- Back lit
- Natural Light
- Unposed
- Sunset
- sunlight
- sunflare
- sun in the corner
- Soft Light
- Playful
- Overcast
- Natural
- Canon 50mm
- moving
- lift dress
- Horizon Line
- holding hands
- hold dress
- green
- full body
- Center Framed
- Canon 5D mark IV
- Walking
The story behind the image
We were moving to a whole new location with our couple and as we entered this field with tall grass, our bride naturally went to hold her dress up to help her walk through it all. At the same time, our groom extended his hand (all gentleman-like) to help her.
This moment was unscripted. It was unposed. Undirected by us. But, it’s a beautiful moment. It shows us who they are as people, and as a couple. They are kind to each other. They are caring for each other. They are, in love.
Had we kept our cameras down and not paid attention – we’d have missed this wonderful moment. We may have seen it, but in no way would we have been prepared to capture it.
Composition
Besides having our couple framed within the center box of the compositional grid to give emphasis, we also held the camera slightly above our heads so we could frame them within the landscape and not have the horizon cut through them.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Since we held the camera away from our eyes and above our head, we switched to live view so we could see what we were focusing on and how we were composing. They were not moving very fast and we were able to keep our distance relatively easily so we didn’t lose the focus.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides dress
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/1000 @ f/2.5 ISO800 WB-Shade
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
Since the sun was a bit too harsh to shoot into, we positioned ourselves and our couple so the sun was coming more from the side. We chose to include it in the frame to add a bit more flair & haze to the moment. By keeping the sun just off to the side of them, we got a beautiful rim light that separates the couple from the background.
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 to enhance the sun & reduce the intense greens) 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
The biggest challenge here was actually while we were editing. We found that the greens were very saturated and became too dominant in the color scape.
Solutions
We really had to spend some time tweaking the HSL sliders as well as adding in some local adjustments to enhance the sun and selectively “calm down” the greens.
Location
Location Name
Gut Dietersberg
Location aDDRESS
Gut Dietersberg, Dietersberg 1, 92539 Schönsee
Loation Type
Wedding / Event Venue
Country
Germany
If your camera has a decent live view mode, don’t be afraid to use it. It helps you get angles & compositions a lot easier and faster which is important when capturing some moments.
While we do stress the importance of always shooting, we aren’t saying that you have to literally keep that camera up against your face the whole time you’re on the wedding day. Just have your camera ready at all times and if you “feel” a moment coming, get into position. If the moment doesn’t happen – move on. If it does, you’re at least that little bit more prepared than you were a moment before.
