- bouquet
- Bridal Portrait
- Bride
- Bright
- Center Framed
- Energetic
- Flowers
- full body
- Funny
- Indoor
- Jokes
- Laughing
- Leading lines
- natural frames
- Soft Light
The story behind the image
With our bride, whom we had met previously in Italy at a photography conference, we had an instant connection to and it was almost as if we had been friends for many, many years. So when it came time for the portraits, things flowed so easily. Along with the silly jokes that got her laughing.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We had our bride simply stand in the middle of the room with her body turned more towards the window light. We asked her to simply hold her flowers by her waist and as this was the “warm-up” to the portraits – we threw in some silly jokes just to get her to relax and loosen up.
What did you say?
Alrighty [Bride], Let’s have you stand here and face the window. Keep your flowers down and then I want you to look at them – tell them you love them. Make them feel loved! LOVE YOUR FLOWERS! Imagine they’re [Groom], and you’re flirting with him! Tell them something dirty! We can’t hear you!
Composition
Since the room had plenty of wonderful lines to work with, we wanted to make sure we found a composition that leads the eyes straight to our bride. We framed her within the door and had her in the middle of the room so the floor-boards also converged towards her. This creates a natural symmetry to the image and tends to be a lot more pleasing to look at.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
The focusing was very straight forward for this image. There was plenty of light to work with and since we wanted to pay attention to the composition even closer, we switched to live view to allow us to see the whole picture a lot more carefully.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides Face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/1600 @ f/3,5 ISO1600 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 room was bright and white, the light was incredibly soft to work with. It was bouncing all around the room which meant it softened the shadows quite nicely. Regardless of this, we still had our bride turn and face the window light just so the brighter part was her front and brought the attention to her face and expression.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
The edit in this image was very simple. We added our Protea Preset as a base and then corrected the exposure, shadows & highlights while also warming up the tones. We always pay attention to the skin tones to make sure they’re looking their very best.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The only challenge we really had was that we had to get the portraits done relatively fast as we needed to bring the bride to the first look on time.
Solutions
It helps to not spend too much time during the warm-up and try and get things rolling as fast as you can. That being said, all we really needed was a few great portraits and once we knew we had them – we moved on.
Location
Location Name
Private Home
Location aDDRESS
Vantaa, Finland
Loation Type
Private Home / AirBnB / Apartment
Country
Finland
Having a good connection with your subject(s) can really make a big difference in the final outcome of the images. When the connection is strong, you’ll find that your subject trusts you more, and can relax a lot easier. It’s always worth that extra effort to get to know them or spend time even before the wedding to help create these bonds.
If you’re pressured for time, just remember that all you really need is a handful of really great shots. If for some reason you don’t manage to get all that you wanted during the getting ready – make time during the couple shoot to take some more portraits of both the bride & the groom.
