- almost kiss
- calm
- Center Framed
- intimate
- Intimate Framing
- kiss on cheek
- Leaning forward
- Mid range
- Natural
- Natural Light
- Shade
- Soft Light
The story behind the image
So, we did the best we could. We shot them in all sorts of angles and light and while exploring, we found this little wooden huts/houses. We decided to use them in the background and even get our couple closer to them. And when did this, we realized it actually cast off a bit of a shadow if we had our couple stand almost with their back touching the wood. Low and behold, we found a bit of soft light to work with.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We had our bride stand just in front of our groom and had him bring his arms around her waist to hold hers. While close and intimate, we then asked her to turn her face to the side to allow him to gentle snuggle into her side. We didn’t want to have any laughing or giggling in this shot, so we didn’t throw in any jokes. Instead, we spoke very softly and asked them to just enjoy each other.
What did you say?
[Groom], hold her in front of you and reach around her waist to find her hands. Get real close and let her form into you. [Bride], turn your head and let [Groom] snuggle into you. Completely forget about us, and just really enjoy this moment together.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
We chose to get this shot close up firstly to hide the dark wooden hut behind mixed with the strong, harsh light. But secondly to give a feeling of even more intimacy for the viewer. We purposely cut off part of the groom’s head since he isn’t the main focus of the image. We then filled the frame with our bride as it was her gentle emotion that speaks the most through the image.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
The focusing was very straight forward. As our bride’s hair did fall a bit in front of her, we shifted our single focus point over her eye and let the camera lock. To be even more accurate, we focused through the viewfinder as we could see exactly where we wanted to focus more easily.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Bride's eye
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/2500 @ 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
Fortunately, we found this spot that was quite shaded in order to get these close-ups. The sun was out in full blast as it was the middle of summer, at noon. Because of this shade, we were able to get some really nice soft light without having to deal with incredibly harsh highlights & shadows.
Light Type
Natural Light
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
Editing this shot was not too complex as we simply placed our Protea Preset, adjusted the exposures and white balance and we were almost done. We did have to shift the HSL’s a little bit to control the oranges in the skin as they were becoming a bit too saturated. We also added in a soft manual vignette via a radial adjustment just to help bring more attention to the face of our bride by darkening everything around it.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The hardest part of this whole thing was actually finding this spot. Being in an open field and not having too many options, we really were getting worried that the results we would get would not match the quality we want to deliver.
Solutions
This was completely by chance that we found this hut that had this little roof piece sticking out. We should have done a more thorough location scout, but the truth is we were only told that the couple could make it around noon on the actual day of shooting.
Location
Location Name
Passo di Gardena
Location aDDRESS
Passo Gardena 39033 Corvara, South Tyrol Italy
Loation Type
Mountains
Country
Italy
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, and you may find yourself in a very difficult situation. The best piece of advice we can give is to just do the very best you can and to make sure the couple is aware of the situation. Don’t promise them magnificent images if you know deep down that in those lighting conditions, you will not necessarily be able to give them images that are similar to what they see on your portfolio.
Managing client expectations are always important and so long as they are understanding of that, then you’re totally good. Try new things, explore new places and just do whatever you can to find those awesome shots.
