- black & white
- Relaxed
- top down
- Thermal Springs
- Thermal
- Swim
- Square Crop
- Soft Light
- Outdoor
- calm
- nude
- Leaning on each other
- intimate
- Hot Spring
- High Angle
- Head on shoulders
- Close up
- Water
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I didn’t have to talk much on the set because the clients knew exactly what they wanted. There was no hesitation. I asked my couple to lean back then I told him (he was much taller than her) to put his head on her shoulder. I was in a position above them with the camera.
What did you say?
Lean back to back. You [Guy] now lightly put your head on her shoulder and close your eyes
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
Since my couple was in such a position where their heads were facing upwards, I wanted to find a composition where I could capture their emotions. That’s how I found myself above them with the camera pointed down. I shot this with a 35mm and later cropped the image to a square format as I felt it just balanced everything out. We have a few lines in the composition too (if you look closely); the one follows from the breasts of the girl and the other of the pecs of the man. These lines create a form of symmetry and balance and help to direct the viewer’s attention to their emotional faces.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I chose to focus on the guys’ eyes. Since both their eyes are roughly at the same distance from me, and on the same focal plane, there was no problem keeping them both in focus. By shooting with a wide aperture, I was also able to blur out the breasts into the background.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Guys' eyes
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/200 @ f/2.2 ISO100 WB-6200K
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
I used natural light for this shot as the light was very soft and diffused due to the clouds. I knew that if I wanted to have the best light (to have a bit of highlights & shadows) I had to have them face upwards towards where the light was coming from. This created highlights on their face with a soft shadow that fell down on their sides.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Cloudy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I edited this shot in Lightroom and converted it into Black & White. I wanted to have the feeling of nostalgia that you often get when looking at film photos, so i edited it to keep the whites from blowing out and the blacks from being too harsh. I then added in quite a lot of grain to really give it a texture. Finally, I created a manual vignette with the radial brush to have even more control over where the darkened edges were happening.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Own personal Presets
Challenges
The biggest challenge on the set was that everything happened in February when the temperature was below zero. Fortunately, these are thermal hot waters, so the clients agreed to the challenge.
Solutions
I try to talk as little as possible so that they can sink into that “wave of love”.
Location
Location Name
Plaža Vrućica
Location aDDRESS
Srpske Toplice Banja Luka 78000 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Loation Type
Hot Spring
Country
Bosnia Herzegovina
Use natural light and do not be afraid of shadows because they are an integral part of good photography.
