AM22022023 – How I shot This

Quick Links

Photographed by Andres Mondragon

Before
the Shoot

Location Equipment

This was my first wedding in Los Cabos. In Mexico it is one of the most desired places to get married and that made me very excited. The wedding consisted of a two-day celebration in which they had their civil and their religious ceremony. The photo was taken the second day just at the moment where the excitement and celebration of the party was at its peak.

Location Name

El Faro

Location aDDRESS

Camino al Faro 1 Carretera Todos Santos - Los Cabos, Km 54, 23300 Todos Santos, B.C.S.

Country

México

Location TYPE

Venue next to the beach

Equipment

Camera

Fujifilm X-t4

Flash

None

Lens

Fujinon 8-16mm f/2.8

Lens Filter

None

Other Equipment

No additional equipment was used.

During
the Shoot

Directions Composition Focus Light & Exposure

Kate and Enrique’s wedding had a very intense energy from the beginning. I think that destination weddings always infect the attendees with a very special vibe. In this case, their wedding was in Los Cabos, Mexico. This energy reached its climax as soon as the dance floor opened. At some point in this frenzy Kate found herself in the spotlight of the party. Her guests began to play with the bride’s dress to the sound of the music. The only thing I had to do was settle in a position where the dress would serve me as an element for the composition and wait for one of the robotic lights to pass over Kate at the right moment.

Why I composed the way I did

I love photographing the party as if the camera was another guest. For the same reason I like to use the same guests as frames to frame my subjects or points of interest. In this case, I was building my image using the guests back as a window that was complemented by the guide lines that the dress created.

Compositional Rules

Leading Lines

Compositional Framing

Center Framed Wide Natural Frames

Focus

Focus mode

Autofocus

Focus Technology

Continuous

Focused on

Always the face

Focus description

The photo had to be in group and continuos mode. Due to the low light, if I had used the single mode, I could lose the moment. In addition, due to the constant movement of the subjects, it is more comfortable for me to use a larger focus area that covers the area where my main subject is moving.

Shutter Speed

1/320

Aperture

f/2.8

ISO

8000

White Balance

AWB

Other Light Sources

No additional light sources were used.

How the light was used

I positioned myself in a place where I knew that eventually, a robotic light from above would backlight Kate.

Type of light

Artificial Light

Time of Day

Night

Quality of LIght

Harsh Backlit

Weather

Indoor

After
the Shoot

Editing & Presets

Editing &
Presets

Editing Software used

Adobe Lightroom CC

Preset Used

Personal BW Preset

How I edited this image

Due to the contamination of the different light colors, I decided to go for a black and white image. In addition, the fact that there is such a strong emotion leaving the image in black and white helps to remove any other distraction such as color to only leave the expressiveness of the moment.

Conclusion

Challenges Solutions Advice

Challenges & Solutions

Events that were challenging during the shoot

Definitely fast dance moves in a low light environment

Solutions I found

Crank up the ISO to the maximum

Advice

Concentrate on how the moment feels, look for the framing to contribute to the narrative of the photo, and do not be afraid to raise the ISO (It is better to have photos with a lot of grain than not to have them at all)

Photographed by

Andres Mondragon

Mexico Fujifilm X-t5 23mm (APSC)

My passion is telling stories, traveling the world and obviously photography. I consider myself a relaxed person who always likes to see the positive side of things but always being as responsible as possible.

Menu