- Beach
- Center Framed
- champagne
- Cloudy
- Drinking
- Fun
- Funny
- Mid range
- Moment
- Outdoor
- pouring drink
- Soft Light
- Styled Shoot
- unstaged
The story behind the image
We knew we wanted to have our couple celebrate with a bottle of champagne; crack it open and spray it around. Which they did and we got some super awesome shots – but just as the bottle was nearing its end, we moved right up close to the couple and it was just a spur of the moment thing where we said “pour it into his mouth!”
With all the excitement, energy & good vibes – our bride didn’t hesitate for a single moment, and thus, we pressed the shutter & this frame happened.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
As our couple was celebrating with the champagne, we moved up right close to them and at that very moment, we asked our bride to pour the rest into the groom’s mouth.
What did you say?
Woohoo!! Congratulations you guys!! POUR IT IN HIS MOUTH!! Go on! Doesn’t matter if you get wet – CELEBRATE!
Composition
When we composed this shot, we focused more on the moment than finding a strong, compositional frame. We wanted the action to take center-stage and be the main point of interest. We did, however, lower ourselves so we could tuck ourselves a bit beneath our couple to get more of the sky (helped with a more minimal frame) and it also allowed us to see more of the “pouring”.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Focusing on an action shot like this needs to happen pretty fast and so we made sure to use our viewfinder here since it is definitely a bit quicker than LiveView. Since we always use a single focus point; we moved it over the groom’s mouth since we knew that’s where the “action” was going to happen.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Grooms face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/1000 @ f/1.4 ISO1600 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
When we took these shots, the sky was completely overcast. It felt like we were in the Eye of the storm since the day before & the day after it was thunderously stormy. This meant that we didn’t have much sun during the shoot – which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The light was incredibly soft and allowed us the creative freedom to shoot in any direction we pleased.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Cloudy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
The edits are made to be warmer with a big focus on skin tones and light play with shadows and highlights. A few minor local adjustments were made (Gradient and Brush) as well as finishing off with a fine layer of grain. The whites are not blown out nor are the blacks 100% crunched.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The only challenge we faced was to get this shot before the champagne completely ran out. Since it was the only bottle we had and, well, we didn’t want to restate such an exciting moment – we had to be pretty fast with everything.
Solutions
This simplest solution was to not hesitate. The moment that idea came into our minds, we just went for it. Without saying anything we already moved forward, got ourselves into position, and asked to pour the champagne.
Location
Location Name
Sankt Peter-Ording
Location aDDRESS
Sankt Peter-Ording, Germany
Loation Type
Beach / Coastal
Country
Germany
One of the biggest pieces of advice we can give is to not hesitate for these moments. Your camera (if you’re using a professional one) can very easily handle a bit of champagne splash and more of then than not, being so deep in the action makes a much more interesting image.
When your couple is celebrating with champagne, and it’s just the two of them plus you – celebrate with them! Help them have a great moment by cheering them on and really motivating the moment. It can be a bit awkward if it’s just the two shouting with a quiet background – so make some noise with them so they don’t feel isolated. Plus, it’s hella good fun too when you’re in on the whole moment too!
