- Bridal Portraits
- Indoors
- united kingdom
- Spin
- Shadows
- Playful
- Natural Light
- natural frames
- Movement
- Moody
- Indoor
- Center Framed
- highlights
- Harsh Light
- full body
- Free
- Flow
- Energetic
- Directional Light
- Dark Room
- Contrasty
- Window Light
The story behind the image
Well, the short answer is to just try. Try something new when you’re out shooting. Be brave and take your inspiration from work you’ve seen elsewhere and do you hardest to make it look really really cool. But there is one very important key here – make sure you absolutely have your safe shots.
Don’t go into a shoot and try something you’ve never done before without having your “safe” ones to deliver, that is a massive, unnecessary risk and one that should be avoided at all costs.
However, once you know you have some banging shots in your bag, and you have a bit of extra time – then go for it! Use those last few minutes to try out something different and pay attention to what is working, why it’s working or why it isn’t – so that even if you come back with nothing to show from that creative part – you have at least learnt something.
For this bridal portrait, we wanted to have her in the shadow. We waited for her turn when she spun and took the shot just as she was out of the light. We wanted that “mysterious” shot.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We asked our bride to spin around in a circle while “throwing” her veil slightly so it lifted off the ground. We also asked her to lead with her head so that she was looking where she was turning, as well as to hold her bouquet in a very relaxed, down-low form.
What did you say?
Spin around in a circle while lifting up your veil; and also turn your head to your shoulder. Basically, look where you’re going to turn before you turn
Composition
This spot in the room was the only area where we had the window light and we just so happened to have this door in the background. We decided to frame her within the door so that the lines boxed her and directs the viewers eyes straight to our bride.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We focused on our bride and took a few test shots just before she started spinning. Once we knew we could get a solid lock, we refocused on her and held down the shutter in burst mode as she spun around joyfully. Because she didn’t change distance from us – we didn’t have an issue with losing focus.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides hair
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/2000 @ f/1.2 ISO250 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 the room was pretty dark, we wanted to find a spot by the window that wasn’t too harsh. We had our bride stand just next to the window with about 1.5 meters gap between her and the glass. This meant that the light falling on her wasn’t too harsh, but also not too soft. Our goal was to definitely have a play with the highlights and shadows.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Indoor
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
One challenge we faced here was the room being quite small and cramped, especially with quite a lot of people using it to get ready and having most of their belongings taking up every corner of the room.
Solutions
When we arrive, we always do a quick walk around the room to find spots where we want to shoot when the bride is ready. In this case, we found this door near a window and asked the girls to help clear up their belongings so we didn’t have too many items in the shots. When it came time to do the bridal portraits, we politely asked the rest of the girls if they could hang out outside for a moment to allow us space to take the pictures.
Location
Location Name
Shustoke Barn
Location aDDRESS
Shustoke Barn Shustoke Barn, Coleshill Road, Shustoke, Coleshill B46 2BL, United Kingdom
Loation Type
Wedding / Event Venue
Country
United Kingdom
When going for creative shots, make sure you have some safe ones to deliver just in case things don’t go to plan. Rather be safe than sorry.
If you’re looking for inspiration on how to change up your bridal sessions, have a look at other photographers work and even different genre’s of photography. Think of Fashion, portrait and even street photography and pay attention to how those photographers use light, use composition and use their subjects.
