Photographer makes the world stand still with an engagement shoot on a road bridge
Jul 21, 2016
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Share:
Shooting portraits in the middle of a road isn’t something that many photographers do. Some roads, though, are worth it, especially when they have such good looking surroundings.
For Photographer Keydrin Franklin, it’s become a speciality and it’s why many of his clients choose him. For this session, the destination was the 7th Bridge, in Fort Worth, Texas.
DIYP got in touch with Keydrin to find out more about the shoot.
Originally, this session was scheduled for the evening of July 9th, however, we experienced torrential downpours and high winds so we rescheduled for July 10th at high noon.
Although this is not my preferred time to shoot, I was confident that my Profoto lighting system could handle the harsh natural sunlight with no problems.
I wanted to shoot on this particular bridge for a while, so when Jamal and Heather said they were comfortable with it, we went right to work.
When shooting on a road, the biggest concern is always safety. You don’t want to be fiddling with your camera when a car comes rushing up behind you. You also don’t want to be holding up traffic. Keydrin takes no chances with this aspect of a shoot.
My main priority when shooting on active roads is the safety of my clients and my family. If for any reason I feel that the environment is not safe, we will move to a location with lighter traffic.
I began assessing the traffic flow prior to doing anything that involved them moving into the road. Although this area is pretty popular, it was not as crowded on this particular Sunday afternoon.
I timed the red lights at both ends of the bridge to gauge approximately how long we would have to be in the road and get out safely. We also discussed and practiced this pose in an area away from the road.
To further prepare, I made the necessary camera adjustments before moving in the road. I first set my aperture, followed by ISO, and then adjusted my shutter speed to underexpose the background by ¼ of a stop. Profoto lighting for this shot was set to TTL power level 10.
For Keydrin, sessions like this often become a family affair. His wife, Kara, acts as lighting assistant. Their kids become spotters and shoot behind the scenes images.
Once it was safe to do so, Jamal, Heather, my wife, Kara, and I moved into position on the bridge.
I was about 100 feet away from the clients, while Kara was about 8 feet away and outside of my framing. We had roughly 30 seconds to get in position, shoot, and get out.
In between shots, I reviewed the images with Jamal and Heather and made minor tweaks to their posing. My daughter safely captured the behind the scenes (BTS) images. My son also acted as a traffic spotter for me.
Having people you can rely on in situations like this is vital to making sure everybody stays safe while still getting great shots.
If it looks like it’s going to be too risky, then don’t take the chance. Move on, and find somewhere safer. Like a park.
Keydrin often lies down on the job to get a lower perspective. The Nikon 200mm f/2 VRII helps him produce a great cinematic look, but means he must often shoot at a distance. This doesn’t always make giving direction easy, but the results are sure worth it.
So, if you’re going to shoot near a potentially dangerous location, always make safety your number one priority. You’ll also want to have several backup locations handy, too, just in case.
You can find out more about Keydrin and follow his work on his website, Instagram or Facebook, or reach out to him through Twitter.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Related Posts
Bridge District threathens photographer after noticing he shot the Golden Gate Bridge from an “illegal angle”
BTS: See How Photographer Created This Epic ‘Star Wars’ Engagement Shoot
Photographer climbs the world’s highest bridge to propose to his future wife
This light stand – tripod hybrid is my best stand yet
Join the Discussion
DIYP Comment Policy
Be nice, be on-topic, no personal information or flames.
34 responses to “Photographer makes the world stand still with an engagement shoot on a road bridge”
really awesome stuff. nicely planned and executed!
Thank you so much Udi :)
Nice shots, great article and all but providing public admission and documentation of illegal activities has been known to get people a visit from authorities.
Thank you! We didn’t do anything illegal ?
Oh, you had a permit and supervision from the local police to ensure safety?
Not true: http://www.nbcdfw.com/traffic/stories/Dallas-Jaywalking-Crackdown-Draws-Complaints-209430851.html and http://fortworthtexas.gov/uploadedFiles/Municipal_Court/fineSchedule.pdf see 077 13. Not too severe there but some places actually have very heavy penalties and even jail time for jay walking.
I understand your concern and where you are coming from, but I don’t do anything without planning. I have another article featured by DIY shooting in the street in Downtown Dallas. In there you’ll see that police didn’t give me a ticket or even tell me to stop as a matter of fact they got a couple of pictures with my models. Dallas Fire department also stopped and took a few shots as well ?. The also offered to stop traffic for me until I was done. Again I almost always have a team with me when I’m doing these kinds of shots. Because like you said they are dangerous but you should also use common sense that if its to congested then don’t shoot period.
That is 100% NOT the point. Bank robbers, robbers, etc. etc. often plan thoroughly as well. Having multiple articles about how to do something that is illegal doesn’t make it any more legal. Someone choosing not to enforce the law also isn’t any part of the point. The point is that you admit that you had to time things well because it was an active street. It IS illegal to jaywalk whether or not you get away with it and it endangers other people even if you are lucky enough that nobody has gotten hurt yet. Keep doing it until someone twists an ankle or something worse and see if rationalizations help with any trouble resulting from it.
I’m sure you are going to keep doing this. Hopefully other people read through this thoroughly and understand that it is illegal, irresponsible and dangerous and don’t follow your lead.
“My main priority when shooting on active roads is the safety of my clients and my family.”
Then you shouldn’t be shooting on an active road.
Very foolish. Very irresponsible. Very self-serving.
Thank you very much ??
Seriously. There’s a reason shoots like this require a permit. This site should be ashamed for promoting this like it’s a good thing. This is so dangerously irresponsible. People die due to stunts like this.
Here’s just one higher profile case:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/midnight-rider-accident-sarah-jones-death-gregg-allman-685976
Love the shots Keydrin.
Love the attitude too! ?
Thank you Jeanluc.
Just spit balling here. But can we pretend that everyone is an adult and capable of making adult decisions and being responsible for themselves without having to have people telling them what they should and shouldn’t be doing?
Great job.
Instead, I prefer ambient & natural light ( 200mm @ 1.8)
*2.8 correct ?
Canon 200mm f/1.8 L @ 1.8
Woah… didn’t even know that this lens exists.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-200mm-f-1.8-L-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
ah yes
Thank you
Ambient is great but there are cases with harsh light where artificial helps smooth out the edges. e.g. can’t do during early or late hours of the day and / or not overcast.
Hi Keydrin, good article. Is shooting at 2.8 from a distance the way you get such a beautifully soft bokeh?
Shooting at f/2 from a distance does. Since this is a prime lens it renders differently wide open. But yes sir this is how I achieve this look
If you pull this kind of crap in Los Angeles, you’d either be hit by a car and killed or given a ticket for jay walking. Not a good idea. And I know you’ll just mark this off as “haters” talking about your photos, but you endangered not only yourself, you endangered your clients. Great Job.
Nope, I don’t think you are a hater, but I’m fully aware of what I can and can’t do. If for any reason I thought it wasn’t possible to get the shot and possibly cause an accident or even get hit then I wouldn’t have done it. As a matter of fact police patrol that area all the time and one passed by while we were shooting and didn’t say anything. But I completely understand where you are coming from. I’ll say this out here in Fort Worth most drivers are pretty laid back as long as you’re not stopping traffic they are good. In the process of taking the shots people would way and say nice shooting. Everyone isn’t jack wagons ?
Brendan and cat let, you guys are totally full of it. You can steal shots and scenes all over LA. I’ve done it for years. Cops are way too busy to deal with chicken shit stuff like that. All the bridges on the river are easy to shoot on. You guys need to calm down.
Holy crap these are amazing – I can’t believe he can get results like this in that location – at mid-day in Texas – nice work! Really really really makes me thing about that 200mm f/2….
Thanks so much!
I’ve had a 200/2 since 2008 when it came out (Canon), shooting hundreds of portraits etc on FF.. and these photos have a different field of view (FOV). They look to be either 200/2 on a crop camera, or 300/2.8 on full frame… could you enlighten us readers? The soccer photo attached is 300/2.8 on full frame with similar separation, FOV and perspective; the bride and groom are from a 200/2 on full frame and the bokeh and apparent FOV are different than your images here and on your website.
Hi Andrew, these were taken on the Nikon d4s and the 200mm f/2 VRII. Nothing was done to the background besides some noise reduction which makes the background softer. I see what you’re saying about the FOV. I think John may have cropped it in for this article, because it looks different on my computer. Your images above are very nice.
Here’s what it looks like from my drive.
LOL, that idiot actually removes comments critizing his reckless behaviour. Stupid, and spineless to boot.
First of all I haven’t removed any comments as a matter of fact all comments are welcome. Secondly, my behavior isn’t reckless that is a matter of your own opinion. So, before you go accusing me of removing things ask first :) that is all have a great day.
Keydrin keep doing the great work that you’re doing, I’m pretty sure you’re protecting all parties around you. As Sofia would say “All my life I had to fight” can’t get a break even in the photography world lol