Rachel Santos (@bushwhacked) is a portrait and lifestyle photographer whose work is centered around capturing the essence of humans with movement and candid emotion. With the help of a friend, she captured this self-portrait with her wife to include in a special wedding video they were making for friends and family. We love its creative look and how Santos blended her love of both art and her partner into a single photograph and wanted to learn more. We caught up with Santos to learn more about how she created this image. Keep reading as she explains her story behind the shot and see more of the images she captured for the video.
Photo by Rachel Santos & Lishen Ye. Sony Alpha 7 III. Sony 35mm f/1.4. 1/100-sec., f/2.2, ISO 250
With the help of a friend, portrait & lifestyle photographer Rachel Santos created this self-portrait with her wife in this beautiful tribute to art & love.
A Romantic Location
My wife and I came to Paris to capture visuals that will be featured in our wedding video. We decided to do a very intimate ceremony on 2.22.22, and many family and friends were unable to witness the special day. We decided that we would love to put together a short film of sorts to play at our reception and help capture our union in celebration.
Using Foreground To Evoke Emotion
This project came with a lot of pre-planning as far as mood boards and song selection so that the visuals would all be cohesive. We had scouted the museums specifically with the intention of capturing them in a new light. My desire was to tie the viewer into the experience, evoking an emotion with the help of foreground.
This shot specifically came to me while standing next to the massive line for Mona Lisa. Neither of us desired to wait and thought the view from the side was more interesting anyways. I asked my incredibly talented friend Lishen Ye (@liishenn) to capture a photo of us looking at each other, but I wanted us to be out of focus and Mona to be directly between us.
Photo by Rachel Santos & Lishen Ye. Sony Alpha 7 III. Sony 35mm f/1.4.
We took the first round and after reviewing I felt the people were a bit distracting so we moved forward and placed her between us with more simplicity. I have had a massive adoration for art since childhood and I am enamored with my wife. So I felt like the love radiated through the photo between us and Miss Mona.
Photo by Rachel Santos & Lishen Ye. Sony Alpha 7 III. Sony 35mm f/1.4. 1/100-sec., f/2.2, ISO 250
A Gear Combo To Capture Life How Santos Sees It
This image is shot on my tried and true Sony Alpha 7 III with a Sony 35mm f/1.4 lens. I haven’t picked up another camera since getting my hands on a Sony in 2014. I’ve bounced back and forth between the Alpha 7 III and Alpha 7R III but I am always always using my 35mm. I’ve found that this combo captures life the exact way I see it. It feels the most accurate to my mind's eye.
Lishen was standing a couple feet away from us and holding the camera at eye level in the center. This is natural lighting provided by skylights in the museum. The settings for this shot were 1/100-sec., f/2.2, ISO 250. Then I edited this on Lightroom classic with my presets. There are only some basic lighting adjustments and color correction.
See more of Rachel's work on Instagram @bushwhacked.
