Engagement / couples shoot with a7RII and a7II

[Roses]

The photos are here:

http://www.roseandcharles.com/n-c-engagement-photos/

We used two lenses and two bodies. The Batis 85mm/1.8 was on the a7RII, and the 24-70mm/2.8 GM was on the a7II.

My husband did most of the shooting, while I posed the couple and did the "art direction" and post-processing. They were a great and photogenic couple, and it was a low pressure shoot, which made it a lot of fun for all of us.

We both learned a lot from this. I did a lot of research about couples poses and "romantic" looks before the session, which definitely helped. It's always nice as the session goes on and they loosen up a bit and give more natural interactions and smiles.

One thing that my husband commented on was that continuous eye AF was not always the best thing to use for couples, especially with such strong sunset backlighting.

Everything was shot with natural light. We brought a giant reflector but didn't use it. Maybe we would have gotten better shots if we had, but maybe we would have gotten less natural expressions (the reflector really is huge). I personally think it's more about the expressions than perfect lighting.

Looking forward to a9 or something similar with a joystick and superior autofocus system.

 

[OFremen]

Those were lovely pictures! Really nice job!

 

[VladimirTaikov]

Very clean, lovely images. Love how warm they are!

 

[jl_smith]

Great images, kudos! I cannot pose people to save my life, so I sometimes enjoying seeing others' work and yours was great

One nit, which may or may not have been under your control - I really wish the man was wearing pants instead of shorts. His shirt is fine, but the skin on the legs seems to draw attention and makes him look a bit under-dressed.

I realize perhaps it was his choice or it's his personality, but that's about the only minor point I can think of - great set

 

[biza43]

Good job, well done. If I may offer a few comments:

1. I like the backlit photos, but I find the highlights too harsh on some of them. Our eyes are immediately drawn to the brightest areas in a photo, so I do find the highlights somewhat distracting in some of the photos.

2. Definitely the use of a reflector is recommended. In some of the shots the shadows had to be opened up too much, with the consequent lack of contrast and a washed out look. If that was the intention, all is well. And if the couple liked the result, no problem. Just a suggestion for a different approach, and other options in the tool set.

I like the relaxed feel of the moment, it tells a nice story, and you documented it really well.

 

[sebbe]

I really love the mood on the last one.

 

[tellure99]

Great work, and thanks for continuing to post your stuff here.. so much better than the stuff most of us tech-heads end up shooting.