- almost kiss
- lower thirds
- Rule of thirds
- Rim Light
- nude
- Natural Light
- Natural
- Moody
- light streaks
- Back lit
- holding each other
- Harsh Light
- gentle
- full body
- Energetic
- Dark
- cave
- Wide
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
As the models were naked, I was being conscious to keep it artistic and descent, so I asked them to face each other and be slightly turned. I also didn’t want them to be too stiff and leaning on one leg while the other is slightly bent helps getting a more natural pose and gives a nice shape of the bodies. The importance was having a relaxed couple, and getting them in a communion, enjoying the moment in that unbelievable place. Other directions were to have their heads really closed to each others and occasionally softly kiss. And voilà!
What did you say?
What you could do is face each other, get really tight and comfy, just rotate slightly, awesome, it looks absolutely fantastic, guys, this is epic!!! Yeah so you can hold each other tight and get your heads really reaaaally closed to each other, and whenever you want you can softly kiss each other
Composition
I wanted to show the place, as it is a really special location, I wanted to be able to see that light and where it comes from, but also the water and the blue hole in the back. So I had to stand quite far. Regarding the gear, as we had to swim underwater to get in and we hadn’t any wetbag with me, we could only take one lens in our underwater case and that was the 28mm (was still shooting Nikon back then and the case is for the D750 only) so that was perfect to showcase the immensity of the cave.
Then I wanted to have the light in the middle of the pic and that light on the couple to get that natural lightning (the rest of the cave being pretty dark)
framing
Lower Thirds
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Focus was on the couple, autofocus with a single point. Because we had this spot of light on our couple, it meant that finding the focus was actually quite easy.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
Couple bodies
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/125 @ f/2.2 ISO500 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
The light was definitely dim which was difficult but there was a skylight which was very interesting to play with! The couple stood in the middle of the skylight so they could be illuminated by it. We were very lucky with the good weather that day, on a cloudy day, you don’t get that amazing skylight. Having the couple directly in the spot of light also helped to make them pop out from the dark background and while it was definitely harsh light, the contrast & intensity of it added to the overall atmosphere.
Light Type
Natural Light
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I used Gold 100 by VSCO as a base and increased the exposure to properly expose the couple. I reduced the highlight to minimise clipping in the sunlit water. I used the brush tool to add a bit more contrast in the light rays coming from the hole in the ceiling.
Editing Software
Preset Used
Challenges
We were afraid the skylight would disappear (if there would have been clouds) and we would miss the opportunity for the money shot!
Solutions
We had to be as quick as we could and take advantage of the light while we had it.
Location
Location Name
Blue Cave
Location aDDRESS
Blue Cave, Tanna, Vanuatu
Loation Type
Cave
Country
Vanuatu
Don’t be scared of creating art, with a little spontaneity and spice! I would definitely go back to that spot and shoot again there! And I would bring a wetbag this time to be able to take my iphone and film some behind the scene 🤪
