HOW i SHOT THiS

  • calm
  • Mountains
  • Walking towards Camera
  • Walking
  • Trees
  • Same Sex
  • road
  • Natural
  • Light edit
  • Center Framed
  • LGBGT
  • lesbian
  • Leading lines
  • holding hands
  • hazy sky
  • hazy
  • clean
  • Wide

The story behind the image

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Brittany and Amy mentioned they had a print hanging in their house of the road to Glacier Point in Yosemite. I knew that recreating that print with them as the subjects were going to be an image that they would cherish forever. It was a short hike from the parking lot (which they did in hiking boots and then changed for this image), and well worth the detour.
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Directions

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

I am a huge fan of giving prompts instead of posing. I like my clients to move naturally within their environment and with each other. I think these images feel more genuine and less “posed” but still are directive for those that feel like they aren’t sure what to do in front of the camera. I asked Amy and Brittany to clasp hands and walk towards me while looking at each other. While it isn’t the most creative prompt, I think it creates an image with a physical connection (with the hands) as well as emotional (as they lock eyes). Often times this prompt will lead to real emotion on clients’ faces, which as wedding photographers is what we live for.

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What did you say?

Okay guys, walk towards me and hold your hands. While walking, see if you can hold eye contact with each other.

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Tone of Directions

Calm

Composition

I originally was planning on shooting this image on my 85 for the compression it would provide with the Half Dome in the background. As soon as we got on location I realized I wanted to incorporate the massive trees lining the road. I really like how they naturally framed the rock formation in the background, as well as the clients in the center of the frame. It also allowed me to include a bit of the road on the left, which I feel draws the viewer around the bend, past the background, and directly to the subject.

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framing

Lower Thirds

Focusing

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

This image is pretty straightforward. I Chose the clients as the main focal point. I knew that since I was shooting at around 40mm I would be able to incorporate the background without losing too much detail.

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Focus Mode

Continuous Autofocus

Focus POints

Single Point

Focused on

The clients

Equipment &
Exif

Camera
Canon r6
Lens
Canon RF 28-70mm f2
Flash
None
Filter
None
1/1250 @ f/2.0 ISO400 WB-Cloudy

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 location is typically shot at sunrise. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to be there due to the client’s schedule, so we ended up going up right before sunset. I was hoping for some hues on Half Dome, but the California wildfires had created a haze that stopped most sunset light from making it to the rock face. We were left with ambient light from the sky, making for a very flat image.

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Light Type

Natural Light

Time of day

Afternoon

Editing Workflow

How did you edit this image?

I edited the image with basic color grading and the HSL panel in Lightroom. I like to keep my images pretty true to the color (minus a small shift in greens) as I want them to stand the test of time. I added a radial filter and a bit of dodging/burning to bring the focal point a bit more to the clients/road and also to bring out Half Dome a bit in the background.

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Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Personal Presets

Challenges

The biggest challenge was the haze from wildfires. This created a very flat lighting situation, which made editing a bit more challenging.

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Solutions

Using a brush and dehaze in lightroom, I was able to bring back some depth to the photograph while still maintaining a natural feel.

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Location

Location Name

Yosemite National Park

Location aDDRESS

Glacier Point Rd, Yosemite Valley, CA 95389

Loation Type

Mountains

Country

United States

Creating images that hold special meaning to clients is one of the most rewarding things about photography. While this location wasn’t on our original shot list, just by making a quick pit stop we captured something that they will cherish forever.

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