- afternoon
- Overcast Sky
- Spin
- Soft Light
- shy
- Shade
- Pool
- Playful
- Natural Light
- Bridal Portraits
- Movement
- Middle Thirds
- Energetic
- Dancing
- Center Framed
- broken rules
- Spinning
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We asked our bride to hold her dress up with one hand, and to hold her flowers in the other and to spin around on the spot. While doing that, we asked her to pay more attention to where she was spinning than to look into the camera.
What did you say?
Hold your dress up with your one hand, and your flowers in the other. Now, spin around in a circle – and have fun! There you go! Spin just so you can feel the dress catch some wind. Just be careful to keep your balance
Composition
Because we had such a breathtaking view from the infinity pool, we wanted to still give our bride the most attention with our composition. We framed her in the middle column, but also paid attention to get the horizon running along the top row line. It helps to divide the image symmetrically, making a much more balanced and pleasing image.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
While we had an absolutely gorgeous view, our focus was definitely on our bride. Even if she was moving, we still used our single point auto focus as the distance between us and our bride didn’t change during the spin.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The brides back
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/2000 @ f/2 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
Even though we had a very hazy, overcast sky during this shoot – we still paid attention to where the sun was in the sky. We wanted to have a separation between our bride and the scenery behind her so we positioned ourselves so the sun was just behind her and to the right creating a rim light.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Afternoon
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
One challenge we did face was making sure our bride was stable when she spun around; especially considering she was wearing heels. The last thing we wanted her to do was to fall into the pool, or just as bad; hurt herself.
Solutions
Spins don’t always need to be done super fast. We just asked our bride to hold her dress up high enough as to not let it tangle with her heels, and to spin just fast enough for the dress to catch a bit of wind.
Location
Location Name
The Lazy Olive
Location aDDRESS
LOC. FINERRI, 7, 53041 ASCIANO SI, ITALY
Loation Type
Wedding / Event Venue
Country
Italy
When asking your bride to spin during the bridal portraits, pay attention to where she is looking when she spins. Quite often people tend to look into the camera – and this may not always be what you want.
Above everything else, your bride’s safety is a priority. If you’re close to a ledge or a pool, don’t let them spin so fast that they get dizzy and lose balance. Let it go for max 2 “spins” before asking them to stop and gain their composure. Of course, keep your energy and encouragement up and your bride will happily do it a few times until you get your shot.
