- almost kiss
- Backlit
- Close up
- Contrasty
- Dark
- hands holding face
- Indoor
- intimate
- Moody
- passionate
- Quiet
- romantic
- Shadows
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We asked our couple to stand in the doorframe, really close to each other and then we asked them to lean like for a kiss but not to kiss and stay like that for a while. After a few seconds they naturally started to touch each other’s faces and smooch, like all newlyweds do ;) What we wanted to get was a natural moment that they do right before getting into the “pose” they think you might want or right after when they think you got it. That’s absolutely the best candid stuff you can get.
What did you say?
Could you just stand over here, facing each other, and now if you could just lean like for a big Hollywood kiss but try NOT to kiss. Great, now keep it like that for a while, but you can keep your hands moving. Awesome!
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
The couple was taller than us, so it was easier to keep the perspective straight. When we are shooting a close portrait with a 35mm lens we have to be very close to the couple so we get all the feels of intimacy and tension between them. When you go for a shot like this one we try to fill the frame with the subject, trying to avoid leaving free space around the couple’s heads, etc… This adds a lot more intimacy to the feel of the image.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We rarely shoot with wide-open lenses these days, but it was very dark in that room so we had to double-check if we got their faces in focus. It was a calm pose, so we had all the time we needed.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
the bride's lips
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/250 @ f/1.4 ISO4000 WB-5800K
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
In the room, there were two huge windows with cross-bars so, in theory, we had plenty of light. A bit of a shame that there was also thick fog outside, so we didn’t have much light after all, though in the end, it was soft enough. We moved our couple more to the doorway so we had the light a bit more narrowed and then we let them do their thing. We moved them because we only wanted a little bit of light to hit them – this adds a lot to the romance of the image as there is shadows and mystery and dimensions all playing peacefully together.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
We applied our preset and then adjusted the exposure, contrasts, and warmth to our liking. It was a fairly easy image to edit and so we even spent a bit of extra time by doing a slight skin retouch using the spot healing tool. It’s these little things in editing that can make a big difference.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
Definitely the amount of light in the room was a challenge here.
Solutions
We decided to leave the more dynamic shots for later and we focused on more intimate and calm shots. We opened our aperture wide and set the ISO to the moon.
Location
Location Name
Złoty Jar
Location aDDRESS
Złota 24, 57-250 Złoty Stok, Poland
Loation Type
Private Home / AirBnB / Apartment
Country
Poland
This is the type of shot that we try to make at every single photoshoot. It’s intimate, shows a deep connection between the couple especially when you catch the right moment. It’s easy and it can go far on social media. We absolutely love it and we will always go for it as it’s a basic part of our photographic vocabulary and what’s most exciting is we never got two of the exact same shots.
