- aerial
- Natural Light
- Wide
- walking towards sun
- Walking away
- Walking
- top down
- Sunset
- sunny
- sun rays
- Sun flare
- sand dunes
- sand
- orange
- off center
- Movement
- air
- Into the sun
- Horizon Line
- foot steps
- far away
- dust
- Drone
- Dark
- couple walking
- clear sky
- calm
- Behind
- Beach
- Back lit
- windblowing
The story behind the image
It was June 2020. A very hot day. We agreed on a place with the couple much earlier. It was just supposed to be sand, desert, and them. She and he. Their love. Only them. We chose Polish dunes in the north of the country. Łeba is the exact place. For the most part – we took photos from the land.
It was sunny and very hot.
The photos were taken by themselves. Aneta and Kamil worked together beautifully with me. They smiled and fooled around all the time; hugging and playing. They were an amazing couple! When I was taking pictures – the sun was coming down closer to the horizon and it dawned on me … But I have a drone in my backpack! WOW, I exclaimed. There was no one in the dunes – ONLY US.
With such a brilliant light – I couldn’t help but turn on the drone! I told them quickly about my idea. They were excited about it and the only obstacle in our way was … the wind. It was blowing quite hard. I have a Mavic AIR so it’s a small drone and I was concerned it would be unstable in the wind. After all, this is my first session and the drone flight is only the third … We decided to fly anyways!
I told them to go towards the sun. When I saw the image on my phone screen, I almost jumped up. I had a smile on my face all the time! It was amazing. The flight took literally 5 minutes and during this time I took a lot of shots but this is the best of the series! The photo won many awards, among others, at Lookslikefilm, Photobug Community and MyWed. The entire session was published on Polish wedding portals. It echoed widely throughout the industry. This is my best session ever. What did this session show me? That you have to take risks. You have to be able to take risks. The effects of my risk exceeded my wildest expectations … wow! Everything went as I wanted. It’s amazing!
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Everything happened very quickly due to the preparation of the drone for flight and due to the setting sun, but I remember that I told the couple to go towards the sun holding hands. Let them walk slowly and talk to each other. To just enjoy the day and I will take pictures of them from the drone and to not look towards the drone, but focus on where they were going.
What did you say?
Guys, I will fly the drone and take pictures of you from above. Just walk hand in hand towards the sunset and try to ignore the drone. Keep walking until I tell you to come back.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
The composition in this case was not that difficult. I thought that since the couple is standing on the left side and going to the right, I would just frame them as it is in the picture. On the left side, they are entering the frame (footprints can be seen). The sun is just ahead of them. Almost in the center of the frame. I also wanted to put them on a “Rule of third point” – I think that such framing was the best possible way to show both the scenery and give the couple the spotlight. The plan was to get high enough, but not that high. I wanted to see the dunes in the frame, but also a bit of the sea but also the setting sun approaching the horizon. I absolutely love this composition for this reason – it’s very deep.
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
My focus was to put a pair on one of the intersections of the rule of thirds. I stopped the drone at a given altitude. I aimed the camera to see most of the dunes BUT so that the sun and a piece of the sea were visible in the background. I made sure to set the focus on the couple since they were the subject of my photo. I did this by touching on my phone in the area where the couple was seen.
Focus Mode
Live View Single Shot
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
On the Couple
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/200 @ f/2.8 ISO100 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
This was taken a few minutes before the sunset. Roughly 20:45 in the evening. I wanted the sun to be in front of me and feature in the image so I shot the image from behind the couple walking towards the sun. Shooting backlit photos from the drone can be a bit tricky with the flare but fortunately, I didn’t have this problem. Another reason I wanted to backlight the couple was to let them be separated from the background as the light creates a rim light around them.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Sunset
Weather
Sunny
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
The whole photo was darkened in LIGHTROOM by the exposure sliders. After darkening the photo I picked up the blacks and whites a little. The Clarity slider was reduced to keep things from feeling too harsh. The whole game was about choosing the right white balance and setting the TINT slider. I also used the HSL panel and curves to help bring out the tones I was after. Two gradient filters. On the dunes and at the height of the sun to the horizon. Finally, I slightly sharpened the whole photo. I have not used local corrections or radial filters. I didn’t use Photoshop on this photo. I did everything in the Lightroom..
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The challenge was clearly the strong wind. I told myself that I would take the drone up very slightly for now. To my surprise, the drone behaved very well.
Solutions
I just took the drone up slowly and carefully while paying attention to what the controls and systems were telling me.
Location
Location Name
Łeba
Location aDDRESS
Leba, Poland
Loation Type
Desert
Country
Poland
The most important thing I learnt from this and by having a drone – is to not hesitate and just fly! If possible of course. The drone offers many possibilities for aerial photography. This is amazing. Everything looks different there. This shot showed me that my drone is great in strong winds and takes good photos “against the sun”. I took a risk which paid off! It’s wonderful. Now I take the drone with me to each engagement or wedding session. It gives me a different perspective from above the couple and the surrounding location. I use it in any conditions as well. Whether the sun is shining or not. Whether there is wind or not. I use what a drone can give me! Remember that!
