A stunning setting

My photo workshop here in Venice had an amazing day today. The highlight was a photo session in a stunning medieval palace where, thanks to my friend Robin Yong, we had the perfect selection of elegant costumed models to pose in the sumptuous environment. The lighting came entirely from large windows and wall sconces, and virtually all the photography was done with wide angle lenses from ultra wide 12mm and 14mm lenses to moderate focal lengths such as 24mm. There was enough light to use ISO settings in the 1600 range. Placing the models in balanced and artistic positions was the biggest challenge, but having such great costumes and cooperative models made it fun. My settings for this picture were 1/100, f/3.5, 1600 ISO, and I used a 16-35mm lens hand held. In post-processing, I opened the shadows, added a bit of color saturation, and used clarity in Adobe Camera Raw to make this image pop.