- Beach
- sand dunes
- Wide
- Warm
- Sunset
- Stormy
- Soft Light
- Sitting
- Moody
- Center Framed
- intimate
- holding each other
- full body
- dunes
- Directional Light
- Cloudy
- windy
The story behind the image
We made notes of where we wanted to go, and then on the day of shooting – we made sure to walk the route before the couple arrived. That way, we knew exactly how to get there and what to expect. For this shot, we found this awesome little sand dune hill amongst the dry grass that allowed us to have our couple in an elevated position.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We had our bride sit on our groom’s lap, and while doing so, lean towards him. She had to sit with her legs inside his, and so we made sure to explain that as clearly as we could. Once we had them in position, we encouraged them to close their eyes and just listen to the wind, and totally get lost with each other at this moment.
What did you say?
Guys, that looks amazing! Just make sure your legs are tucked in between his, and really cuddle into him. Close your eyes and listen to the wind. Listen to the waves. Listen to each other and just embrace this moment you share together.
Composition
Since our couple were on this hill making them higher than the rest of the landscape, we chose to have them in the middle the image while we shot from a slightly lower angle. This allowed more space for the sky to play a role in the image. We also shot this wide enough to capture the whole motion of the dress floating with the wind. We didn’t want to cut it off.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
There was nothing too hard about the focusing in this image as we had plenty of light and contrasts to work with. We simply moved our single focus point over our couple, let it lock, and fired away.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Groom's Face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/200 @ f/1.4 ISO1000 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
This was taken during the blue hour and so the light was incredibly soft and beautiful to work with. We were aware of where the sun had set, and so we positioned our couple in a such a way that their faces would be facing the sunset. This was important because even though the light was soft, it still had some direction to it. And we didn’t want to have any funky shadows on our couple when we could have easily solved it just by positioning them right.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Sunset
Weather
Cloudy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
We edited this image with our protea Presets and found the right balance with the exposure adjustments and the tones with the white balance. We then added in a light-enhancing radial adjustment to the left of the image which just adds a bit more interest to the whole scene. Finally, we dodged and burned our couple slightly to give them some extra pop.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The hardest part was the amount of time we had to shoot during the blue hour. It’s such a wonderful time to shoot (even though you have to push your camera’s ISO up) that we wanted to shoot as much as we could.
Solutions
This is where having a shoot plan comes in handy so you know what shots you need to get and how much time you can allocate to trying to get each of them. Of course you may not always grab the whole list of shots but it’s a nice reminder of “got the shot? Great! Move on”.
Location
Location Name
Sankt Peter-Ording
Location aDDRESS
Sankt Peter-Ording, Germany
Loation Type
Sand Dune
Country
Germany
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Don’t stop shooting until you can’t shoot anymore. As much as possible. Of course, if you’re at a wedding and you have to follow a schedule, then by all means respect it. But if you have time with your couple with no deadline – then really take advantage of it all. It’s worth coming back with 3000+ images.
