- Adobe Lightroom CC
- Single Focus Point
- outdoors
- Overcast
- Personal Preset
- Rule of thirds
- running
- Scotland
- Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN ART
- Skye
- Nisi Allure Mist Black Diffusion Circular Filter (1/8 Stop)
- soft
- Soft Light
- Sony
- Sony A7IV
- Stormy
- Walking
- Wide
- Outdoor
- Natural Light
- Autofocus
- full body
- Blue Hour
- Center Framed
- Cloudy
- Continuous
- Dark
- Energetic
- Excited
- Hand movements
- Natural
- holding hands
- Leading Eachother
- Leading lines
- lower angle
- Moody
- Mountains
- Movement
- windy
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I simply told them to hold hands, keep their heads up, looking towards the mountains, and to walk fast or run, being mindful of their footing.
What did you say?
“Okay guys, I’d love it if you could head to the top of this hill right there. Mike, if you lead and hold Sarah’s right hand with your left. Try to jog or run, but keep an eye on your footing so you don’t trip. Also, keep your heads up and look out to the mountains”
Tone of Directions
Excited, Energetic
Composition
This shot was kind of in the moment. I naturally tend to frame my subjects in the centre of my image, but needed to crop it in post to achieve this. I wanted to emphasise the sky, so made sure I had enough of this in the frame, as well as the rough grass below them.
Compositional Rules
Leading LinesRule of Thirds
framing
Center FramedWideLower Angle
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I focussed on the couple using continuous autofocus. I use back-button autofocus, so held that down and tracked them as they ran up the hill, taking lots of shots.
Focus Mode
Continuous
Focus POints
Single Focus Point
Focused on
Couple
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/250 @ f/1.4 ISO125 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 light was hitting them from the side in this shot. It was a pretty cloudy day, so I could have taken it from pretty much any angle with a similar effect. But, it meant that the sky in the frame wasn’t too light and harsh, otherwise this image may not have worked quite as well. The dark sky with a bit of light hitting them from the side meant they stood out well and in the scene.
Light Type
Natural Light
Light Quality
Soft
Time of day
Blue Hour
Weather
CloudyOvercastStormy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I originally used my standard preset, which is warmer in the shadows. Although it looked fine, I wanted to bring out the mood in the image and to cool it off. So, I changed the colour grade to add greens to the shadows and then warmed up the highlights and midtones so that the skin tones still had some warmth to them. This emphasised the cooler tones I remember seeing and feeling when I was shooting and helped to make it look a bit more cinematic.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom CC, ["Adobe Lightroom CC"]
Preset Used
Personal Preset
Challenges
The auto white balance tends to not perform well in low light conditions on my Sony and I forgot to set it manually in camera.
Solutions
I had to manually adjust it in Lightroom, which took a bit of time. In future, I’ll make sure I set it in-camera so it quickens up my editing workflow.
Location
Location Name
Isle of Skye
Location aDDRESS
Sligachan, Isle of Skye.
Loation Type
Mountains, Outdoor
Country
Scotland
Don’t be afraid to direct your couple so they know exactly what they’re doing. If you feel like you didn’t get the image the way you want it, that’s okay. Adjust your settings or composition and go again. In my experience, couples love it when they get direction because it gives them confidence in what they’re doing.
Another tip is to absorb inspiration from what you like. I love watching movies and I’m always trying to analyse scenes and frames to understand the intentions of the director and cinematographer. It’s really helped me to train my eye to see images as I’m walking around with my couple.
