- Center Framed
- Moody
- Warm
- Trees
- Tattoos
- Sunset
- Stormy
- snuggle
- Outdoor
- Mid range
- Close up
- intimate
- Holding Face
- golden
- gentle
- filled frame
- Field
- Dark
- Cloudy
- Wet
The story behind the image
We stayed in touch between that first couple shoot and their wedding and even met up a few times for dinners & hangouts. When it came to their wedding, it was like we were with old friends and everything between us just went as smoothly as it could.
They got married in an awesome little tipi tent in the middle of a forest with their closest friends and family, and being a part of this and seeing these two marry definitely reminded us of just how lucky we are to be doing this for a living.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
While facing each other, we asked them to get as close as possible – so much so that their bellies were touching. From there, we asked our groom to bring his hadn’t up and gently caress her cheek while nuzzling her with his nose. We asked them to completely forget about us, take deep breaths and just enjoy each other for this moment.
What did you say?
Bring your hand up and gently caress her cheek, and while doing that really get in close and nuzzle into her. Love her. Show her you love her. And completely forget about us – just be with each other and in this moment alone. Nothing matters but this right now.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
We wanted to get a close-up shot of this moment, but not so close that we lost the context of where it was all happening. So we chose to frame this about mid-to-close. In order to give a bit more intimacy to the shot, we reduced the amount of sky above our couple allowing them to fill the majority of the frame.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
As the light was fading pretty fast, we found it became quite difficult to focus on our couple through the viewfinder. We then switched to live view which not only helped us see the composition, but it changes the way the camera focuses. The camera briefly raises the ISO to allow enough light to let it focus, it then gets it’s lock, and returns the ISO back to the original setting.
Focus Mode
Live View Single Shot
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Grooms hands
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/500 @ f/2 ISO1250 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
The sun had just set below some trees behind our couple. Since everything was starting to get quite dark, we chose to shoot into the light to use the remaining sunlight to create a rim light and help separate our couple from the background. As it had just rained a moment before, the light bloomed through the clouds creating a beautiful golden tone as this was happening.
Light Type
Natural Light
Time of day
Sunset
Weather
Stormy
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
The main challenge here was the fading light and that our cameras were really struggling to focus through the viewfinder. We also didn’t have the greatest live view system to work with on our camera.
Solutions
Just because our live view system wasn’t as great or fast as other cameras, it didn’t mean we couldn’t use it. It just took a bit more time to get its focus but the results were worth it. Once we got the focus, we kept our distance from our couple to keep them in focus while we moved around them slowly.
Location
Location Name
Faber-Castell Waldhütte
Location aDDRESS
Faber-Castell Waldhütte Faberhof 1, 90596 Schwanstetten
Loation Type
Forest
Country
Germany
If you happen to be hired by a couple who you just get on so well with; it doesn’t hurt to stay in touch. Even if you don’t live next to each other – having this friendship can be valuable down the line. A simple birthday card or anniversary wishes can go a long way to building this relationship.
If you happen to notice that things are getting pretty dark and you’re going to lose your couple in a dark background – try to look for the light source and see if you can backlight them. This rim light does a beautiful job of separating your couple from the background which just adds a lot more depth and attention-grabbing to them.
