- almost kiss
- black and white
- calm
- Close up
- Directional Light
- gentle
- intimate
- Intimate Framing
- Moody
- Natural Light
- Rule of thirds
- Soft Light
- Window Light
The story behind the image
I tried to create an intimate moment, to minimize my presence and be as small as I could be as to not disturb the couple & allow them to truly fall into this magical moment. This doesn’t always happen, but in this case, it worked out great that these became some of my favorite shots from the whole shoot.
I love working in soft light and generally prefer indoor shots to outdoor shots, but these worked out just perfectly and I am really proud of them.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I tried to intervene as little as possible to allow a more natural moment to flourish between the couple. I did of course give them the idea to get as close as possible and to stop just before they kiss. This is a moment I find the most romantic as it leaves so much for the viewer to explore. I often shoot these moments; the ‘almost kiss’ moments.
What did you say?
Okay guys, get as close as possible without touching each other, close your eyes and relax as much as possible.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
Shooting this in portrait was a perfect choice in my opinion as I excluded a lot of potentially disturbing elements from the image. That way, the couple took all the attention as well as the moment they were sharing. The composition came naturally to me, and what I noticed I did was to have them on the 2 of the 3 thirds where the guy was on the top and the girl on the bottom. This creates a balance in the overall image. I did crop this image later on when editing just to fine-tune the composition.
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
For focusing, 99% of the time I am using autofocus and set it to track the eyes. In this case, I had the focus moved to the girl’s eye & eyelashes as this was the element of the greatest interest.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
Her eyes
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/640 @ f/1.4 ISO160 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
All my shots are made with natural light, and I am always on the lookout for soft light that has lights & shadows. I don’t like strong contrasts. I always try and shoot in the afternoon or on cloudy days to have the best conditions. Of course, that’s not always the case. In this case, the light was being diffused and let in through the car window where it was falling onto the guy first, then the girl. I positioned them so that it hit them equally and I could capture the highlights & shadows; which creates dimensions to subjects. Makes them feel more real.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
For the post-production of this shot, I used lightroom. I first adjusted the exposure, increasing it, as I always underexpose a lot when I shoot, increased the contrast, decreased the texture and saturation to a minimum, and increased the details almost to the maximum to increase the noise a little. I also added extra film grain, but without exaggerating. Finally, I cropped the image to fine-tune my composition.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The biggest challenge when you have real couples in front of you, not models, is to put them at ease and get to have these shots in which they are really themselves and put themselves into play, leaving aside shyness and opening up to you. In fact, these shots always happen towards the end of the session.
Solutions
Each couple has their own characters, so I try to respect them, not to be too insistent, you don’t always get the same complicity, not with everyone, it would be impossible. A little tact and experience will help you understand when to go a little further and when it is not the case.
Location
Location Name
Pineta di Suvero
Location aDDRESS
Liguria, Italy
Loation Type
Forest
Country
Italy
I am very attached to these shots because I created a level of understanding with the couple that allowed me to play with them and they were extremely open to satisfying my every request. This is the perfect condition for shooting. It will not always be possible but don’t give up, maybe one negative experience will be rewarded by the next. So my advice is not to give up, try, try and try. With the right touch and the right ways, patience, and experience you can achieve everything.
