Salt & Pine photography is made up of Darryl Ann and Joe and they are a Seattle-based husband and wife team of wedding photographers that make up Salt & Pine.
These two talented photographers LOVE adventure, and find magical ways to capture it in their images. So when they agreed to tell us how they got some of our favorite shots they’ve taken, we were thrilled to share with you what they had to say!
Read on to learn how Salt & Pine got the shot!
How We Got the Shot | Salt & Pine
When you ask a couple to get in the water, there is a ton of pressure to make sure you get something great and make it worth it. So it’s a bit stressful, but also super fun!
In this shot, we just used natural light, and backlit the couple with the sun. The posing was easy — we just asked them to go out and have a water fight and splash each other and then kiss and make up. We also always encourage couples to have their hands on each other or be holding them anytime we are shooting.
This lake is one of our favorite spots to shoot. It’s in a valley where the lighting is never the same, no matter how many times you shoot there.
This shot really tells the story of who they are as a couple. They were so willing to just live life and have a good time. It really makes our jobs easier when we can just get out of a couple’s way and let them be themselves in amazing light.
We absolutely love shooting after dark, its one of our favorite things. However, in this situation, we forgot to bring a flash. All we had was a continuous light source. So I was thinking the entire time, “Hold still, hold still, hold still….”
Darryl Ann was holding a continuous light source up to the couple and turning it on and off as fast as possible to emulate a flash.
With shots that we would call “epic” — like against the night sky or a huge silhouette — we often try to just keep the pose simple. The other important thing is making sure the pose is adding to the story in a meaningful way. Like you wouldn’t have a couple doing your favorite portrait pose here because it just wouldn’t add to the environment.
While at the location, we picked a big rock to give the couple some separation and allow us to shoot up a bit more to pull in the night sky. The headlamps really make it for me. They give a sense of aw where you can feel the connection between the couple through their pose, but also the connection to the world around them.
In this shot, we were working on a tiny dock and there was barely room to back up. Also, if you have ever lit a lantern like this, you know they can sometimes take 1000 tries, so you kind of are just living in anxiety of when it will finally light and take off.
A member of our team was holding a light stick with a CTO gel covering it.
Again — just let it happen, but encourage connection. Keep gently encouraging connection every chance you get so that in moments like this that you can’t pose, you still get a powerful emotive image.
This was also easily one of the best sunsets we have ever had the privilege to shoot. And it was a couple we really clicked with. It felt so satisfying to deliver such a great image for them.
What were we thinking when capturing this shot? Don’t screw it up! And OMG these are going to be amazing!
We placed an AD200 off-camera behind the bride (because her dress gave her the biggest silhouette, making it easier to block the flash when they started moving). There was also a lightstick on them giving fill light and adding just a bit of motion to all the particles.
Mostly, a shot like this is just lots of prep work. You must time the sprays, encouraging the bride or groom to keep spraying almost no matter what, and make sure you are in position to block your flash so the shots are not all ruined by a bright, unblocked back light.
It was the last photo of the night. They had two bottles of champagne — one to drink and one to spray together in celebration. They were such an adventurous couple that we suggested that they both spray one. What we meant was spray them in the air, but what they heard was champagne spraying competition. Of course, we were not about to correct them because this was way better!
This show has everything, wedding attire, great location, fun lighting, particles flying everywhere, and a super dynamic fun couple just having a blast. It’s rare to put everything together, but when it happens, you feel so good!
Want more How I Got the Shot blog post? Check out this one with Bradley Images and this one with Apollo Fields Photography – two of our favorites!
We want to give a big shoutout to Darryl Ann and Joe of Salt & Pine. You both are cherished ShootDotEdit customers and we’re so proud to be on your team!
If you’d like to check out more of Salt & Pine’s work, visit their website or check out their Instagram and Facebook to see even more incredible work!