24102022NF – How I shot This

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Photographed by Hafenliebe Wedding Photography

Before
the Shoot

Location Equipment

The couple and I met up and, open to everything, went out and about around the Port of Hamburg and the Speicherstadt. I knew that one of their favorite things to do was to take walks together and discover places. Especially in the Hamburg harbor area.

We passed this multi-story parking garage and somehow parking garages always have a special appeal to me. But the problem is, at least in Germany, that there is always a security guard somewhere who forbids access.

This time, however, we were in luck and so we could take a few photos in the parking garage and on the top floor. When we were at the top, I looked down and felt attracted by the architecture of the driveway. So we all headed down a floor or two. The whole scene already looked very cinematic to me.

Location Name

Parkhaus

Location aDDRESS

Große Reichenstraße 14, 20457 Hamburg

Country

Germany

Location TYPE

parking garage

Equipment

Camera

Canon 5D Mark III

Flash

None

Lens

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 ART

Lens Filter

None

Other Equipment

No additional equipment was used.

During
the Shoot

Directions Composition Focus Light & Exposure

Tone of Directions

Calm

Action of Directions

Cuddling Intimate Natural

Description

I didn’t give them too many instructions. What I did was direct them from my position so that they were centered in my composition and relatively centered and symmetrically in line with the columns.

I wanted to add intimacy to break the empty and rather bleak scenery and in this case a cinematic kiss provided it easily.

What was said

“Picture this: you’ re in this parking garage. You had a wonderful day together, but unfortunately one of you has to leave town for over a month. Both of you have parked your cars here, but on different decks. So unfortunately your ways have to part right here, this will be the last kiss for some time.”

Why I composed the way I did

I have deliberately placed the two completely centered in the image. I did not want any distraction. They are absolutely the focus of this picture.

The leading lines of the building draw the eye to them. Additionally, the color of her jacket helps draw attention on them.

As I said before, I wanted to create contrast through intimacy in this cool, harsh environment.

Compositional Rules

Leading Lines Rule of Thirds Symmetry

Compositional Framing

Center Framed Middle Thirds Wide Full Body Natural Frames

Focus

Focus mode

Single point auto focus

Focus Technology

Live View Single Shot

Focused on

Couple's bodies

Focus description

Focusing was pretty easy here after all, I set my Canon 5D Mark III to the center focus point, used autofocus and then composed the image as I imagined it. Due to the color contrast from the two to the surroundings, the camera had no problems catching the focus.

Shutter Speed

1/320

Aperture

f/2.0

ISO

800

White Balance

Auto

Other Light Sources

No additional light sources were used.

How the light was used

The lighting situation in this case it is more complicated, but nothing at all to shy away from. The parking garage does have fluorescent lights in many places, which I used as mood lighting. But the main source of light was the sun, which illuminated the roundel of the driveway directly from above through an opening. Since the day was also cloudy, I had the opportunity to work with very soft light.

Type of light

Natural Light

Time of Day

Afternoon

Quality of LIght

Soft

Weather

Indoor

After
the Shoot

Editing & Presets

Editing &
Presets

Editing Software used

Adobe Lightroom Classic

Preset Used

How I edited this image

I used one of my own presets (from my Hafenliebe For The Hearts Still Beating Pack 02) as a base. I knew I wanted to create a cinematic image, so I started by cropping the image to 16:9. To do the mood of a farewell scene justice, I wanted to add to the coolness of the parking garage, so I added some teal in the highlights during color grading.

Normally I also still try to use dodge & burn to draw focus to my subject, but in this case it wasn’t necessary since the environment was already providing everything so perfectly.

Conclusion

Challenges Solutions Advice

Challenges & Solutions

Events that were challenging during the shoot

Honestly, I can’t think of anything challenging this time, as there was no security guard around.

Solutions I found

If there would have been one, I would have tried to explain what we were up to and kindly ask for a few minutes of time.

Advice

Over and over again I wanted to shoot in a parking garage with a couple, this time it worked. Never give up! If you run into security guards, be kind, explain your ideas and if they tell you “No”, respect it. They’re only doing their job and don’t want to lose it.

Photographed by

Hafenliebe Wedding Photography

Hamburg, Germany Sony A9 35mm

Hey, I’m Björn, nice to meet you. Throughout my life, I’ve had a number of jobs. Some were fun, others not so much. However, I understood from quite early on that I had to do things my way and do things that were fun and fulfilling for me, so that I wouldn’t feel dull. Sadly, I experienced that my dad lived for work, and didn’t work for living. He had to leave way too early. I don’t want that kind of life for myself. A few years ago I found myself on the verge of a burnout and started looking for alternatives, fortunately photography found me. Working full-time in photography for about ten years, I now can say: I’m very fortunate and privileged to have found this passion in myself and a way to make a living off it.

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