- Artificial Light
- outdoors
- Walking up stairs
- Walking
- University
- Stairs
- Soft Light
- Rule of thirds
- Overcast
- Natural
- Back lit
- Leading lines
- holding hands
- full body
- Dark
- Cold
- Center Framed
- calm
- Wide
The story behind the image
This project was put together super spontaneously, and we were fortunate enough to find these two. Who was not a real couple, They were both two individuals keen to join us on this shoot, and man, were we stoked with how it came out. Normally, we avoid shooting ‘fake couples’ because we feel that it’s just not authentic. But since this shoot was something for us, creatively, and to help our development of a new project for our presets, we let it slide.
We found the most obvious, yet seemingly uninteresting spot to shoot – a challenge, yes. Right at the University of Erlangen (Germany). Together with the couple, a makeup artist, and a gorgeous sparkly dress we got from a bridal store, we went off to the shoot.
We battled ice-cold winds, and crowds of people all staring and taking their own photos of our little thingy-ma-jig. But you know what? We just focused on what we were doing and we couldn’t be more stoked with the outcome.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We kept this shot simple; we asked the groom to guide the bride up the stairs carefully. This little act of movement and gesture of help made things feel very natural. We did ask the bride to look down towards her flowers just so we could have a better profile of her instead of just the back of her head. Simple.
What did you say?
[Groom], let’s have you help [Bride] up the stairs. Go up slowly and carefully and make sure she’s safe. [Bride], perhaps you could gaze down at your flowers while you’re walking up.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
Since there were quite a few distractions around us, we chose to shoot this vertically to limit what was included in the frame. This also helped us keep part of the sky, trees and the lights in the background in frame which lends itself to the story. We kept enough space above the couple to allow breathing room and tried to shoot this at a point where the bride wasn’t directly in front of those balls of light. We didn’t want to have complications later on while editing.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
As the light was dwindling away relatively fast, we had to keep an eye on what our focus was doing. Fortunately, the canon R5 has an insanely good autofocus and so we just kept it on the back of the bride in it’s continuous mode and it followed her as she walked up.
Focus Mode
Live View Single Shot
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides back
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/250 @ f/1.2 ISO400 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
At this point, the sun had disappeared behind the buildings and trees behind us. And out of nowhere, the university lights turned on, and initially, we were like “eewww, yuk”. But it actually turned out pretty darn sick. Since the light was incredibly soft, we didn’t really mind where or how we photographed this, but with those lights on in the background, we knew we would get some rim lighting which was awesome to separate the couple from the background. Plus, the filter we had on our camera, it made the light all hazy and gorgeous.
Light Type
Artificial Light
Weather
Overcast
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
This was an experimental preset that we are working on, and so we applied it and tweaked a few things to keep the saturation of the overall image more muted. We adjusted the white balance to be warmer as well. We then threw on a slight vignette to darken the edges and bring more attention to the couple. After all the exposure, contrast, highlight & shadow settings were tweaked to keep it feeling like an “evening” shot, we then added in some grain just to have a bit of texture over the image.
Editing Software
Preset Used
Challenges
The main challenge we had during this shoot was the temperature. It dropped pretty quickly and as our bride wasn’t wearing anything to cover her back and shoulders, she got cold real fast.
Solutions
We had jackets on standby right next to us and so in between shots, we made sure the bride would wear it for a few moments to get warm. The last thing we wanted was for anyone to feel uncomfortable.
Location
Location Name
FAU University
Location aDDRESS
Schloßplatz 4, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Loation Type
Stairs
Country
Germany
Shoots don’t always have to be complicated or feature an “epic” location. Sometimes keeping things simple leaves room for magic and with less logistical stress, you can focus in on what you want to create.
