- afternoon
- Leading lines
- sunny
- sand dunes
- Rule of thirds
- Natural Light
- natural frames
- Movement
- Leading
- Back lit
- Hill
- Harsh Light
- Germany
- Free
- Energetic
- dunes
- Beach
- Walking
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We had our couple hold hands and walk up and down this sandy pathway. While walking, we asked the groom to look back at the bride and to “bring her with him”. We even threw in a few ‘dirty’ jokes just to get them laughing and having a great time.
What did you say?
Hey guys, let’s have you walk up to the top of the hill and back a few times. While doing that, [Groom] hold [Bride]’s hand and look back towards her. Take her with you; just like you were taking her to the bedroom!!
Composition
The strongest feature of this composition was the natural frame the pathway created around our couple. With the two leading lines on either side, the point in which the lines converge is right where our couple’s faces are. This naturally leads the viewers straight to the couple and straight to where we intended.
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Since we were shooting into the light, the focusing was a bit challenging. The flare from the sun made it more difficult for our camera to lock on to our subjects. Since we shoot almost always in “single point” mode where we have only one focus point, it allowed us to position it somewhere where the flare wasn’t so strong. Such as the groom’s face. This made all the difference.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Grooms Face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/2000 @ f/2.2 ISO160 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
Since the sun was still quite high and our goal was to include the sun (And ideally it’s flares) in the shot, we made sure to shoot into the light. We chose to shoot this in portrait to limit how much of the sun actually made it into the frame. One of the reasons we like to shoot into the light is because it creates a beautiful rim light around our couple, separating them from the background.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Afternoon
Weather
Sunny
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
The edit of this shot was fairly straight forward as I simply applied our Protea Preset and then increased the exposure to get their skin tones brighter and cleaner. I then went into “local edit” mode which meant I removed a lot of distractions with the spot-removal tool, brushed in some shadows & highlights as well as created a radial filter to enhance the sunlight.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The only challenge we had was finding that focus lock. Since the flare was pretty harsh and there was a lot of movement in the frame, it did become quite tricky.
Solutions
When shooting with a single point of focus, it tells the camera to forget everything else and only look for a lock on that specific point. It’s an absolute life saver in tricky situations.
Location
Location Name
Sankt Peter Ording
Location aDDRESS
Sankt Peter Ording, Germany
Loation Type
Beach / Coastal
Country
Germany
Definitely try to play that game with yourself whenever you have a moment. Find those compositions wherever you happen to be as not only is it a good exercise for your imagination, but it’ll really help you come up with some cool ideas when you’re out shooting.
Also, don’t be afraid to throw in some dirty jokes here and there if you think your couple can handle it. Get to know them and if you feel they’re the type of people that could deal with it positively, then catch them off guard and capture their reactions.
