- Artificial Light
- Laughing
- Soft Light
- Rim Light
- Overcast
- outdoors
- Natural
- Middle Thirds
- Intimate Framing
- Back lit
- intimate
- Closed Eyes
- Close up
- Center Framed
- calm
- broken rules
- Bright
- Square Crop
The story behind the image
But that wasn’t our main goal of the shoot. That was just an after-shoot realization. What really inspired us for this shoot was the incredibly sparkly dress we were given by a bridal label and the fact that we found this stunning lady on Instagram who was super keen to model for us. It was a match made in heaven.
To add to the “sparkly” stuff, we also experimented with an external light source. As it was a pretty cold & miserable winter’s day, we knew we’d be missing the wow factor of having a “sun flare” in the shot lighting up all the little shapes of her dress.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We wanted to capture a moment between these two that felt authentic & genuine, though the challenge of them not being a real couple was ever-present. What we did though, was play really beautiful music on our Bluetooth speaker, and we simply asked them to get in close to each other. To close their eyes and imagine falling in love. It was at this moment that our bride raised her hand to his chest, tilted her head back, and fell into the moment.
What did you say?
Guys, let’s get you real close and have your eyes closed. Imagine for a moment you’re falling in love. Just go with the flow. Big, deep breathes and listen to the music.
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
We originally shot this image in portrait as we chose not to include too much of the surrounding park in the image. That would inevitably take away from the intimacy of the moment. While editing though, we weren’t 100% convinced on how little emphasis the bride was getting as her moment here is really the focus. Her eyes closed, head cocked back, and her hand on his chest all ooze with intimacy. So, we experimented with a crop. It’s not a perfect square, but that doesn’t matter. We found a framing that we felt included enough surrounding information, enough light, and enough of the couple to bring forward the feelings we wanted.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
As we had our light positioned just behind our couple and off to the side ever so slightly, we did have a little of a challenge focusing as the light hitting the lens did throw off the focus. So what we did was move slightly so we could lock onto the bride’s eye, and then reconnect our composition. It wasn’t a huge movement, but just enough to get the focus.
Focus Mode
Live View Single Shot
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides eye
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/400 @ f/1.2 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
Since the day itself was super miserable and overcast, it meant the light we had was rather flat and easy. It’s great for skin tones and such but can also be a bit boring. So we decided to bring an external video light with us (constant light) so that we could experiment with it and hopefully create something interesting. We had the light set up just behind the couple, a tad higher than their head height and just to the side. Though realise afterward, we wish we raised it about a foot higher. We did love the flaring it created though.
Light Type
Artificial Light
Weather
Overcast
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
We knew we wanted to keep the warmth going in this shot despite it being a rather cool winter day. The warm light temperature and the naturally tanned skin of the couple made this pretty easy to edit. We added a new custom preset of ours and adjusted everything to get the overall temperature & tones we were after. We also added in a bit more punch by dropping the blacks, shadows and raising the clarity. We finally added some grain to bring a bit more texture to the image.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
Amongst many other little challenges we had (mentioned throughout), we also had to deal with the fact that it was pretty darn cold. Our bride was wearing just her dress with an open back and with almost no sun breaking through the clouds, the temperatures dropped pretty fast each minute.
Solutions
We made sure to have her big winter jacket nearby. Literally just out of the frame. So immediately after taking a series of images, we asked her to throw on her jacket and warm-up. It became a little bit of a routine and in the end, everything worked out.
Location
Location Name
Schlossgarten
Location aDDRESS
Schlossgarten Erlangen, Erlangen
Loation Type
Garden / Field
Country
Germany
While soft, overcast light can be really easy to work with – it also can start to be a bit boring. Learning to experiment with different light sources (whether artificial or natural) is not only great for you as a skilled photographer, it can be incredibly fun & rewarding. For sure you won’t love every shot you take, but what you do walk away with is a lesson on how you wouldn’t do it again. That wisdom is invaluable.
