Image Focus

When you think of the wedding photography, it’s about a couple in a nice location, perhaps in the countryside, a beach or park. The light will be flattering and the shots taken at golden hour. I take all of those beautiful pictures, as they are important, but I’m more into storytelling; I am happy when the couple isn’t afraid to try something new.

This is an image that was taken during a couples photoshoot over the summer. The pair were celebrating their wedding anniversary and wanted a special photoshoot to mark the occasion, especially as they didn’t have a real couple shoot on their special day. For them it was a chance to wear the clothes they wore that day. But instead of recreating classic wedding shots, they wanted something more intimate, so I photographed them in a bedroom- almost completely in the dark. I captured the moment between them using the Sony Alpha 1 with a Distagon T* FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA lens.

The camera provided me with the high resolution that I needed to create beautiful prints, whilst also being great in low-light. It is a camera that I can use to shoot whatever I need to, whether I am in the studio or outside, whether I am posing my subject or they are moving – it can do it all.  The 35mm lens is my ‘go to’ for portrait images like these. It lets me get close to my subject whilst also showing some of the scene to help tell the story.

It can be easy to miss the focus when shooting f/1.4 in these particular light conditions; other cameras would have made the focus the point of highest contrast.  It’s impressive to see that even when shooting a silhouette, the Alpha 1 can use Face Detection and Eye AF depending on what it sees. That means that I can concentrate more on my subject’s emotions and posing – knowing that the camera will be focusing on them.

The reason I love this image so much is because it is not what you would typically expect from a wedding photographer.  It is the type of picture that matches the personality of the couple and the feelings they have for each other. As a photographer I feel I have this duty to respond to the couple, by trying to understand and know them a bit more. This is exactly what this image is doing: responding to a couple’s wishes on how to tell their story.