- Africa
- Natural
- Wide
- Wedding
- Warm
- Sunset
- Styled Shoot
- South Africa
- simple
- Side Light
- Rule of thirds
- Portrait
- Over Shoulder
- off center
- Natural Light
- Mountains
- Bridal Portrait
- Moody
- Model
- Looking into the camera
- Looking Back
- full body
- Free
- Directional Light
- Couple Shoot
- Cloudy
- Clouds
- Cape Town
- Canon
- calm
- Bride
- Wind
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Have your bride stand facing towards the light while holding her flowers down low and to then look over her shoulder into your camera. She can also raise her shoulder slightly to create a more flattering posture. It’s important that she is at an angle that doesn’t make her look unnatural when she looks over her shoulder. Too much of angle can then become very uncomfortable.
What did you say?
Face the light and hold your flowers down low. Now look over your shoulder into my camera and raise your shoulder slightly
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
We wanted to showcase the epic location we were at with this shot and so we framed wide enough to include the mountain, the stormy skies and our bride in full. By placing our bride in the right third of the image, we created a balanced frame with the mountain on the left side, and our bride on the right.
This follows the rule of thirds theory and works really well to create a frame that is pleasing to the eye.
Compositional Rules
Leading LinesOff CenterRule of Thirds
framing
WideFull Body
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We setup our single point autofocus right on our brides face so we knew that we would be getting her sharp. As often as we can, we always try and aim to focus on the face or the eyes since thats where the viewers tend to look for connection when it’s a portrait of someone.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides Face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/1000 @ f/2.0 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
This was taken at sunset just as the stormy clouds had formed infront of the sun. We positioned our bride so that she faced the light source, and we stood just behind her and to the side. This meant we could get a gorgeous rim light while not completely shadowing her.
Light Type
Natural Light
Light Quality
Soft,Directional,Backlit
Time of day
Sunset
Weather
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
One of the key parts of editing this image was knowing the final outcome that I wanted to achieve. Since this was shot during an incredibly vibrant sunset on top of the mountain, I didn’t want the edit to lose that haze that it sometimes created in these conditions. The original did lack this, so I ultimately knew that I would move to photoshop at some point.
Starting off, i applied the Roots Kilimanjaro preset as a base and then adjusted the exposure & white balance in the image to get an overall feel. I knew that I wanted to put the sun flare on the right side, so I naturally added a radial adjustment to that corner and pushed up the exposure and warmth ever so slightly. This just helps things blend later.
Once I was happy with the overall tones and exposure of the image, I moved it to photoshop where I added the Sun flare. I positioned it large enough to leak onto the bride. Once that was done, I moved back to Lightroom and did the last little tweaks and added grain at the very end. This all helps to blend the image together and makes it feel a lot more believable.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
A challenge we faced here was to get her to look natural when looking over her shoulder. It’s very easy to “over extend” the look.
The second challenge that came into play was our angle behind her. If we were too much at an angle, we would have shot right into the sun creating a blown out sky and her to be in the shadows.
Solutions
The best thing to do is to put your camera down for a moment and really look at your bride and see if she is
comfortable in this pose. If not, tell her to turn her shoulders a bit more towards you. It also helps if you encourage her to keep moving from side to side (kinda like dancing). That way, she will naturally fall into those poses.
As for the the angle, we moved around her quite a bit until we found a spot that worked just right for the composition and the light. Don’t be afraid to do this a few times; your subject really won’t mind :)
Location
Location Name
Signal Hill
Location aDDRESS
Signal Hill, Cape Town, South Africa
Loation Type
Mountains
Country
South Africa
Try use a 50mm for wide portraits. Its an incredibly versatile lens and can bring out some gorgeous compressions.
Have your bride swing the bouquet gently. It can create a nice flow and a natural look to the image and also gives your bride something to focus on.
Keep your eyes open on your brides dress and make sure to remove any sticks and bush that catch onto it. It’s better to do that then and there than in post.
