This lesson is about changing geometry of the photography and the objects in the photography using Photoshop. I added some delicacy and a little bit of monumentality to this image.
I shot this wedding photo long time ago with a brand new Canon 5D, which was a novelty on the digital cameras’ market. I shot this photo while working with another photographer. We had shot lots of beautiful locations and then we went to the newlyweds’ house to take a rest and make a couple of shots there. At this point me and my mate photographer decided to swap our camera lenses. I gave him my telephoto zoom Canon 70-200 f/2.8, and took his cheap wide-angle zoom Canon 17-40 f/4.
I’ve never shot with lens like that; it was interesting to make a couple of introductory shots, and then compare the results with the declared characteristics of that lens. So I asked the bride to stay next to the door, then I lied on the floor and made a few photos.
From all the photos I chose this one. The dress was gorgeous and it had a massive train. I just lay down on the floor to get a lower view and run the corner of the wedding dress’ train into the corner of the image using the wide-angle.
And the wide-angle zoom had already done its work: it stretched the dress to a fantastic size. So I exaggerated the length of the bride’s wedding dress as much as possible.
Chromatic aberrations.
Despite the fact that I made one of my favorite photos with this lens, I’d like to notice that I don’t like the lens itself. These scary chromatic aberrations on the image are not justified even by the strong backlighting. Because of chromatic aberrations I had to edit this image in Photoshop for a long-long time. I had to delete each line manually, one by one.
Besides, the photo had some “knocked out” parts, especially on the bride’s face, so I drew the missing parts by myself. The fact that this lens belongs to the Professional Canon L-Class is really surprising.
Before and after. For easier comparison of changes between the photos.
This video is a screen recording of my work in Photoshop. There are no comments, only the video. I made this recording long time ago, and my old computer wasn’t good enough for screen recordings.
So when I had finished the editing of the image, I stopped the recording (because Photoshop was too slow and that made me nervous) and then I painted my photo. Here it is, without any paintings, only my manipulations with the image.
This shoot was crafted with natural backlight as the main compositional tool — accentuating textures, veil transparency, and the dimensionality of the dress. Reflections on polished floors added an extra visual layer, while color grading balanced cool whites with warm ambient tones to preserve the softness of the scene.
On Phu Quoc Island, light behaves differently — more diffused through tropical humidity, more golden during early hours. For photographers seeking clean elegance and spatial clarity, villas and resorts on the island offer refined architectural settings with minimalist interiors and large vertical windows, perfect for stylized wedding editorials.
If you're planning a bridal session on Phu Quoc and want it approached with visual precision and artistic direction, I’ll be glad to help you turn natural light into timeless imagery.
I’ll be glad to answer your questions and receive your comments.
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+84 33 894782
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By Eduard Stelmakh, local wedding photographer on Phu Quoc.
stelmakh.com