- Back
- Natural Light
- Soft Light
- Sitting
- Shade
- Roots Presets
- Portrait
- New York
- Natural
- calm
- Melli & Shayne
- Leading lines
- holding each other
- full body
- Free
- Different Angle
- Center Framed
- Stairs
The story behind the image
That is at weddings you’re already shooting. We were photographing the wedding of some friends of our couple in this image, and they got to see just how we worked, how we handled the day, and obviously the results from it all. In fact, we were even introduced to these two lovely people at that wedding by their friends we were photographing.
It was really cool to meet them in person before they even had a chance to look at our portfolio, our prices, or even our availability. It just goes to show that you should always be giving it your 100%. No matter what. You never know who is interested in you and may even be your next booking.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We asked our couple to sit together on the steps and to have our groom bring his arm over the bride’s shoulder, and really cuddle her in. We then asked our bride to hold his hand that was over her shoulder and to lean into him. Finally, we let them have their space. We let them enjoy this quiet moment and take it all in.
What did you say?
Sit next to each other and [groom], perhaps you could bring your right arm over [bride]’s shoulder and snuggle in with her. Get really close and see if you can hold his hand [bride]. Awesome. Just breathe. Be with each other. Snuggle each other. We’ll be moving around you so don’t worry about the camera
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
We came across this composition purely by moving around our couple. It was not the main angle we were shooting from, but rather an “experimental” one. We got our main shots, and then circled them slightly. we found this composition interesting because we didn’t have them from the front. We kept enough of the scenery to show where they were, but tight enough to emphasize the intimacy.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Since we were moving around, we chose to use our single point autofocus mode which allowed us to tell the camera to only lock on to a very specific point. This is quite important as you could miss the couple and then lose focus entirely if you used a wider, less accurate system.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Grooms face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/640 @ f/1.8 ISO640 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
As this was taken in the middle of a city, we lost the direct sunlight pretty quickly which worked in our favor since it meant we could technically place our couple anywhere. However, we found these stairs that not only looked pretty sweet, but it also had an opening in the buildings which allowed some of the light from the sky to fall onto them and create a play between the highlights & shadows; creating dimensions to our couple.
Light Type
Natural Light
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
The edits are made to be warmer with a big focus on skin tones and light play with shadows and highlights. A few minor local adjustments were made (Gradient and Brush) as well as finishing off with a fine layer of grain. The whites are not blown out nor are the blacks 100% crunched.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
A little challenge we had was to make sure the body positions of our couple looked natural and not too stiff. It’s easy for people to tighten up for pictures, and so we really had to pay attention that this didn’t happen.
Solutions
The best way to solve this is to not over direct them. We just asked them to sit as they normally would and to get comfortable in how they were sitting and how they cuddled each other.
Location
Location Name
The Norwood Club
Location aDDRESS
241 W 14th St, New York, NY 10011, United States
Loation Type
Wedding / Event Venue
Country
United States
It’s always a good idea to “wear your best hat” at every wedding. Not only for your couple that you’re photographing, but because the guests will likely have eyes on you. More often than not there are quite a few engaged couples still on the hunt for vendors at the wedding and so if you can show them how good you are, you stand a really good chance of getting a neat little email from them.
If you have the chance, try shooting with a partner / second-shooter. Having an extra pair of eyes to find interesting angles & compositions is really a game-changer. While one is shooting the main shots, have the other photographer move around slightly and see what they can find.
