to make them loose their patience with some "silly" portraits.



This shot was lit using a 580ex shot through an umbrella hold by my wife. On camera I had a 580exII as a controller and pointing up just for some fill. My main goal was to avoid reflections on those glasses. At the end I was very happy with the shot. Especially because a year before I didn't venture asking and I was dying for it. If I ever have another chance I will try to move the easy chair a bit farther away from the coat of arms to be able to use a separate light on it. I hope you also like it.

After that shot we took some more just for fun with Valentina in them as well and playing with the dogs. Lotsa fun!!

The other portrait was trickier specially because J was not as convinced of having her portrait taken. After all she agreed. For her I had planned in advance a shot in the staircase, in this place they have lots of images from their kids (the youngest now my age) at different stages on their lives (weddings, graduations, etc) so I thought it was a special place to do this shot.

It was not difficult to light it up since all the walls and ceiling were white making the bouncing light from the flash very soft. I took several pictures but this one was my favourite. I'm using a 580exII on camera pointing up and ahead to use all the bounce from the ceiling. I also used a shoot through umbrella at my feet with a 580ex just to add some fill to her face. This was my favourite shot and prolly the only one in which she is not looking forced to pose :) sorry J.



This was Easter weekend so we had an egg hunt on Easter Sunday in which Valentina got plenty of chocolate eggs. Read and see more after the jump...

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Before getting into the egg hunt I want to show you a shot of my wife. I took this shot just to see if the shot in the staircase would work. So consider this my homework, it is very good if possible to try your shot with the assistant (if you have one) before the actual subject arrives. That way you can solve any lighting or location issues beforehand.



I had the joy of having some wide angle fun while Valentina was looking for her Easter eggs. Here some of the pictures, nothing fancy in terms of photography technicals:




Sorry for making this post so lengthy!! More to come.