- 8 people
- Posed
- under tree
- tree
- Tilt Shift
- symmetrical
- Stormy
- standing apart
- Soft Light
- simple
- Shade
- Rule of thirds
- Rain
- Natural Light
- 8 person group
- natural frames
- Moody
- lower thirds
- lined up
- Group shot
- Cool
- cloudy skies
- Cloudy
- Center Framed
- calm
- bad weather
- afternoon
- Wide
The story behind the image
This might sound difficult, but it’s actually as simple as finding inspiration from other images and photographers and wondering how you can take ideas, tweak them, and make them your own. Look around. Ignore trends. Seek out the creative and different and daydream.
Also: scout locations. Before a wedding, walk around with a coffee to places you’re likely to go on the wedding day and imagine photos. You don’t even need your camera. Try to do this at the same time of day, so you can observe the light.
In this case, I had pre-visualized a tilt-shift image similar to this. For me, tilt-shift lenses offer opportunities, but they can also be over-used and used in the wrong scenarios. What can make a tilt-shift image interesting is elevation, because when you shoot slightly downwards at a lower subject it creates a “miniature” effect that can look surreal. This spot gave me that. It also offered a powerful symmetry. A vale of land with a single lonely tree. I love minimalism and composition and this location drew me in.
Initially, I was just going to shoot the couple, but the bridal party was present so I decided to utilize them all. It was a good decision I think. The photo took about 5 minutes. I chose the 50 1.2 because of its bokeh. Its rendering of OOF is one of the most beautiful of all lenses. Would I use any other lenses? Yes, of course. I use a bunch of different lenses, depending on what focal length I’m seeking. I find 35mm is the most versatile for tilt-shift photos.
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
This photo is very minimal and quirky. In the spirit of the location and style, I wasn’t seeking romance and laughter and energy: I wanted simplicity. So I had the group stand perfectly still & expressionless. Very easy to direct.
What did you say?
Girls, I’ll get you to stand that side, boys, that side. Stand the same distance apart, quite still and facing me. Like that – perfect!
Tone of Directions
Calm
Composition
Composition is very important to me. I’m not a great believer in the theory of composition, and I can’t name particular textbook methods (aside from rule of thirds), but I believe shooting in a way that is aesthetically pleasing is a skill that grows the more you shoot. Generally, for portraits, the rule of thirds is a good one. But for creative photos there are no rules: you need to feel your way towards what works best for you and the image, and trust that what is aesthetically pleasing to your eye is also pleasing to other people viewing it.
In this case, I didn’t want too much space below the bridal party, because the lower part of the image is simply grass. Having the bridal party at the bottom also added to the feeling of smallness. Also, the focus for this image, for me, is the tree, so I composed this centrally. And I wanted the playfulness of the OOF area to be enjoyed – the upper part of the image to my eye is very interesting.
Compositional Rules
Symmetry
framing
Lower ThirdsWideFull BodyNegative Space
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
The where and how of focus is paramount for this shot. I used a canon 50mm 1.2 mounted with a tilt-shift adapter on a sony a7iii. An unusual combination. But quite simple. Dumb tilt-shift adapters are cheap (mine was $20). They literally just allow you to tilt a lens up and down, with no EXIF data transfer or AF capabilities.
Because it’s a dumb adapter, I used focus zebras to get the right things in focus. This is the hardest thing to do when using a tilt-shift set up, because the focus area is very narrow and behaves very differently to standard setups. To make sure I don’t miss focus, I slowly move the focus up and down and shoot dozens of fast images at a high fps. Later, I choose the perfect image. In this case it got the upp bodies of the bridal party in focus, and the lower bodies OOF. But even this shot wasn’t perfect: if you look closely you can see that the top of their heads is also slightly blurred.
Focus Mode
Manual Focus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
Upper bodies.
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/160 @ f/2.5 ISO1600 WB-Auto
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
This photo was taken in a valley at dusk on a cloudy day. There was soft ambient light, but no sun to speak of. THis meant that I didn’t have to worry too much about where or how the group was positioned since the light was very soft throughout.
Light Type
Natural Light
Light Quality
Soft
Time of day
Afternoon
Weather
Cloudy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I used my own adapted preset. I darkened the top half of the image because it was too bright and I wanted attention drawn down to the bridal party. Also added grain and removed a telegraph line.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Challenges
The main challenge was nailing focus using a tilt setup.
Solutions
I overcame this by very slowly adjusting focus and shooting a ton of frames at the same time.
Location
Location Name
Newrybar Downs
Location aDDRESS
Newrybar, Byron Bay, Australia
Loation Type
Garden / Field
Country
Australia
Would I shoot this same shot again? No, I wouldn’t. And here is the point: this image is interesting precisely because it’s unique. Shooting it again would be pointless and boring. I would definitely shoot something similar, but for me, the process was a success because I did something that was different. So next time, I will do something different again.
This is the hardest thing to do in wedding photography, and in a world saturated with photos. But the challenge is an exciting one.
