Have your couple lead each other when moving from one spot to another, and genuinely ask them to help by offering a hand and looking back. This not only looks really great in terms of story telling, but it’s genuinely helpful to the follower especially over rough terrain.
Hold your dress up when you walk, it’ll make it easier for you to find your feet. And keep your connection to each other – don’t be afraid to genuinely help. We’ll tell you when to stop.
Normal
With so many elements in this spot, we simply had to shoot wide. We framed it so that the couple was heading towards the mountain in the distance, and we kept enough space to show all of the landscape features. They are not exactly dead center, as this also left a bit more room for the eye to wander and explore where they could be going.
Leading LinesRule of Thirds
Center FramedWideFull Body
We focused on our couple using the single point auto focus so we could be in complete control over where and what the camera was locking on to.
Single Shot Autofocus
Single Point
The Groom
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.
At this point, the sun was just about to drop below the horizon which meant the light became softer and softer. This allowed us to side-light the couple which adds dimensions to the frame without being too contrasty. Just keep in mind when side lighting, it’s quite easy to have their faces fall into the shadow, so pay attention to that and never worry about asking to do this whole shot again =)
As we didn’t want to blow out the highlights in the sky, we underexposed the frame slightly just so it retains those details. In post, we can always bring up the exposure & shadows leaving us with so much more control.
Natural Light
Soft,Directional
Sunset
CloudyStormy
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.
The only challenge we faced was the fact that we were going to lose our couple behind the bushes pretty soon after they started walking.
We simply asked them not to go too far down the path, but instead, turn around and walk back up. And to do this a good few times :)
Signal Hill
Signal Hill, Cape Town, South Africa
Mountains
South Africa
South Africa is an incredibly beautiful country and while it does have a reputation of not being the safest, it’s all about how you approach it. Just be vigilant and don’t necessarily flash your expensive gear in dark alleyways, and stay in groups – you’ll be absolutely fine.
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