HOW i SHOT THiS

  • Artificial Light
  • Back lit
  • Beam
  • calm
  • Center Framed
  • Close up
  • Dark
  • Harsh Light
  • Indoor
  • intimate
  • Intimate Framing
  • Moody
  • Movement
  • Playful
  • Projector
  • Rim Light

The story behind the image

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This is Sarah and Samuel, a couple who together wrote a children’s book. They reached out to us asking if we’d be willing to create some promotional images & videos for them and we jumped on the opportunity. After we got all the promotional images, we decided to do a little mini couple shoot. But this time we wanted to try something new and we decided to use a projector as a light source. We tried different positions but ultimately loved the look when we placed it behind the couple and created a back light.
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Directions

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

We put the projector just behind them and asked them to walk as close as possible while keeping their heads close together. We reminded them to always keep moving and don’t stop.

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What did you say?

okay. Now imagine yourselves in the most beautiful place you’ve ever been together. You can close your eyes or look at each other. Get very close together with your heads and even if we (the photographers) are very close. Try to block us out and forget that we’re here. Always keep moving.

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Tone of Directions

Calm

Composition

This is one of my favorite compositions as it really brings the feeling of intimacy together. Sarah generally takes the first bit of attention as she is slightly more dominant in the frame and has the most light touching her face (Brighter point). Samuels nose in contact to Sarah creates this connection to each other only adding to the intimacy. I framed this pretty close up as I wanted everyone to feel this connection between the couple.

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framing

Center Framed

Focusing

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

I tried to focus on the eye of the girl as it’s a point that holds a lot of emotion and intimacy. However, this was challenging as the couple was moving, and shooting into such a strong light source makes focusing pretty tough.

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Focus Mode

Continuous Autofocus

Focus POints

Single Point

Focused on

Her eye

Equipment &
Exif

Camera
Sony A9 II
Lens
Sigma 28mm f/1.4
Flash
None
Filter
None
1/125 @ f/1.4 ISO6400 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 main light source in this image was from the projector we had placed behind the couple. Since this wasn’t only a “photo” shoot, but a “video” shoot too – the light was constantly moving and changing as we displayed scenes through the projector. This meant that shooting got a bit erratic as I waited for the moments when the light was brighter, took a bunch of shots, and then the light darkened due to the scene it was displaying. I had a great time experimenting with this light source but If I had to do it again, i’d make sure to have a constant light source that doesn’t change.

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Light Type

Artificial Light

Weather

Indoor

Editing Workflow

How did you edit this image?

To edit this image, I used our own preset “The Signature pack 2022”. At the moment this image was taken, the projector had put out some pink light which I wasn’t such a fan of. I had to adjust the white balance quite significantly in order to bring back the ones that I wanted. I also had to tweak the colors quite a bit to match the palette I wanted. I did this by tweaking the HSL sliders.

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Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic

Challenges

Since this wasn’t only a photoshoot but a video shoot too, the light was definitely very challenging. The fact that it was constantly changing brightness & tones made shooting quite hectic. Honestly, this picture I feel happened because of luck.

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Solutions

All I did was wait for the moments when the light was bright enough to start shooting & focusing, and fired as many shots as I could.

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Location

Location Name

THE STANDART

Location aDDRESS

Wiesenstraße 72C Stadtbezirk 4 40549 Düsseldorf

Loation Type

Studio

Country

Germany

I got a little annoyed during the shoot that the light kept changing and felt like it was never the way I wanted it to be. In retrospect, I think maybe it’s not bad to not always go the easy way – maybe this shot would never have been created if I had chosen a constant continuous projector light. Maybe you should move more often from his comfort zone and dare to make something new.

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