- artifical fog
- Intimate Framing
- Window
- sway
- sunflare
- streaks
- spray
- Rule of thirds
- romantic
- rays of light
- rays
- Playful
- music
- intimate
- artifical spray
- Indoor
- holding hands
- hands playing
- fog
- emotional
- Dancing
- Close up
- Center Framed
- calm
- Backlit
- Back lit
- Window Light
The story behind the image
We had a lot of ideas in mind and wanted to test some new gadgets. We managed to find perfect weather and a couple who trusted us completely. Despite the small space, a beautiful story came out from all of this.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We wanted to keep the intimate and subtle atmosphere throughout the session. Music played in the background, which made us feel good, and we tried to speak calmly in order not to spoil the mood and intimacy. We repeated this photo twice. Each time we asked the models to stand close to each other, keep their eyes closed, swaying to the music, and play with each other’s hands. We told them that we wanted to create a photo that shows nostalgia – this is the emotion we target for most during our sessions.
What did you say?
Stand facing each other, sideways to the window. Close your eyes, feel the music, and play with your hands. Imagine that you are alone at home and you are dancing in your own living room – calmly and tenderly.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
What we wanted most was to capture the emotions and the clear rays of the sun that fell through the window. We wanted the faces of our couple to be clearly visible, so we decided to use a vertical frame. We came very close and we were framing tightly – we didn’t need the background for anything. Besides, when photographing against the light, we also risked blowing out the background.
We opted for a simple composition. We placed the eyes in about a third of the frame, as close to the strong points as we could. Despite the fact that the couple’s eyes are closed, the narrow and tilted frame makes the photo not completely static.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
The big problem of shooting against the light is the autofocus, which does not always hit the spot. We opted for a servo mode and high-speed burst to avoid blurry photos. The whole time we aimed at the foreground face. Our couple stood close enough to each other so that despite the shallow depth of field, they are both sharp and in focus. A slight soft focus on the girl’s face harmonizes well with the visible fog though.
Focus Mode
Continuous Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The man's head.
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/250 @ f/1.8 ISO100 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 studio windows were set on the west side, so a lot of light shone in during sunset. We might as well be outside because the windows reached the ceiling and stretched over almost the entire wall. These were the perfect conditions to finally test the spray mist. We sprayed it right next to the couple and positioned ourselves at a slight angle to the sun to be sure to catch the shafts of light that passed through our models. We tested different perspectives and tried to make the sun appear next to the man’s head. This helped create an interesting and delicate flare.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
We used our own preset. The photo looked very good in the camera. It only required a few minor changes. We love the warm colors that come out during sunset. They work well with our preset, where we emphasize oranges a lot and combine them with cool colors in the lights. We moved all the yellows closer to the orange, brightened the sun’s rays, and increased the contrast, which was much softer when shooting against the light.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Own personal Presets
Challenges
The biggest challenge for us was working with the fog, which dissipated very quickly. We used one of the brands available on the European market. The fog was non-toxic but had a very strong odor which kept us all from concentrating on our work.
The second problem was working against the light. These are the conditions under which autofocus does not work perfectly. In the case when we do not have a lot of time to take photos and at the same time we want to maintain the atmosphere, we could not afford to make mistakes and have out-of-focus frames.
Solutions
We photographed in two short (about 1-2 minutes) turns, with a break in between. Thanks to this, we got rid of the excess fog and had a moment to correct posing mistakes.
To avoid blurry frames, we used the continuous autofocus mode and high-speed burst. We took a lot of photos to make sure we could get the shot we saw in our heads.
Location
Location Name
MINT Light Studio
Location aDDRESS
Tęczowa 57, 53-601 Wrocław, Poland
Loation Type
Studio
Country
Poland
When you decide to use new effects or accessories, try them out first under controlled conditions. Find out about all the pros and cons to know exactly what to expect during the real session. When you work with a client, you should be confident and know what you are doing. All unforeseen situations can erode this certainty.
