Hiking in your wedding clothes? I’m not an outdoorsy kinda girl so when I hear that photographers take their couples off on full adventures for their elopements I’m always in awe. I’d be sitting by the fire with a hot toddy waiting for them to come back down the mountain!
However I can see that sometimes it is very much worth the effort and Andy Hamilton not only gave this couple, an unforgettable experience, he also gave them an unforgettable image.
It can be all too easy to rush things in circumstances like this but remembering what Neil Thomas Douglas has taught for us at Farm, Andy took his time to ensure that the couple were framed well. This enables them to stand out from that incredible landscape and to not be overwhelmed by the scene.
Then the final touch is ensuring that they have a connection to each other and that their romance is the real star here.
Fuji X-T2 | 50-140mm 2.8 | f/2.9 | 1/1100| ISO 200
Own Preset
What Andy Said…
“This image was taken almost at the summit of Ben A’an. The couple came over from France to get married in a secret elopement. They eloped in a forest and then we hiked Ben A’an to exchange rings at the top. After a hard, steep hike, this view just opened in front of us and immediately, I knew it was the shot that I was after. When the bride booked me, she told me that she only wanted 10 images – so I knew that I had to take 10 belters that tell the story of their day (I obviously took 1000+ shots, but she legit just wants 10). I wanted to get a bit of height over the couple so that they were framed well within the loch – I was channelling my inner Neil Thomas Douglas when composing the shot!
When framing the shot, I made sure that the couples heads were within the loch and they had no lines or anything going through heads or other body parts. I achieved this by positioning myself higher than the couple. Thankfully, there was a bit of height exactly where I wanted it on the mountain.”