- afternoon
- Mirror
- Wide
- Water
- valley
- Touch Belly
- Soft Light
- Roots Presets
- River
- Reflections
- Reflection
- Portrait
- Outdoor
- Natural Light
- Mountains
- Melli & Shayne
- almost kiss
- Leading lines
- intimate
- Germany
- gentle
- full body
- Free
- Creative
- Cold
- Cloudy
- Center Framed
- Canon 85mm
- Canon 5D Mark III
- Bellies touching
- Alps
- Winter
The story behind the image
The truth is, we had constant challenges thrown at us. From incredibly temperamental weather (we nearly canceled the whole thing) to dangerous ice conditions to walk through as well as really cold temperatures. The shoot turned out incredible; better than what we had hoped – but it was a challenge all throughout. We were just lucky we stuck through the bad weather as that cleared up a few moments before we were to start shooting.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
As our couple was quite distant from us, we gave them a briefing first before moving into our shooting position. We simply asked them to stand and face each other, with their bellies touching. From there, to hold each other and forget all about us shooting. To really enjoy that moment alone together and to always keep a connection (hands on the cheek, the neck, the hips etc…).
What did you say?
Stand so close to each other that your bellies touch. We’re going to shoot from over there so just completely forget about us. Be yourself, and really enjoy this moment together. Caress each other on the cheeks, hold each other close, even move in for a gentle kiss from time to time. Whatever you guys feel like doing
Composition
Composing this shot revolved around the reflection in the water. We wanted this to play as much of a role as our couple does in the frame. Since the environment was pretty vast and open, we chose to frame this shot closer and in portrait to minimize the emptiness of the image. We of course took our wide shots too but the one we stuck with was this one.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
Although our focus of this image was our couple and their reflection, we chose to move our focus point over our couple since we knew the reflection in the water could never be as sharp due to the nature of it. We moved our single point autofocus over our couple and let it achieve its focus before shooting.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The couple
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/400 @ f/2.2 ISO500 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
Taken during the blue hour, we had a very soft (although cold) light to work with. Because the sun had already set, we didn’t need to pay too much attention to how or where the light was. We focused on our composition more since the light at this time was soft all round.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Afternoon
Weather
Cloudy
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. We also removed elements from the image which we found distracting & didn’t add to the finished photograph.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
One of the many challenges we faced here was the temperatures. They were only dropping as the sun had set and this meant that we had to be quite fast with our couple since our bride was wearing nothing but a light dress. Since the comfort of our couple is always a priority, we had to make sure that we had a way to keep her warm between shots.
Solutions
Just out of frame we had a big, knitted blanket which we made sure our bride wrapped herself in once we got our shots. We didn’t pressure them into shooting if they ever felt too uncomfortable and we always made sure to work as quick & efficiently as possible.
Location
Location Name
No specific name
Location aDDRESS
Riedboden 82481 Mittenwald
Loation Type
Mountains
Country
Germany
Sometimes things go wrong on a shoot. Sometimes things go wrong way before the shoot has even happened. But if you stick through it and you don’t let those things get to heart then you’ll come out on the other side all the better.
Keep your eyes open for ways to use the environment creatively. Look for places that give reflections, or natural frames. They’re a great way to change things up and add a bit more interest to the story you’re telling.
