Although a photograph is two-dimensional the space in which the photograph represents is not. Considering the depth of an image is something we think about all the time. Unfortunately the couple was not seated directly in the middle of the window behind them, meaning if I were to stand perfectly parallel to the wall one of their heads would not have been framed so nicely. A slight step to the left allowed the background to align with my couple and thus framing them in the window. Later in post, I adjusted the horizontal orientation to get all the lines straight and parallel.
Center Framed
Since all subject faces were on the same plane parallel to me, autofocusing on any of their faces would do.
Single Shot Autofocus
Single Point
Bride's face
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.
There were windows on two sides of the building. So we had light coming from behind our couple and from the side. We’ll never complain about having too many windows so this was really nice to work with. The only real challenge was that as the night went on the room got darker and darker so eventually we had to change up our method for capturing the event.
Natural Light
Indoor
We applied our preset and made a few adjustments. First was white balance and colour saturation. The red brick and warm wood floors added a lot of colour casting so bringing down the reds and oranges was necessary. There’s two radial masks around the bride and groom that brought out the shadows and a touch more exposure.
The hardest part of capturing candid photographs compared to posed shots, is being completely prepared from a technical standpoint (camera settings etc.) but not having any real idea as to when something wonderful is going to happen.
That’s where experience comes in. Pull from past experiences and ask yourself where and when moments might occur. Where should you be and what could you do to prepare?
The Diamond
6 Powell St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1E9
Restaurant
Canada
Love a good long lens shot. Consider that background any how it can frame photograph, in this case, quite literally. Foreground shouldn’t be forgotten either, but with a long lens it should be quite easy to find something ahead of you to use to add mood and feeling.
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