- Dancing
- dining room
- dinner area
- dinner set up
- holding each other
- Holding eachother
- Indoor
- Leading lines
- Moody
- Natural Frame
- natural frames
- Shadows
- Simple Pose
- slow dance
- symmetry
- Window Light
The story behind the image
The excitement was palpable, after years of organization and a pandemic, they finally saw their dreams and all they had wanted to be realized. We took the opportunity to make the experience a unique, silent but exciting moment before the guests enter the room, making them dance in the middle of the room to the notes of a love song that is extremely important to them.
The bride started crying in her groom’s arms, and I too got excited. From this shot I learned that photography must be delicate, entering the lives of our couples on tiptoe, trying to immortalize emotions rather than images.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I asked my couple to fully enjoy the moment, to position themselves in the center of the room in front of the golden hour ray of light, and to focus on their mutual love. Using music that allowed me to focus on emotions also helped me to move freely in the scene without creating a disturbance and photograph different types of emotions, also helping them to feel like in a bubble and not feel uncomfortable with my presence in such an intimate moment.
What did you say?
Well, guys, if you want you can position yourself in the center of the room in front of the beam and dance, now I will put a special song on you, I would like you to take a deep breath, to concentrate totally on the words, on your love.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
I decided to place my subject in the center to emphasize the moment which was full of emotions and to show the beauty and grandeur of the reception room as well as the bride and groom. The light was particularly interesting as the golden hour was approaching and it came in direct from the windows creating a really nice lighting effect. This central composition highlights the intimate moment of the couple without tarnishing the beauty of the place.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I used my camera’s automatic continuous focus on the bride and groom so that they were the main subject of the image. Being that the bride’s dress was well lit, it wasn’t difficult and I didn’t have any issues with the missing the focus.
Focus Mode
Continuous Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The couple
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/400 @ f/1.4 ISO160 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 light that was there at that time (evening, just before the golden hour) was still strong enough and direct and came in quite harshly from the windows that ended up looking exactly like a sunset. Being that the castle was on a hill it was strong until it went below the horizon so I decided to take advantage of the still strong but warm light to position the couple exactly on the light beam so that it could illuminate them and make them stand out. It was not easy to be able to capture them in such strong light, but the window diffused the light slightly and avoided too much contrast.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I used Muse and Mirror’s True Romance preset as a base. I tried to recreate a warm and soft atmosphere that could best connect to the romantic moment. I didn’t use local adjustments, post-production was simple and as natural as possible.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The difficulty was to relax the couple who were very tense and excited and therefore did not allow to capture authentic moments.
Solutions
Dedicating these short minutes to them with a dance allowed them to calm down and get excited, making the moment of photography an experience, not a problem.
Location
Location Name
Castello Durini
Location aDDRESS
Via Parini, 209, 22040 Fabbrica Durini CO
Loation Type
Wedding / Event Venue
Country
Italy
I learned that the best moments to capture are also the most intimate and natural that will leave the couple with a pleasant memory of that moment.
Positioning the subject in the right place will ensure that the shot will work from any angle. Giving couples a way to express themselves will be an excellent opportunity to break the ice and capture unique moments!
