The Colorado Street Bridge, nicknamed "Suicide Bridge" is one of our favorite locations for shooting engagement sessions in Pasadena. The neighborhood has a variety of historic structures and venues that are perfect for romantic photography. This gem is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Numerous motion pictures and television series have used the bridge as a filming location too.
Such an impressive structure deserves some creative techniques. To achieve this dynamic effect we used a long exposure with an off camera flash in a large modifier firing at the end to illuminate our subjects and to"freeze" the moving objects, in this case a city bus. A smaller flash unit on a short light stand was placed behind the couple as well and all were radio triggered from the camera. The result is something modern and dynamic, an image that could be straight out of the opening credits of a superhero show. Hiring photographers who know how to use light imaginatively and bring the gear necessary to pull off images like this one is the key to capturing amazing evening-time engagement photographs.
Location: Colorado Street Bridge, Pasadena, California.
