- afternoon
- Natural Light
- walk towards
- Trees
- Spin
- Soft Light
- Shade
- Path
- Movement
- Center Framed
- Leading lines
- hold dress
- full body
- Forest
- Energetic
- Dancing
- Dance
- Walking
The story behind the image
Couples shoots can go in so many different directions, and there is no “one right way” of doing them. But there is one piece of information that stands true in whatever mood the shoot takes place in – and that is for your couple to really enjoy themselves.
We love to let our couples have fun with each other; whether thats being silly together or simply
practicing their first dance. Allow them their moments to be with each other and also jump in and create a fun, memorable experience. Make them rave about you afterwards!
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We wanted to show some movement in these walking shots and so we asked our bride to spin under the arm of her groom while holding her dress up (as to not trip on it). It’s a very simply thing to ask but is really good fun, especially if you ask them to keep spinning and even to playfully tease each other.
What did you say?
While walking towards us, (Groom) lift your hand and let her spin underneath! Keep her spinning! There you go! Have fun! Be dorks!
Composition
We found this pathway in the forest right by the wedding venue that provided us with enough shade for our couple shoot. We asked our couple to walk up and down this path and we used to the leading lines of the path to frame out couple. We also chose to shoot this wide as we really wanted to capture their whole movement and her dress spinning with momentum.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Focusing on moving subjects can be a bit tricky and so if your camera has an AI Focus mode, definitely give that a shot. In our case, we always use our single point AF mode simply because we are really fast with focusing & firing the shutter. With every shot we refocus; in one smooth motion. Focus. Shoot. Focus. Shoot.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Grooms Face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/320 @ f/2.5 ISO125 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
As this was a pretty sunny day with only a few clouds around, we chose to bring our couple in the forest where we had a decent amount of shade to work with. It also meant that whenever the sun was covered by the one cloud in the sky, the light didn’t change too drastically where we were shooting.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Afternoon
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
We had to be careful as to not let our bride over spin and become too dizzy. This can very easily happen especially when your couple are having fun.
Solutions
Just make sure to stop them spinning and let them have a moment to catch their balance. It’s also a super cute moment just after the spin to capture as the bride may fall into her groom. Just keep shooting, regardless of telling them to stop.
Location
Location Name
Freigeist Hotel
Location aDDRESS
Freigeist Hotel Northeim, Göttingen
Loation Type
Hotel
Country
Germany
When you ask your bride to spin, ask her to hold up her dress with her free hand as to not trip over it.
Don’t forget to remind your couple to pay attention to each other rather than you with your camera. Sometimes they forget and tend to look at you.
