- Blue Hour
- looking towards the sun
- Walking
- Sunset
- Soft Light
- Natural
- Moody
- lower thirds
- Lazy Olive
- calm
- Italy
- holding hands
- full body
- Free
- Directional Light
- Center Framed
- Walking towards Camera
The story behind the image
In this case, we didn’t plan on sending our couple down amongst the dry grass. We saw this during the couple shoot and how the sun was setting. As it happened near the end, we asked our couple if we could quickly go down and get a few shots there – to which they were super keen on.
location scouting is incredibly important beforehand, but it can always happen that you find another spot during the shoot that is even better than the one you found earlier. Just keep your eyes open the whole time and don’t be afraid to try something. If it doesn’t work, admit it, and then move on.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We asked our couple to hold hands while they walked out from the grass towards us. While walking, we encouraged our bride to take lead and have both of them look over their left shoulder towards where the sun had set. We didn’t interact much more as we wanted them to be as natural as possible.
What did you say?
Alright guys, make your way back out towards us. While walking, just hold your hands and [bride], maybe you can walk ahead and lead. Great, and keep looking towards that awesome sunset
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
For this composition, we chose to keep our couple int he lower 2/3rds of the frame since we did want to include a bit of the sky and the distant valley behind them. The couple was also walking up a slight hill towards us (which meant we were higher than them) which allowed us to use this angle. Notice how our couple’s faces are in the center block; this naturally helps bring attention to their faces first.
framing
Lower Thirds
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Since we wanted to hold our camera away from our eye to help find an interesting composition, we switched to Live view. This allowed us to see our composition but also use a contrast based focusing method to help get the image in focus with the low amount of light we had.
Focus Mode
Live View Single Shot
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/200 @ f/2 ISO250 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
This was taken at the very end of the couple shoot and was literally on the way back to the reception. At this time, the sun had already sent and we were left with the gorgeous blue hour. While our couple walked out towards us, we asked them to look towards where the sun had set since light still came from this direction. This way, we lit up their face while creating more dimensions to them. A beautiful gentle play between highlights & shadows.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Sunset
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
Our biggest challenge we faced was the light disappearing very fast. During the blue hour, you really don’t have much time and so we had to work really fast in order to have a chance of coming back with a cool shot.
Solutions
It always helps to just keep shooting. Even when directing or speaking to your couple – keep shooting. Since we had our camera in live view mode, we were even able to hold the camera below our eye level which allowed us to photograph them while talking.
Location
Location Name
The Lazy Olive
Location aDDRESS
The Lazy Olive, Loc. Finerri, 7, 53041 Asciano SI, Italy
Loation Type
Garden / Field
Country
Italy
As beautiful as the blue hour is, it definitely is a challenge and goes by incredibly fast. If you don’t come home with a groundbreaking blue hour shot – don’t beat yourself up. It happens to all of us and there are so many factors that are at play.
Always keep shooting. That’s one of the best pieces of advice we were given. Even when you’re directing your couple, have your camera ready and snap at the moments you see. Sometimes the very best images happen when no one is even ready.
