HOW i SHOT THiS

  • Cabin
  • Moody
  • Window Light
  • Window
  • streak of light
  • small spot of light
  • play of light
  • passionate
  • nude
  • light on eye
  • Close up
  • Light
  • kissing
  • Kiss
  • intimate
  • Indoor
  • gentle
  • Dark
  • creative light
  • Workshop

The story behind the image

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This photo was an incredible challenge. I took it as part of a workshop in which I was teaching the importance of thinking through intimate photos. That’s why I couldn’t shoot more than three times. This was one of those three photos. We were inside a log cabin, and I noticed that there was a little ray of light coming through the window. I adjusted the couple so that the beam was shining right in their faces, to create a more interesting composition with them.

I was incredibly happy to know that even if we take very few photos, we can still get quality material. When we slow down and focus on looking around us, new opportunities always arise and creativity soars.
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Directions

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

In intimate sessions, I try to talk a lot more. Few photos and a lot of communication. There were always two other photographers trying to learn from this process. So it was extremely important that there was trust and respect. I played music they liked and told them to imagine they were the only ones there. Enjoying each other, a kiss at dawn in the nude. And the magic appeared.

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What did you say?

Guys, forget about all of us here and just embrace each other. Hold each other gently, listen to the music and go in for a kiss when you feel you want to. This is a moment of just you two alone.

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Tone of Directions

Calm

Composition

I composed the whole image thinking about the diagonal that would form the line of light coming through the window. It was clear that I wanted to divide the photo into two parts and that the line of light would be the separation. For me, the whole point of this photo was to get as much intimacy and naturalness as possible. A simple but sensitive moment.

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framing

Center Framed

Focusing

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

I used a single point for the focus of this photograph. Looking for it to stay in the eye and the point of light separating the two models.

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Focus Mode

Single Shot Autofocus

Focus POints

Single Point

Focused on

Guy's eye.

Equipment &
Exif

Camera
Canon 5D Mark IV
Lens
Canon 35mm f/1.4 L II
Flash
None
Filter
None
1/320 @ f/2 ISO1000 WB-5500

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 dim inside the cabin. So I knew that the light coming in from my back was going to be the focal point. So I tried to always make it my reference point for the image. The hardest part was knowing that I could only shoot three images because it was a challenge within the workshop. I was happy with the result considering all the difficulties.

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Light Type

Natural Light

Weather

Indoor

Editing Workflow

How did you edit this image?

I used my “Draco” preset. Then I tried to lift the shadows a bit and adjust the highlights so that the line separating them didn’t burn out. I tried to give a golden tone to the skins with the HSL always looking for an orange hue. I lowered the contrast so that there was not too much difference between the dark and lighter areas of the image.

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Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic

Challenges

As I said before. The biggest challenge was knowing that I only had one chance to get the photo right, to compose and expose it correctly. Still, I think it’s interesting that we often put ourselves in this situation of thinking twice and thrice about the photo before shooting. Think about the settings and parameters and give ourselves that time to digest everything well.

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Solutions

I had to realize that being calm and taking a bit of time to really think about what shot i wanted was the best way to go about it.

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Location

Location Name

Playa Viva

Location aDDRESS

Playa Viva

Loation Type

Cabin

Country

Mexico

My biggest tip for doing these types of photos is to get the intimacy and connection with the couple so they don’t worry about being naked in front of you. To achieve that, we are the ones who have to “get naked”. Open up to them and be completely honest to get a unique result.

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