I positioned them so the sunset light coming through the bridge's arches hit them from one side, giving them a warm rim of light along the edge closest to it while keeping the rest of the frame soft and even. That kind of side light is easy to lose control of — too much and one side of the face goes dark, too little and you lose the glow entirely — so getting the angle right took some adjusting before the exposure balanced the way it does here.
I flew out for their wedding upstate, and we used the day before to shoot this pre-wedding session in Brooklyn, in DUMBO, with the bridge's stone towers framing them from behind. The brick building beside them adds warmth and texture without pulling focus from the couple.
What makes a shot like this work isn't just the bridge — it's the contrast of two people completely still and quiet against a city that's still moving around them, strangers visible in the background, life continuing on. That kind of contrast is something I look for in every engagement or pre-wedding session: a quiet moment set against a bigger, busier world, which tends to read as more powerful than either alone.
Location: Brooklyn, NY.
1/1250; f/1.4; ISO 100; 35.0 mm.