HOW i SHOT THiS

  • afternoon
  • intimate
  • Rule of thirds
  • Rim Light
  • Natural Light
  • lying on top of each other
  • Lying
  • Intimate Framing
  • holding each other
  • Back lit
  • grass
  • Field
  • emotional
  • closeup
  • Close up
  • calm
  • Soft Light

The story behind the image

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Hailey was giving Jake eye kisses, it’s what they did to honor the little boy they lost. Instead of eye kisses, they call them “Ivar kisses”. Hailey had told me this was something they did every morning and night together so I wanted to make sure to get a photo of them doing this with the sunshine coming through, another huge representation for the couple of their little boy’s spirit!
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Directions

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

I asked them to lay down however was comfortable in the grass and for her to lay on top of him like they would on the couch. I told them that I wanted them to do keep their faces close together, I kept my tone really calm so I could get an intimate moment for them while still being so close! I told her to kiss his face all over which lead to the ivar eye kisses.

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What did you say?

Lay down together like you would lay in bed, however is comfortable. Hailey I want you to lay across Jake’s chest and give him the eye “ivar” kisses you do together.

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Tone of Directions

Calm

Composition

I wanted this to feel close and intimate, so I shot it close up and cropped it in even closer filling the frame with just them. I wanted emphasis on the “ivar” eye kisses more than anything.

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Focusing

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

Since I was shooting into the sun, focusing was incredibly challenging. The flare caused by the sun made the camera really struggle to find a place to lock on to, but I wanted to keep this flare in the shot. So, what I did was use my hand and create a “temporary shield/hood” over the lens, blocking the sun slightly and then with one hand, found the focus. Immediately afterwards, I removed my hand (while keeping the shutter half-pressed) and took the shots.

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Focus Mode

Single Shot Autofocus

Focus POints

Single Point

Focused on

The Guys cheek

Equipment &
Exif

Camera
Canon 5D Mark IV
Lens
Canon 50mm f/1.2 L
Flash
None
Filter
None
1/3200 @ f/2.8 ISO200 WB-6500K

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

For this shot, I wanted to capture the couple being backlit as it would be a beautiful representation of their late little boy, with the golden light streaming over them. I was sure to bring in as many light flares and pockets of golden light as I could to help bring this idea to life.

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Light Type

Natural Light

Time of day

Afternoon

Weather

Sunny

Editing Workflow

How did you edit this image?

I pulled the vibrance back to make sure the skin tones didnt appear too red or orange, and then I added majority of the warmth in this image using the shadows of the split toning module. I also bumped the exposure up quite a bit and used chunkier grain.

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Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used

Challenges

The light was coming in from overhead and I wanted to make sure not to lose any detail to flares/light leaks, and it also makes it challenging to nail the focus when sunlight is coming directly into your lens.

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Solutions

I covered the top of my lens with my hand to block the light! that way I was able to lock focus exactly where I wanted and kept depth and detail in the image.

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Location

Location Name

Emigration Canyon, Salt Lake City Utah

Location aDDRESS

Emigration Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Loation Type

Canyon

Country

United States

Give your subjects time to move through the directions you give them. This was at least a minute after I gave them the direction to give ivar kisses, they had relaxed so much more and the image turned out less forced and more natural than if I would have just stopped at the first shot I got of them doing this!

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