- Bokeh
- Candles
- Center Framed
- Dark
- Evening
- Guests
- Hug
- Indoor
- Natural
- Reception
- Rule of thirds
- Unposed
- Wide
The story behind the image
It can be tempting as photographers to take a little break during slideshows but turn your cameras towards the couple + their guests. Many times the reactions are gold.
Composition
I wanted the focus of the image to be on the moment happening between the bride + her mom with as few distractions as possible. I knelt down in front of one of the tables + shot through the centerpiece using my 135mm. The lights in the foregroud created a natural bokeh frame around them, eliminating all distractions + bringing the desired focus to this moment.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I used single shot AF and focused on the brides face using the viewfinder. As I was shooting through florals + lights I had to adjust my positioning in order to grab focus where I wanted and not accidentally on something in the foreground.
Focus Mode
Single Shot Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The Brides Face
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/250 @ f/2.0 ISO2500 WB-6500
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
Once the sun disappeared there was not much light to work with at the reception besides a few candles and string lights. When we approach lighting in dark situations we try to keep the feel of a room by using the light that is available but in some cases (like this one) adding more is necessary. To get more light on the family while they watched the slideshow, we placed our handheld light panel on the edge of the table on minimum brightness.
Light Type
Candles
Time of day
Evening
Weather
Indoor
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
We applied our preset + adjusted white balance as the image was quite warm. We used the radial filter to brighten the subjects slightly while not affecting the rest of the exposure of the image. To bring back the warm tones to the bokeh we used the HSL sliders to remove some of the blue + magenta hues. The clone stamp in Photoshop was used to remove dad from the image to bring more impact to the moment happening between mom + daughter.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Heavily altered VSCO Preset
Challenges
Reception lighting can be tricky + the challenge can be keeping the ambiance of the setting while also having the people you are capturing well lit.
Solutions
We used a handheld light panel to spotlight the subjects. This allowed us to keep the overall feeling of the space while allowing the focal point to remain on the moment happening between mom + daughter.
Location
Location Name
Sandos Finisterra Los Cabos
Location aDDRESS
Baja California Sur, Mexico 23450 Blvd. Paseo De La Marina S/N, Centro Cabo San Lucas
Loation Type
Rooftop
Country
Mexico
Find ways to elevate your images. Try a different perspective or shooting through things to minimize distractions while also adding a little something special to the images you are creating.
