- Blue Hour
- Center Framed
- Creative
- Directional Light
- full body
- holding each other
- Leading lines
- Motion Blur
- Movement
- Natural
- Rule of thirds
- Soft Light
- Sunset
- Unposed
- Walking
- Wide
The story behind the image
On the last day we shot a Hollywood inspired wedding with Indie and Berty as bride and groom. They are originally from Paris, got married in Thailand and re-lived their wedding day at Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora. Since their wedding day, they have been in front of photographers lenses multiple times but rarely shoot the whole day reportages. They told me that the vibe on Tenerife was really close to their “original” wedding, which made this shooting day very special to them.
When I captured this shot, Indie and Berty have just exchanged their vows in front of a gorgeous sunset. They were on their way to the evening reception finishing the day with champagne, cake and us.
Composition
I loved how the wind was moving the palm trees and how Indie was moving her dress so I gained some distance to the couple. Placing them in the middle of the shot to allow the dress to swing in all directions while leaving headspace to ensure capturing the palm trees and sky. On the right side of the path were multiple sun chairs which is why I tried to shoot a bit from the right angle to crop them out of the picture. Since it is a shot in between sceneries I wanted the path to be seen as well telling the story of location change. Other then that it is a really classic composition choice having the main subject in the center center.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
This picture wasn’t meant to be sharp in a certain area which means I wasn’t too worried about an exact focus point. I simply wanted the couple to be more in focus than the background. Focusing on moving subjects can be tricky so I decided to shoot on autofocus guaranteeing to keep up with the couples pace. I was also moving the camera to enhance the movement in the shot whilst trying to create a consciously moved picture not a shaky shot. Since it is though to foresee where everything is moving I used continuous shooting mode to pick the perfect moment out of a walking series.
Focus Mode
Continuous Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The brides dress
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/13 @ f/16 ISO250 WB-Auto
The way the EXIF is written out follows the common photographic method (with the inclusion of White Balance at the end). Here it is broken down:
Shutter Speed @ Aperture ISO White Balance.
Light & Weather
The sun had just set only minutes before the picture was taken. Leaving us with a really soft light in the blue hour. This is a brilliant light situation for moving shots since the slow shutter doesn’t overexpose the picture. I always feel like shooting in this particular light is easy since it softens the skin and erases all unwanted shadows. There is enough going on in this picture already so I didn’t need shadows to make it any more complex.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Blue Hour
Weather
Cloudy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I bought a black and white preset of Julia + Gils classic collection back in 2017. Since then I tweaked it here and there so 5 years later it is not 100% their preset anymore but they are the base.
Moving shots have such a reportage character to me that I always see them in black and white. The bw-look I am after is a little more contrasty then my color style and I wanted to highlight the contrast of dress and palm trees which was another reason for me to go black and white. I liked how all shapes were kind of organic so I removed one lantern on the floor since it was the only straight object in the frame. I used the healing brush to remove the lantern and add another swoosh of the dress instead. Lastly I used the subject mask to lighten up the couple for a tiny bit to make them shine a bit brighter.
Editing Software
Preset Used
Challenges
One challenge was that I wasn’t the only photographer taking this shot. It was a combination of getting the angle I wanted without ruining someones shot or being in someones way. Besides shooting with multiple photographers often resolves in similar pictures, which is unnecessary.
Solutions
This is only possible if everyone acts respectful and shoots from a distance. Content retreats give you the freedom to experiment and get unique pictures since there is no client expectation in the end.
Location
Location Name
Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora
Location aDDRESS
Av. De los Océanos, s/n, 38686 Alcalá, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spanien
Loation Type
Hotel
Country
Spain
Many times I am going for the crisp sharp picture but Ioving this pictures reminds me of leaving my 1/200 shutter comfort zone. I would definitely go for this shot again even trying to lower the shutter speed a little more to see what it does to the end result.
