When this couple contacted photographer Joran Looij with a request for an intimate shoot, the Netherlands-based shooter knew instantly that he wanted to take them to a nearby forest. Located on the southwest coast of the country, a lake in the midst of the forest provided the perfect backdrop, especially as the sun was setting behind the trees. “Toward the end of the shoot, there was only that very last bit of soft light,” Looij recalls.

To take advantage of it, Looij bumped up his ISO and had the couple walk barefoot into the lake where the water was still reflecting the final light of the day. Behind their hands you can see the soft ripples from the lake with that last bit of daylight glimmering off the surface. “While the couple was standing there enjoying the silence of nature at that moment, I took this picture from behind,” Looij says. “This is how I like to do my shoots—just wandering around with my couple and letting them enjoy each other, the scenery and the moment outside in Mother Nature.”

(Captured using a Canon 5D Mark III and a Sigma 35mm Art lens at f/1.8, 1/250 of a sec. and ISO 640.)

Check out more photos from the shoot on Looij’s blog.

Photo © Joran Looij

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