HOW i SHOT THiS

  • Center Framed
  • couple kissing
  • Dark
  • Evening
  • Fireworks
  • holding each other
  • Low Light
  • Mid range
  • Natural
  • night
  • Outdoor
  • Unposed

The story behind the image

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This photo was taken during a wedding in Mykonos-Greece, where we not only photographed but also filmed the wedding. To be honest, this was a very lucky shot because it was not planned at all. We knew from the schedule that there were fireworks planned around midnight at the beach. The night was pitch-black, no moonlight and there was no artificial lighting around.. no candles, torches, light chains, nothing that could have brightened up the couple. There are a lot of things happening during the fireworks… it’s crowded, you try to capture people’s reactions, you capture the fireworks in the sky and of course, you need to find the couple somewhere in the dark. Once you’ve found them you have a few different options to photograph them. You could use the light from the fireworks and shoot from the front so you see their faces. Or you use a flash in order to capture them together with the fireworks.. that’s what Ruth was doing… So Ruth was photographing and I (Chris) was filming the fireworks using a LED light on top of my camera. I found myself standing behind the couple filming and I was like damn this looks awesome on the screen.. then I was looking around searching for Ruth but couldn’t see her anywhere. There was a little fight inside me but I switched the button to the photo function and at that moment they kissed! That means the kiss is not on video, but on photo – glad you like it :)
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Composition

We kept the couple in the center of the image. We shot slightly up towards the sky in order to capture the fireworks as well as have them close up enough to capture their emotions.

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framing

Center Framed

Focusing

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

The focus point was on the face of the bride. Due to open aperture the fireworks in the back gets blurry. We shot in live-view.

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Focus Mode

Single Shot Autofocus

Focus POints

Single Point

Focused on

The Brides face

Equipment &
Exif

Camera
Canon 5D Mark IV
Lens
Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4
Flash
LED Video-Light
Filter
None
1/100 @ f/1.8 ISO6400 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

As mentioned before, the couple was brighten up by an on-camera LED light that is common for videography. The fireworks in the back were the only other light source which created backlight that makes the couple stand out from the background.

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Light Type

Artificial Light

Time of day

Night

Editing Workflow

How did you edit this image?

We had to add a bit green due to the Magenta in the skin tones. We used our CxR Preset to give the pic the color look we love and we put some noice reduction, due to the higher ISO. Also we decided to clean the background from the sun-umbrella and ceremony back drop to bring the focus on the couple and the important part of the pic. We usually only take photoshop actions in a few pics per wedding report. Sometimes we even deliver both options when we’re making bigger changes (like this one in the background). We love to crop freely. And we decided that this pictures looks the best like this after removing the umbrella and backdrop.

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Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used

Challenges

The challenge was to capture the couple together with the fireworks using artificial light without loosing the natural romantic flair of the fireworks.

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Solutions

The solution was the LED light which was perfect in this situation cause it has brighten up the couple in a natural way. Much softer than a flash could have done.

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Location

Location Name

The Wild Hotel by Interni

Location aDDRESS

The Wild Hotel by Interni, Mykonos 846 00, Greece

Loation Type

Hotel

Country

Greece

When it comes to fireworks always keep an eye on your couple. They won’t recognize you and you will be able to get some really intimate shots. Try out different angles. Depending on the surrounding you may not need artificial lighting at all. However make sure you are prepared.

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