- 4 Person Group
- afternoon
- Back lit
- bridal party
- Center Framed
- Energetic
- full body
- Laughing
- Looking at each other
- lower thirds
- Movement
- Rim Light
- Soft Light
- sunny
- Walking
The story behind the image
They were now only allowed to celebrate with 10 people. Maximum. One day before their wedding. We can’t imagine how hard it must have been for them, but you know what – they came out on the day full of positivity. They had an amazing, emotional day together and we were so lucky to have been a part of it.
When doing the group photos, we made sure to capture the moments between them that they would want to remember. Not only the posed shots, but the fun ones where they can look back and be reminded of that stupid joke the photographers told them.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We had our group line up with the bride & her best friend interlocked by the arms, and the guys to hang out just not he side. We asked them to walk towards us and to “fake laugh” while looking at each other. What happens there is that it generally brings out real laughter once they realize just how ridiculous they sound.
What did you say?
“Okay guys, walk towards us and look at each other. Awesome now completely fake laugh at each other! Louder!”
Composition
We wanted the sun to play a role in this image as it was just peeking through the treetop and creating a really nice little flare, so we rotated our camera to portrait, positioned our group in the lower two thirds, and made sure that we kept enough of the sun to have that flare.
framing
Lower Thirds
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Since our group was on the same line, focusing wasn’t a challenge, even at a wide-open aperture. We positioned our single point over our bride to stop the camera from getting confused and focusing on the background. It also helps when you are shooting into the light as sometimes the camera can struggle to get focus.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/1250 @ f/2.0 ISO125 WB-Shade
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
We purposely decided to photograph into the light as we wanted to capture the flare that was being created by the sun peeking through the trees. As it was still pretty high up, it was a great solution since the light was behind our group which then meant their faces were in the shade (even & soft lighting). Another reason we chose to do this was that it creates a beautiful rim light around the group (look at their outline). This helps to separate them from the background.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Afternoon
Weather
Sunny
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
We applied our Protea Presets as a base and then shifted the white balance, exposure, shadows, highlights, and clarity to where we wanted it. A bit more on the edgy and warm side. We also used a simple radial filter over the sun to enhance the flare (with a decrease in dehaze and an increase in exposure and white balance).
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
If we got into a position where the sun was not being covered by the trees as much, our frame was then blasted with light and we couldn’t get a decent focus and exposure.
Solutions
We found the “maximum” distance our group could go during their walk and asked them to stop once they got there. We found this spot simply by testing it on ourselves before we called people for the group photos.
Location
Location Name
Balthasar Neumann Pavillon
Location aDDRESS
Balthasar Neumann Pavillon, Würzburger Str. 14, 97236 Randersacker, Germany
Loation Type
Garden / Field
Country
Germany
If you’re fortunate enough to still be shooting some weddings at the moment, don’t forget that your couple could have gone through some pretty hard times to get the whole thing organized and happening. So, be sensitive about it.
When the sun is still pretty high and you don’t exactly want to go somewhere completely different, what you can do is shoot into the light. What this does is that it creates shade across the faces of your subjects (so long as their back is towards the light). Why is shade good? Well, it’s soft, even lighting. You may not get the full dynamic range of Highlights & Shadows in your shot, but you’ll very likely get beautiful skin tones.
