- Bright
- bright background
- crown
- Details
- Flowers
- Head Piece
- Holding Dress
- Indoor
- Looking down
- Natural
- Portrait
- Soft Light
- Unposed
- Window Light
The story behind the image
But, that being said – there is absolutely no harm in trying something different. So we did. We chose to shoot this portrait a bit brighter, exposing for the shadows and not worrying too much about the blown-out background. But where things are interesting is that we didn’t actually pose our bride here. We said nothing.
She had just got into her dress and naturally was exploring herself in her dress. At this moment, she turned, picked up the back of her dress and we happened to have positioned ourselves in the right place at the right time.
Sometimes these portraits that happen naturally – without any directing or instructions from us – can be the most beautiful. Simple. Elegant. Natural.
Composition
Our composition is far from perfect in this shot as we wish we were a step back to include her hand and not have it cut off. But at the moment, we saw her turn into this position, we did the best we could in the very brief moment we had to capture it. We were immediately drawn to the details of her crown so we focused more on including this in the frame than anything else. The goal was meant to be a detail shot – however, we ended up really liking the wider version of it to include much more of the bride.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Since we were immediately drawn to the details of her crown, we moved our focus point right over the hair so that we would get those details in focus. It was fairly simple to do but one had to be quiet fast in order to capture it.
Focus Mode
Live View Continuous
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Crown
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/640 @ f/2 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
The light was coming in from almost all directions in this room as we were surrounded by big windows. Fortunately, we had curtains that we could close which helped soften the light. Our bride stood in the corner between the two main windows and this caused everything to be super bright. For that reason, and accepting that we won’t get that directional light that we love, we made sure to expose for the shadows of the bride.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
Editing this shot involved keeping the shadows brighter to include the details of our bride while also trying not to go overboard with the blown-out background. We applied our “Protea Preset” to the image and then adjusted the white balance to get the tones we were after. Our bride was also naturally quite pale so we had to find a balance where it still looked natural. We increased the shadows and exposure to keep the bride from being too dark.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The main challenge we faced was working with this brighter light. We normally find it more aesthetically pleasing to have directional light where our subjects have dimensions created by the highlights & shadows
Solutions
We just reminded ourselves that not all situations are going to be perfect, and that we need to do the best we can for our couple. Not for us.
Location
Location Name
Private Home
Location aDDRESS
Primmersdorf 1, 2095, Austria
Loation Type
Private Home / AirBnB / Apartment
Country
Austria
Remember that in the end, it’s about creating work that matters to your couple. Not so much your portfolio. Do your best for your couple – as they are the most important.
One thing to try out is to capture portraits of the bride when they aren’t even staged or planned. Keep vigilant and look out for moments where she falls into a position that is beautiful. It happens way more than you think – and it’s all about anticipating it.
