From above, they look almost impossibly small against the full spiral of the staircase, wrapped in that blue dress, holding onto each other mid-turn. It's a quiet moment shrunk down inside a huge, sweeping space — the kind of shot that makes you want to know what they were talking about, tucked into that corner while the whole staircase curls around them.
I brought my own lighting for this one, since the ambient light in the stairwell wasn't enough to reach them clearly from several flights up. Blending that with the natural light already coming down the shaft, plus having them hold a slow spin so her dress caught real motion, is what makes the shot read as lit on purpose rather than just a lucky angle.
Pasadena City Hall's spiral staircase is one of those details most people walk past without a second look, but it's the kind of angle I go looking for in every engagement session — something that turns a simple building feature into a moment clients can actually frame.
Location: Pasadena City Hall, Pasadena, CA.
