- Bright
- Center Framed
- Cloudy
- full body
- Funny
- giggling
- Harsh Light
- Jokes
- Laughing
- midday
- Mountains
- natural frames
- noon
- scattered clouds
- Soft Light
The story behind the image
But things don’t always work out perfectly. We got a message the morning of the After wedding shoot from our couple letting us know that they couldn’t make it in the afternoon for sunset, and the only time they could come was around midday. Probably one of the worst times to shoot in regards to lighting.
We were lucky to have some scattered clouds which we tried to use as they covered the sun but in the end, we did the best we could given the situation and focused more on creating these moments between our couple than to wait for the perfect light.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We asked our groom to stand behind our bride and to wrap his arms around her. We then asked our bride to hold his arm across her chest with both her hands. From here, we encouraged them to get close and it was at that moment we signalled to our groom to whisper something dirty in our bride’s ear. Something we shouldn’t hear, but will make her laugh.
What did you say?
Wrap your arms right around her, and move in close. Gently sway and kiss her neck, her cheek, and snuggle. When you get to her ear, tell her something dirty! Make her laugh! You know what we mean!.
Composition
One of the key points of this composition was framing our couple within the mountain behind them. We did this because we didn’t want the lines of the mountain to come out of our couple at random points – this can distract from the image. Finally, we chose to keep our couple in the center column as we wanted the attention to immediately fall onto our couple.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
The focusing was very straight forward as we had plenty of light & contrasts to work with. We moved our focus points over our couple to ensure that they were the ones sharpest in the frame.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/4000 @ f/2.0 ISO100 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
Being midday, the sun was certainly not in the most favorable position to work with. However, to our luck, we had a few scattered clouds that passed by overhead. This helped to soften the blaring sun for a few moments. Regardless, we exposed for the brightest part of our couple to keep the details in the highlights, and hopefully recover the rest in post.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Midday
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
Dealing with midday sun out in an open field with no natural shaded areas is definitely challenging. It’s not only hard light, but it could cause your couple to squint and feel uncomfortable in the heat.
Solutions
We exposed for the brightest part of our couple to preserve the details in the highlights. While editing, we were able to recover the details in the shadows. Solving the challenge with squinting is to turn your couple away from the light (as best as possible) and have them look in directions that are downwards or to the sides.
Location
Location Name
Passo di Gardena
Location aDDRESS
Passo Gardena 39033 Corvara, South Tyrol Italy
Loation Type
Mountains
Country
Italy
Not every shoot happens will be during the most perfect time of the day or at the most spectacular location. It’s up to us as photographers to come up with ways to solve these situations and deliver work that we’re still proud of.
With the development of editing programs these days, we are allowed to push our cameras a little bit harder than we were before. Use this to your advantage, especially in tough situations. But most of all, practice as much as you can shooting in “less than ideal” light. You’ll not regret the time spent learning.
