- calm
- Center Framed
- Cloudy
- Creative
- Dark
- holding hands
- Low angle
- Mirror
- Moody
- Natural Light
- Outdoor
- Reflection
- Soft Light
- Water
- Wide
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We knew we needed the couple to stand on one end of the puddle while we crotched down low at the other end but most of the direction came as we reviewed the first initial shots. We asked the couple to come close together and asked for them to stay fairly still as this was going to be a type of “silhouette” shot. This helps a lot since most of the time we encourage our couples to just “hangout” with each other.
Once they were close, we asked them to adjust their heads a little so from our low down perspective their heads looked aligned and we could see a good silhouette of their faces.
And that’s it, kept it fairly simple and the whole shot probably took less than 2 minutes to setup and take.
What did you say?
Alright so for this next shot, we’re going to try something a little different. We want to get a sort of silhouette shot, so you’ll have to stay fairly still. Let’s start by facing each other and holding hands. Alright now let’s get our faces a tad closer to each other. Perfect, now Vivian, can you tilt the top of your head slightly towards us? Awesome! We got the shot!
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
Knowing that we wanted our couple to standout against the background, which in this case was a puddle, we chose to backlit the couple. Meaning we, the photographers, stood facing towards the brightest light, and our couple stood between us and that light. Since this was a sort of silhouette, we knew the subjects would be dark therefore the background had to be bright and clear of other dark objects. This would give us the best “cut out” and make them stand out.
Of course we typically follow the rule of thirds, keeping horizons, eye lines etc at different horizontal lines throughout the image but since we also wanted to include their feet at the top of the image, we bent the rules to quarters instead! The horizon and their feet were at the top 25% mark, hands holding at 50% and their heads at the bottom 25%. This is as balanced as it’s going to get! LOL.
framing
Center Framed
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
We of course wanted their faces to be in focus but also their shoes and feet at the top of the image. Luckily we were able to get both in focus with a short depth of field and even though physically their feet and the stop we focused on in the puddle were about 4-5 feet (1.25-1.5m) away from each other. It worked because we were not focusing on a point on the puddle but rather a reflection through the puddle. Imagine if you had a mirror on the ground instead. And you had a rubber ducky sitting on the mirror. If you focused on the rubber ducky the reflections in the mirror would be blurry while the duck would be sharp. If you then focused on something that you could see reflected through the mirror, say your couple, and took the shot, they would in turn be sharp but the rubber ducky sitting on the mirror would be blurry. If none of this makes sense, go stick something on your bathroom mirror and try taking photos of it and reflections of things in your mirror and compare what you see! :)
Focus Mode
Live View Single Shot
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
The couple's faces
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/320 @ f/4.0 ISO3200 WB-6500K
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
It was the end of the session and the sun was behind the clouds. We typically like working with lots of contrast so on a cloudy day we don’t get very much of that. Since it was the end of the session and we had already gotten pretty much everything we wanted this was a great time to experiment and try something new. The shot was little trickier than normal since it was an inverted reflection and getting the right angle was not easy. Didn’t help that it was getting darker and darker as we went! At the end of the day, I think it was worth it!
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Cloudy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
Our preset is something we’ve tweaked around with for years and now it’s a monster, lol. For this image we applied our monster, brought down the highlights in curves to soften the clouds. Brought the WB up to 7000 to warm up the image and increase the saturation in HSL for the reds and oranges. We also added a radial adjustment mask around their heads to bring up the overall exposure and contrast. No photoshop was needed.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
our own monster creation
Challenges
Aside from the technical aspects our greatest challenge was having our couple face just the right way for the silhouette.
Solutions
We find projecting a sense of calm and fun allows us to get our couples to do things they might normally find uncomfortable or awkward. In this case we needed them to stay fairly still and tilt their heads in just the right way. We knew this was going to be a challenge from the beginning so we prefaced by asking the couple if they were down to try something new! Once they were in, we told them it might seem a little weird and we might need them to hold their heads a certain way but that it’ll be worth it! As they’re invested in this now, they were totally in to do whatever we asked of them!
Location
Location Name
Lighthouse Park
Location aDDRESS
4902 Beacon Ln, West Vancouver, BC V7W 1K5
Loation Type
Beach / Coastal
Country
Canada
We don’t know if you find this yourself, but sometimes the best shots are the ones that are outside your comfort zone, the ones you’re not sure will work and occasionally the ones you’re not confident in trying on a wedding day. As much as engagement sessions are awesome to get the couple used to your style and approach, it’s also a wonderful opportunity for you to learn as well. Try things you might not be confident in doing yet at a wedding and gain that experience at an engagement session. Do we know how to use a puddle at a wedding now?? Yes we do!
