- bride and groom seperate
- Light Beam
- symmetry
- Strong pose
- Still
- standing apart
- posed apart
- not together
- light and shadows
- Center Framed
- intense
- Indoor
- Harsh Light
- Dark
- Cool
- Contrasty
- Classic
- Window Light
The story behind the image
I proposed to the couple to accommodate themselves so that they had a more artistic photo, since playing with light and shadows always generates more interesting images, personally, I love this type of photo, because it can generate a negative space that takes away from you everything irrelevant in the photos and guide your viewers to the most important, in this case, the couple.
My advantage is that I already knew the place where the session would be and I had already imagined the portrait that I wanted to achieve on the wedding day, apart from a month before I had coincided with the couple to do a more casual session in a building where there were conditions of Similar light to the hotel where we would be, and there I could explain the way I work, show them the result of using hard light to see if they liked it and I did something similar on the wedding day
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Whenever I am going to use hard light in my images, I talk with the couple beforehand to see if it does not cause them any discomfort, especially because I know that light is uncomfortable on the face, and in this particular case I wanted to make a more editorial image and I talked to them about the idea so that they would understand a little bit more about the context about separating them.
From there it was only to tell them where I needed each one and thanks to the fact that I use Live View at all times I can direct them so that their body and face are exactly where I want them, the secret is the constant communication with the couple so that the photo remains as I was imagining it in my mind
What did you say?
Very good guys, we already have the classic photos, now we are going to play with the light a bit and take more interesting photos, I want to see if we can do something more editorial, imagine that it will be the cover of your favorite magazine, so I need you to adopt one position of professional models and stay calm for a minute, I will be directing you at all times.
Composition
Like most of my images, I wanted this portrait to feel balanced. The light becomes an element of composition which creates an environment with negative space. This means that the viewer subconsciously moves towards the illuminated parts with their attention, which in this case is the couple. You can see it as a repetition of a pattern. I use this technique very often and it is the easiest way to remove distractors in the image.
The idea of separating the couple is to break the idea that all photos have to bring the couple in the center of the image, and so I tried to do something more editorial, always thinking of accommodating the couple in a third of the picture. I also was playing with the direction of the gaze so that it does not feel weighted in a particular point.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
My way of shooting is always to compose the photo and then put the focus where I need it, in this case on the face of the bride, I was aware that I needed the groom’s face to still be in focus so I used a moderately closed aperture (f4 .0) to increase the distance of the focused area.
I know that for many it is easier to focus and then recompose, but my mind does not work that way for me it is easier to first compose the image and then move the focus point to where I need it, that’s why I rely a lot on the joystick of my camera to always move the focus point
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
Bride's face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/1600 @ f/4.0 ISO200 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
It had only been three hours before noon so the light was still quite strong, that type of lighting pleases me because it generates more dramatic environments, and thanks to the fact that it is quite bright I was able to make everything that is not illuminated turn black by composition with negative spaces.
Since I had the light I only needed a way to direct it and windows or doors are always an excellent idea in this type of situation, hence it was my goal to have the couple be by the windows so that I could use this harsh light.
Light Type
Natural Light
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I love matte colors and so I try to give my images that touch. I usually try to underexpose just a little so as to not burn highlights and be able to recover them when editing. I don’t usually modify my photos a lot, I just try to enhance the strong points and give the dark parts a bit of grain so that it does not feel like a black paste.
The presets that I have been using for a long time are the DVLOP presets, making a mix of the colors of Samm Blake Jupiter and the curve of Fer Juaristi and always trying to make my image look as good as possible. From there it is only to modify the oranges for the skin tones, the blues for the whites in the dresses and I rarely touch the greens when there is that color in the image.
I use the brush and radial filters a lot, especially to treat skin, although I don’t over-edit. I also remove any minor imperfections and enhance the light on people’s faces.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The biggest challenge for me at a wedding is the little time I have to take portraits
Solutions
I always try to work with the couple before hand so that they know the way I direct and get used to the camera a little, so on the wedding day I will not waste time giving explanations of things I did previously and everything will flow much faster
Location
Location Name
Hotel Boutique Central
Location aDDRESS
Victoria 202, Chihuahua, México
Loation Type
Hotel
Country
Mexico
The best thing to have good portraits on the wedding day is practice, so your mind will have more ideas and solutions to take from in case you run into any challenges or issues. Just keep practicing.
