- Back lit
- kissing shoulder
- Window Light
- Wide
- view outside
- sitting on window
- Sitting
- Rim Light
- paris
- natural frames
- long dress
- Leading lines
- Indoor
- bride sitting on groom
- holding each other
- her sitting on him
- Harsh Light
- hand on lap
- groom kissing shoulder
- gentle
- full body
- Curtains
- clear sky
- Center Framed
- calm
- window sill
The story behind the image
This shot was done on the day after the wedding, in the historical hotel Shangri-La located in the heart of the city overlooking the Eiffel tower. Can there be anything more romantic than this?!
The only challenge I had with this shot was the slight difference between the interior and exterior, that’s why I had to shoot it quite underexposed in order not to lose the Eiffel tower in the background, which is one of the key elements of this composition.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I asked the couple to curl up comfortably on that huge windowsill, listen to the music that was being played in the room and be present with one another in that “hidden” place of their own, away from the people, noise, and chaos.
What did you say?
Let’s have you sit on the windowsill, looking in the same direction. Please make it comfortable and effortless; listen to the music: you can “dance” with your hands, sway from side to side, interact with one another if you want, or just relax, breathe in, and be present with right here right now in this wonderful moment as you are living the dream.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
I wanted to capture them, some hotel decorations, and naturally, the view. This was basically the major reason why they booked this exact room in Shangri-La: to enjoy the beautiful symbol of Paris and love peeking into their window when they wake up in the mornings and fall asleep at night. There was not enough space in the room to go too further away and capture the entire corner, but I feel like a closer frame looks even more intimate.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
This was a fairly simple image to focus on and I simply moved the continuos focus points over the couple and let it lock on. There was nothing special or challenging about the focus here.
Focus Mode
Live View Continuous
Focus POints
Multi Point
Focused on
couple/bride
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/2500 @ f/2.8 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
It was morning, but the light was already becoming harsher quickly and we were pretty lucky that the sun was rising from the left side, so the face of the bride is lightened up naturally, although bright highlights on the white dress had to be reduced. I didn’t use any additional artificial light sources inside the room as I try to keep things as natural as possible.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
This one was a little tricky. I loved the feeling and the way the couple is in this photograph, but at the same time, I felt like there’s not enough “ambiance” included, especially on the left side. As I always shoot multiple takes of one scene (from various distances), I decided to simply take some details (part of the window+curtain) from a shot done from a greater distance and add it to the original picture. As for the colors, I kept them quite natural to the original + added some warmth and desaturated greens and blues.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
My own, unpublished
Challenges
There was a risk to get an overexposed background due to the strong sunlight, which would result in the Eiffel tower not being seen plus another challenge was editing in the background details.
Solutions
To solve the problem of keeping the Eiffel tower exposed, I had to underexpose this shot quite a bit. I knew that I could recover more details from shadows than I could recover details from highlights.
Location
Location Name
Paris, hotel Shangri-La
Location aDDRESS
10 Avenue d'Iéna, 75116 Paris, France
Loation Type
Hotel
Country
France
One piece of advice is to shoot a little wider so that you can capture more ambiance in the frame. If needed, you can always crop in a bit closer as the resolution of digital photos these days are so big that it really won’t be noticeable. Another tip is to not be afraid to take your shot into photoshop and tweak things there;as in the end, you are creating art.
