Rangefinder Magazine
April 2006

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Rf Cookbook Peter Skinner
 

The words “mysterious” and “sensuous” immediately come to mind on seeing this stunning close-up of a bride created by Yervant of Melbourne, Australia.

Yervant says he made the image “Claire” as part of a series he was shooting with the bride in a garden in Sydney, the city where he had travelled to for the wedding assignment. “Her veil was a very beautiful lace, a major highlight of her total look, so I wanted to make it an important feature of the portraits and did a series of shots featuring just that element,” he says.

Yervant calls this shot “the signature” image from the series of close-ups and portraits that he made from this particular wedding. “This image is an extreme close-up, which gave me the mysterious and sensuous feel I wanted to create while maintaining her glamorous persona. I strive to create a signature shot from each wedding and am always looking for an opportunity to make an art shot that stands alone as a timeless piece. This image is exactly what I was looking for and gave me that signature photograph,” he says.

Getting the bride involved with the shoot was the key to producing the evocative close-up. “I took a series of tight shots and full head shots with the veil in various positions. I just let her dance with the veil and encouraged her to play with the camera to create the feel and mood I wanted,” Yervant says. To allow him to move freely and quickly and work in concert with the bride, Yervant handheld his camera, shooting at a relatively slow 1/60 at f/4 in soft ambient light. Concentration and a steady hand, combined with the speed to catch the right moment contributed to the success of the image. Yervant’s in-camera composition was virtually spot on—only a slight amount of cropping from the left to balance the image was required after the fact.

“What I really love about this photograph is the mystery: What does she look like? Is she really as beautiful as this section of her face indicates? What color are her eyes? I like creating images that mystify the viewer and make them study the picture for a long time, wondering about the features that I have left out,” he says. “Mystery created by showing only a detail of the whole is actually a typical feature of most of my signature images. I have art in mind when I make them—images that will appeal to a wide audience, not just the bride and groom. They have to be intriguing—more than just a beautiful wedding shot.”

“Claire” is indeed that!

For more of Yervant’s work visit www.yervant.com.