- calm
- Moody
- Strong pose
- Straight
- Soft Light
- Serious
- Roots Presets
- Posed
- Outdoor
- Norway
- Natural Light
- Middle Thirds
- Center Framed
- Look into the camera
- Look into sun
- full body
- Free
- Elopement
- Directional Light
- Dark
- Cold
- Coast
- Classic
- Sunset
The story behind the image
It’s amazing how things change over time and how we all push each other to be more creative, to do better work and create something
beautiful for our couples.
Inspired by the “ol’classics”, we still love to do one or two ‘still’ poses. It’s those shots that are strong, that are thought provoking and make for an image that feel’s curated. Which is totally okay!
With all our couples, we’ll take a brief moment to pose them very still. Just so we can grab that strong image of them. Whole. As a couple. As people.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We had our groom stand facing towards us with his one hand (furthers from the bride) in his pocket while looking out towards the sunset (light source). We then asked our bride to cling onto his other free arm and to look straight into our lens. Finally, we didn’t want “super happy” smiles, but a gentle smirk from our bride was just perfect.
What did you say?
When you cling onto his arm, really cuddle into him. While doing that, look straight into my lens. There you go. And, a little smirk. Not too much, but a ”cool” smirk. Like, you own this moment
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
We shot this in portrait as well as landscape (so we could choose the best later on) and we loved this version the most since it brought all the attention to our couple. The landscape was already quite “dominant” in terms of
attention-seeking and so by choosing to leave most of it out – we have a much stronger focus on our couple.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Much like shooting our portraits, we always try and focus on our couple’s eyes, face or point of interest. Naturally, when someone looks at a photograph of a person (or two people) they instinctively look for the eyes (unless they’re excluded from the composition) as it’s a “gateway to the soul” (Corny, i know). By focusing on this when you don’t want to highlight a certain element / detail means that you will “satisfy” the viewer with this search for a connection.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides Face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/250 @ f/2 ISO250 WB-7000K
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 sun had just about set under the horizon and so we had our couple positioned so most of the light was coming from their front & to the side. We wanted to have our groom look towards the light so that his face was lit up nicely and we could have some shadows cast behind him creating dimensions to our subjects. Because our couple was not perpendicular to the sun, our bride had no issues with being shadowed by her husband.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Sunset
Weather
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 main challenge with this image was not
actually in the posing, composition, light or
anything technical. It was the elements. It was icey cold out there with a strong ocean breeze that made things worse. With our bride wearing a thin wedding dress, we had to be fast between shots.
Solutions
In between the shots we quickly wrapped our bride up with a thick winter jacket and threw some scalves around our groom. The comfort of the couple is amongst the utmost importance because not only does it affect their overall experience (and you want them to have a good time with you right?), but it shows in the images. If someone is freezing to death – you can see it.
Location
Location Name
Hillesoy
Location aDDRESS
Hillesoy 9110 Sommarøy, Norway
Loation Type
Beach / Coastal
Country
Norway
When creating strong poses, it’s best to calm yourself as well. If you’re the fun, joking type of photographer – then it definitely helps to take a step back and allow your couple to relax.
If you’re going to have one of your subject look towards the sun – make sure it has set already.
Otherwise it can hurt their eyes and / or make them squint.
