- almost kiss
- intimate
- Street
- Outdoor
- night
- neon Lights
- Neon
- LED
- Intimate Framing
- holding each other
- Artificial Light
- Dark
- Colorful Light
- Colorful
- Close up
- Center Framed
- calm
- Back lit
- urban
The story behind the image
On the way, I saw a cafeteria that had several lamps and colorful signs and I was excited about one of the corners that had a huge sign with a red light. I asked the couple to take some pictures in front of this sign, which was just an LED, but for us photographers, each of these places is different and always gives us the opportunity to step out of our comfort zone.
The couple was excited about the idea and so I took some pictures and showed them to them. They were super happy with the result. I felt super excited about stepping out of my comfort zone, and now shooting with artificial lights is definitely an option I give my couples. Never disregard a simple place, it is on these occasions that our photographic eye is trained.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I asked the couple to stand facing each other and with their faces almost touching. As I wanted to provoke a feeling of complicity, I asked them to stay in that position for a few seconds while I captured the best frame. I tested a few angles, but this was the one that got the best result.
What did you say?
Guys, I want you to stand for a few seconds facing each other with your faces lightly touching, with one hand close to your neck, and feeling your breaths.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
Firstly, I chose to use a 50mm lens because I thought it was a good focal length considering how far away I was. The image contains a red LED sign behind the couple which helps make it an interesting photo as it created this beautiful cutout light. By keeping the couple in the center, I was able to get close enough to fill the frame and bring a sense of intimacy and closeness to the viewer.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Shooting in backlight can sometimes be tricky to focus. And to solve this, what I did was hide part of the LED behind the couple, positioning the camera a little lower, and then, when I found the focus, I repositioned the camera to match the composition I was looking for while holding the button of the shutter to keep the camera from losing focus.
Focus Mode
Continuous Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The nose
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/160s @ f/f 1.4 ISO3200 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
As part of the area was dark next to the light coming from the LED sign, I made sure to place the couple in front of it so they were silhouetted. As they stood in front of the light, I took advantage of some that seeped into their faces, illuminating just enough that I could make out their features.
Light Type
Artificial Light
Time of day
Night
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
To edit this photo, I applied my ‘Micah Color’ preset and adjusted the white balance to get the color I was looking for. Then I made some adjustments like exposure and applied some noise. Finally, I added the radial gradient to the photo to get the couple’s attention.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
Depending on the angle, there was still a lot of direct light coming into the lens, which caused less contrast and ugly reflections. This can also cause problems when editing (no contrast, strange colors, etc.)
Solutions
Sometimes it’s just a matter of a step or two forward, backward, left, or right. I solved this problem by moving and moving the camera.
Location
Location Name
Páprica Burger
Location aDDRESS
R. 28 Norte, 07 - LOJA 01 - Águas Claras, Brasília - DF, 71917-720
Loation Type
Restaurant
Country
Brazil
Use any style of light to your advantage. Test different light sources, lighter or darker, change the angles and see the effects to better understand how to use them. And the best way we learn anything is to just try to step out of our comfort zone and see what happens. Some of our best images came from trial and error.
