- Adobe Lightroom CC
- Normal
- symmetry
- Stormy
- standing apart
- Sony A7III
- soft
- Single Focus Point
- Sigma 85mm f1.8
- Scotland
- Rule of thirds
- Rainy
- Personal Preset
- Overcast
- outdoors
- Nisi Pro Mist 1/8
- afternoon
- negative space
- Natural Light
- Natural
- Movement
- lower thirds
- holding hands
- Directional
- Continuous
- coastal
- Cloudy
- cliffs
- Center Framed
- Autofocus
- Wide
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I told Andrew to hold Susie-Hannah’s right hand with his left and for them to keep a good distance between themselves, with Susie-Hannah behind. That way, their bodies are pointed in my direction and it looks natural.
What did you say?
“Okay guys, if you head over there and take a slow walk along that ridge to the end. Andrew, hold Susie-Hannah’s right hand with your left and make sure you’re either looking to each other or looking up and around, rather than down”
Tone of Directions
Normal
Composition
The composition was pretty straight-forward because the scene was already there in front of me. I knew I wanted to place them and the ridge on the lower-third and have the upper two-thirds full of the dark clouds and negative space. I went for a few compositions, where they were placed off to the left and right, but I preferred this centre-composed shot.
Compositional Rules
Rule of ThirdsSymmetry
framing
Center FramedLower ThirdsWideNegative Space
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I focussed on the ridge using back-button autofocus. At this distance, I knew they’d be in focus at f1.8.
Focus Mode
Continuous
Focus POints
Single Focus Point
Focused on
Single Point Autofocus
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/4000 @ f/1.8 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
The entire sky was cloudy, so there wasn’t any direct light from the sun. However, the less dense bank of cloud below the dark ones was a lot brighter and meant that the couple were able to stand out in the image.
Light Type
Natural Light
Light Quality
Soft,Directional
Time of day
Afternoon
Weather
CloudyOvercastRainyStormy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I applied my preset, which was 90% of the work and that’s usually all I’ll do. But, I wanted to emphasise the dark clouds, so created a linear gradient and darkened it by reducing the exposure, highlights, and blacks. Then, I created another linear gradient for the lighter bank of cloud and increased the highlights, whites, and exposure slightly to make it brighter.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom CC
Preset Used
Personal Preset
Challenges
The biggest challenge I had was in post-processing. I wanted to emphasise the drama of the clouds without making the edit unnatural and over processed.
Solutions
I used the reference mode in Lightroom to compare the original edit with the changes I was making, to make sure I wasn’t straying too far from the original shot.
Location
Location Name
Isle of Skye
Location aDDRESS
Brother's Point, Isle of Skye
Loation Type
"Coastal", "Cliffs", "Outdoors"
Country
Scotland
The biggest advice I can give when shooting an image like this is to keep your head up and explore your surroundings. It’s so easy to get caught out by looking at what the couple are doing and not being mindful of what’s happening around you. Taker time to walk with your couple, cameras away, and explore where you are. You’ll often find some amazing wide compositions. Lastly, the 85mm lens is your best friend for this type of shot where you want to create drama.
