Couple in the woods 

model: Christina Chammas & Dorian

creative directed and shot by maia feruzi

friday may 9th 2025 11am

📍labagh woods, Chicago, il

shot on canon eos rebel t3i 18-24mm, 70-300mm

concept

Christina reached out to me after finding my work on a Facebook group, looking for a photographer for their partner’s 42nd birthday. The theme they were going for was romantic/sensual and meadow/forest. They used to spend a lot of time in Labagh Woods nature preserve with their partner during the pandemic lockdown, and have a lot of sweet memories just laying in the grass in the sun, or walking the trails through the woods by the river. They really wanted to capture the vibe of just being lazy and gay in nature, which was something I was more than happy to do! We chose a morning time to shoot in order to still capture some of that early morning soft glow without the intense glare of direct noon light and got to work.

When shooting this lovely couple I really just focused on making them feel comfortable and trying to capture their love in it’s raw and authentic state. I plied them with jokes, got a few laughs, and just followed behind them as they strolled through the woods. I only posed them when I could tell they were lost on what to do next or for simple things like adjusting your head out of the light or an unflattering bend of the arm. Otherwise I reminded them to ignore me and just focus on each other. I think that’s what enabled me to capture the gentleness of their touches and the more intimate moments of a shared look or kiss. I kept that same energy when editing and made very minor adjustments to the overall lighting and color scheme. I put it through a preset I’d made that gives photos a film like quality which I thought fit perfectly with the dreamy and whimsical motif that Christina was looking for. I did black and white edits for each photo simply because I thought it gave drama and softness where color could not.