- Back light
- Energy
- Sunset
- sunny
- sun
- spray
- Soft Light
- Playful
- natural frames
- Movement
- Laughing
- jean jacket
- Horizon Line
- Funny
- Fun
- Energetic
- Back lit
- edge
- Dancing
- cliffs
- clear sky
- clear
- champagne
- Center Framed
- celebration
- bright sky
- Bright
- blown out sky
- Backlit
- backlight
- Warm
The story behind the image
For these two, we photographed them the day after their wedding, at the same location. And one of the things we all really wanted to do on the wedding day but simply couldn’t, was to have a ‘champagne celebration’. They wanted to have a bit more fun and wildness in their after wedding shoot and of course, we obliged.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We positioned our couple and just explained to the groom that once the cork shoots off, to press him thumb down on the opening, shake the bottle, and let it spray up and towards us. We also had music with us, and made sure to keep the party vibes in full flow – which then helped us get the bride dancing & jumping for joy!
What did you say?
Alright my man, grab the bottle and remove the cork and just as it shoots off – try and block the opening with your thumb and spray it everywhere! Shake it real hard and aim it towards us & slightly up! And for you [Bride], we’re gonna have a party! As he’s spraying, I wanna see you dance, party, go crazy!
Composition
We wanted to keep enough space around our couple to capture enough of the champagne spray without losing it in a wide shot which would have brought less attention to the moment. So, we did this by shooting in portrait mode which limited the number of elements in the image while also keeping the coupe full body. We kept the overall composition quite simple by having them in the center of the frame but made sure to keep their heads framed within the background cliff as to not have any lines cutting through them.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
The focusing was a little tricky here as we aimed at the groom with our single point; but since we had the camera set in Servo mode, it automatically shifted to parts of the champagne spray which (at this wide aperture) caused the couple to be slightly out of focus. So, it isn’t technically a perfect image, but as we all know – what matters more to the couple is the moment.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Groom / But got the spray
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/1250 @ f/1.4 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
We had our couple in a position where the sun was directly behind them. We did this for a few reasons; and the first being that it was still a bit too harsh to have the light cross light them and keep them looking flattering, and the second was to try and illuminate the spray of the champagne. We also wanted to keep the sun in the frame to form part of the picture.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Sunset
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
Since this shot was brightly backlit, we ended up blowing out the highlights in the sky to a point where there are no details left. We made a conscious choice to expose for the skin of our couple which resulted in this blowout. So when editing, we were not too concerned about “bringing back detail”. Instead, we focused more on keeping their skins good, the warmth, and the grittiness. We applied our Protea presets and adjusted the exposure sliders to get the overall tones we wanted and then tweaked the HSL sliders slightly to control a bit of the color. Shifting the oranges and reds a tad more to the yellow side. We finally added in a few radial filters to create a manual vignette as well as enhancing the sun rays.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The issue with this shot was that we ended up focusing on the champagne spray over the couple as it was sprayed around.
Solutions
The solution would have been to turn off SERVO focus and keep it to one shot. That way, the camera wouldn’t keep tracking things that cross its frame.
Location
Location Name
Suites Alba Hotel
Location aDDRESS
Estr. de Albandeira, 8400-403 Lagoa, Portugal
Loation Type
Cliffs
Country
Portugal
We really do try and recommend after wedding shoots to our couples, time permitting of course. It’s a great upsell, and it’s a great opportunity for everyone to get even more awesome photos. Plus, you can always take this chance to try new things out, experiment, find a cool location, shoot at a more ideal time of day, and worry less about a strict timetable. There are so many benefits to it :)
