HOW i SHOT THiS

  • broken rules
  • calm
  • Center Framed
  • Close up
  • Field
  • grass
  • lying down
  • Natural Light
  • Outdoor
  • Posed
  • Shade
  • simple
  • Soft Light

The story behind the image

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We took our couple to a pretty special place down in the Alps for their little vow renewal and we got to spend the entire afternoon evening with them. They were one of the sweetest couples, shy, but so incredibly sweet and kind. We had finished off taking pictures on top of a mountain and found ourselves down in an open field in the late afternoon.

While there, we decided to take a little break and wait for the sun to drop a bit more so we could shoot in much softer light (there was not a cloud in the sky that day, and it was full-on bright and sunny). While we hung out and started chatting, we noticed that up on top of this hill was a wall of trees that let out a bit of shade.

We climbed on up and enjoyed the fantastic few from on top. We then had this idea, why not capture our couple as they were – chilling. We had never shot from this top-down angle of a couple before and thought we didn’t really have much to lose besides a bit of time. So, we just went for it. It turned out to be pretty cool in the end.
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Directions

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

We had our couple lie in the grass opposite to each other (from their heads). We got them as close as we could without it looking like they were on top of each other and we simply asked them to tuck one of their hands under their head to form a pillow and to close their eyes. Just to breathe, take in the sounds, the feelings, and the moments.

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What did you say?

Guys, we got this cool idea. If you [Guy] lie down here and tuck your hand under your head, and you [Girl], lie next to his head like this with your hand tucked too. Perfect. Now, just close your eyes. Take in the moment. Forget about us, and just imagine you were here with each other relaxing.

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Tone of Directions

Calm

Composition

Since it was a pretty interesting way to pose a couple, we decided to keep it simple. We shot directly top-down over the couple and framed them equally in the picture. We also had to be careful to shoot too wide as that would have meant our legs would have been in the shoot too.

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framing

Center Framed

Focusing

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

The focusing of this shot was very easy. We moved the focus box to the Bride and let it lock on. Since both of them were on the exact same level, we just needed to pick one of them to focus on as the other would 100% be focused too.

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Focus Mode

Live View Single Shot

Focus POints

Single Point

Focused on

The Brides face

Equipment &
Exif

Camera
Canon 5D mark IV
Lens
Canon 50mm f/1.2 L
Flash
None
Filter
None
1/1250 @ f/1.6 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

Since we had found this spot in the shade, the light was really soft. But literally 2 meters away the sun was scorching bright and way too harsh. We had our couple lie in the shaded area to help us create these beautifully soft and smooth skin tones while also keeping a little play of highlights and shadows.

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Light Type

Natural Light

Editing Workflow

How did you edit this image?

To edit this shot, we applied our Protea preset and adjusted the exposure, white balance and colour saturations to get the overall tones that we wanted. We then added a manual vignette by inserting a radial filter and darkening the edges. We finally ended off by adding in some gentle dodging and burning to help make our couple pop a little more.

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Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic

Challenges

The biggest challenge was getting our couple comfortable in this position as any sign of discomfort became quite visible.

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Solutions

We reminded our couple to get as comfortable as they could, and to just relax. We kept shooting for a little while; long enough to have them get themselves into the ‘zone’.

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Location

Location Name

Geroldsee

Location aDDRESS

Geroldsee, Germany

Loation Type

Garden / Field

Country

Germany

If you end up having plenty of time to kill while waiting for better light, try out new ideas with your couple and don’t be afraid to tell them that you’re actually experimenting. Tell them that you’re just trying something out and it may or may not work – most of the time they’d totally be keen but by mentioning that it “may not work” means they won’t necessarily ask about those shots if they aren’t delivered.

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