Jennifer Marano
October 2025 - Hawaiian Dreamscape
About the Image(s)
I took this from the deck of a condo near Kona, Hawaii, where I was vacationing with my family. This couple and their officiant just showed up while I was watching waves and proceeded to get married! The surf was up and there was a storm approaching, but the wedding came off without a raindrop. The only other person present was a lone photographer who kept to the background. I felt so privileged to be there!
Technical: iPhone 14 Pro Max, captured in raw and tweaked just a bit in Lightroom.
12 comments posted
Jennifer, another winner! What a catch! The colors are so ViVi with the contrast of the impending storm and the solemnity of the wedding. I noticed the conch shell behind the groom. Did they blow in it after the ceremony, or was it just there? Beautiful! Posted: 10/04/2025 20:32:39
Jennifer, another winner! What a catch! The colors are so ViVi with the contrast of the impending storm and the solemnity of the wedding. I noticed the conch shell behind the groom. Did they blow in it after the ceremony, or was it just there? Beautiful! Posted: 10/05/2025 13:34:33
Thank you Cindy! The conch shell was part of the ceremony. I considered taking it out for the sake of simplicity, but the eerie sound was so beautiful that I had to leave it in. Posted: 10/06/2025 16:51:44
This image has so much to look at - and it makes me think - which is great and what a good photo should do. Who are they? Why are there no guests? Who is the officiant? Is the storm a harbinger of things ahead? I played with the composition - but couldn't improve it - the subjects are relatively small - but other things are important - so I didn't come up with a better crop. I think the lighting is pretty dim/flat - perhaps that's the vibe you want. I tried to slightly darken the periphery and brighten the subject. What so you think? Posted: 10/08/2025 08:35:43
Who said that cell phones don't have good cameras? This is a very interesting scene. With all that there is to see here, the wedding party is the subject. A viewer's eyes will most always move first to people in the image. Therefore, I believe a little simplification is in order. The portion of the image to the right of the large palm tree is a separate image. Try creating more of a vertical image by cropping in from the right side until you remove the large tree. Posted: 10/10/2025 21:28:56
tx Chan. I'm not sure I follow your suggested crop. Can you show us an example of what you're thinking about? Posted: 10/12/2025 11:41:55
Here is my suggested crop. Posted: 10/13/2025 13:13:14
Thank you - the example is helpful. Agree with Jennifer that the main is a bit too close to the edge. Of course all this could be fixed with AI/generative expansion of the image . . . but that opens a whole different can or worms.
Posted: 10/15/2025 10:25:40
Posted: 10/15/2025 10:25:40
If you put this in Ps or a similar editing program and overlay my crop with the Golden Spiral composition guideline, you will find that I have placed the wedding group in a power point position in the image. Posted: 10/15/2025 13:23:13
Very nice photo! Nice work using your cell phone. I like the overall sharpness of the image and the conch shell adds to the story line! My only suggestion is to consider removing the tree if possible as my eyes seem to come back to it repeatedly. Nice work with this photo...thanks for sharing it! Posted: 10/11/2025 21:14:14
Thank you, everyone! I will experiment with removing the tree, or at least part of it, as Chan's crop makes the people crammed into the corner a bit more than I am comfortable with. I did brighten the subject a bit and also added a vignette, but Steven's example shows me that I probably didn't do enough. I appreciate all your suggestions and comments! Posted: 10/13/2025 23:32:18
See my reply to Steve above. Posted: 10/15/2025 13:24:18