Here’s just a teaser of shots from the wedding of Alexandra and Jeremy. The weather was absolutely freezing giving the guys the advantage for outdoor shots. When will someone make matching wedding coats for brides?
An off camera 580EXII flash with PocketWizards adds a bit of sparkle to pics on a cloudy day.
Here’s the moment before the bride made her entrance. Shooting through glass is fine although you have to be careful to keep yourself out the way of any reflections, including mirrors in the background. I was careful to frame both bridesmaids either side of the door frame.
A low angle from behind the bride’s bouquet on the registrar’s desk captures this expression without distraction.
Married at last. I was already outside the room shooting back through the door at this point. The natural expressions each have a story.
A picture was required with this charming little girl, but she had other ideas. I waited until the body language and expressions all aligned and took my shot. None of this was posed. Taking pictures when they are interesting, not just when they are ready is one of my golden rules.
A row of golf buggies lead off from the watch tower under dramatic skies. This HDR style shot was taken with just one exposure thanks to the improved clarity slider in Adobe Lightroom 4 Beta. Lightroom remains the dominant software for processing wedding photography.
In this picture the look achieved was fun, high key and fashionable, similar to that achieved in a portrait studio. However, the backdrop was the uninteresting corner of the wedding marque after the bridesmaids had finished their dinner. I didn’t want the typical boring shots of people sitting at the table with dirty plates in front of them so I asked them to follow me for a quick picture.
These kind of fun group shots always work better with a few drinks down the subjects, which is why post meal is a good time to explore such pics with the guests.
I set my camera to manual mode and cranked up the exposure to the point where the image came close to being over exposed, I knew that by getting their faces bright the background would turn to white as it became over exposed. I then bounced flash over my left shoulder knowing it would return as soft light and fill-in any remaining shadows on the subjects while adding some sparkle to their reflective clothing. Bouncing your flash away from the subject will nearly always remove any background shadows too, so the end result is much nicer than shooting flash directly into them. I’m often asked at weddings why my flash is pointing the ‘wrong way’ but of course it isn’t. This is a technique I’ll explain in a later post.
So this is a very simple picture, taken very simply and quickly with a simple lighting technique in a completely dull location during a part of the evening where other photographers usually put down their cameras. The point is you don’t need a background to make a great pic. This picture is all about body language and friendship and I didn’t pose it at all just encouraged them.
This was one of the bride’s favourite pics, despite the fact that it could have been taken anywhere. I’m always looking out to capture the relationships between people beyond the bride and groom on the wedding day.
I enjoy this camera angle during wedding ceremonies a lot, and it’s not one I see other wedding photographers using much. I will favour the bride as the main subject as I am generally already on the opposite side to her during the ceremony, plus brides are generally more expressive during the vows and ring exchange.
For this image, the groom had just finished saying his vows , and his bride couldn’t resist smiling with joy. I expected this reaction and I was ready for the shot. When I go behind the groom for this angle, it nearly always isolates just the two of them, with rarely anyone else in view. The simplicity of the shot leaves all emphasis on the bride’s expression, and you can see her feelings as she will also remember fondly when viewing this picture.
The shot is lit entirely with natural light from the window behind me and produced a pleasing cast of light and shadow as she tilted her head. With the differences in height between the bride and groom my timing was critical so as not to loose her face behind his shoulder, which I would have if she had tilted her head to her right.
Finding interesting angles for routine sequences during a wedding is great fun. The result can often be very memorable.
As a photographer I’ve never been much of a fan or particularly keen in posed cake cutting shots. I wanted to show this example as an illustration of how such a shot is more interesting, more natural and the emotions more real, simply by observing the sequence happen naturally.
The cutting of the cake is one of those other moments in the day when the guests jostle to take a picture – so rather than get in their way or take priority, I join them. Then it’s really just a matter of observing and taking the shot in a live situation rather than directing it. The expressions and fun seen on the couple are completely real – and the guests are doing all the work in terms of making them enjoy that moment.
I’ll easily blend in with the crowd out of eye level contact with the couple, and I’m usually on the front row. I’ll position myself where I have a good view of the knife and the cutting action. I’ll also be sure to fire off a sequence of shots to avoid them being over exposed by other camera flashes. This approach can be risky, so I always compose and shoot with both eyes open, staying alert for anyone about to jump in my way.
In terms of composition the subject matter is very central to the frame, yet I took care to balance the couple between the two pillars behind to ensure a clear space around their upper bodies – this immediately draws your eyes to their faces. The use of depth-of-field via my camera aperture setting also defocused the surrounding elements which again emphasises the direction of your gaze. However, roam your eyes around the rest of the picture and you start to see more about the story of that moment – such as the guy filming and the lady with her camera who wasn’t ready to take the shot as the knife made that first important plunge into the cake.
A very small percentage of my photography at a wedding is posed, and generally at the client’s wish. The picture here was taken in a tiny backroom behind the wedding hall just before they made their entrance. The room was in a bit of a state to be honest, but it was the only place for privacy at the time. I had about 10mins and managed to pull off a keeper shot per minute of the bride and groom.
I was immediately aware of the ornate mirror in this tiny room which would help the image have a feel of scale, class and glamour. Beside the mirror was a wall mounted crystal light which also helped set the scene and mood. Next I asked the bride to step between the two objects and form my triangle. You will find in your own photography that when you align subjects or objects in a triangle formation the picture balances and is pleasing to the eye. I used an off camera flash to dominate the lighting found in the room as I wanted plenty of sparkle. The flash was from above and camera left (you can tell by the shadow of course). I chose my camera angle such that the mirror reflected nothing else in the room so as to avoid any distraction from the bride, and I liked the skewed angle this created of the mirror and light fixture behind the bride. The final touch was to present the image in black and white to enhance the simplicity and purity of the scene.
In wedding photography you are often expected to make interesting pictures regardless of the setting. Keeping it uncluttered and using existing “props” often enable a picture that suggests more than it contains.
This picture is not perfect of course (I would have liked her right arm to be slightly in view for example) but as I said, I only had minutes to think on my feet, and the client loved this picture.
For professional wedding photographers the most critical aspects of their camera are how well it can focus (particularly in low light) and how clean the images are from noise (particularly in low light). These two abilities are what top end cameras are all about and why they cost so much.
Picture noise can very effectively be dealt with in post-production, but there is mostly nothing that can be done if your image is out of focus. Shooting your lens at wide apertures – which is common practice in low light – adds to the importance of critical focus because there is less margin for error.
On more expensive cameras you will find an option to micro-adjust each lens to the camera. This is definitely worth doing in my opinion.
There are various ways of measuring the micro-adjustment needed, but for consistency (although way over priced) the LensAlign MkII is a great device for this job. When I compared my results using this tool to the other free methods and guides for alignment, I simply found this approach to be quicker and easier to get accurate and repeatable results with.
You will get the fastest and best results if you use this tool in conjunction with tethered shooting on your monitor. For the Canon EOS 5D Mark II I used the EOS utility Live View mode to align the target precisely and then I shot tethered into Adobe Lightroom to evaluate the actual results with RAW files. I prefer to align my lenses in less than optimum lighting conditions at ISO 800, as I feel this is a better test for the focusing system and better reflects real world use. I also recommend you stick to focusing tests at the maximum distance indicated by the free Distance Tool on the LensAlign website.
The 100% crop in the screenshot above shows where you should end up after proper calibration. In this example, you can see my EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS MKII is tack sharp on the ’0’ scale reading. This was taken using indoor lighting with IS mode turned off at a distance of 10m at 200mm f/2.8. Seriously sharp eh!
As a quick tip when aligning the target hold your iPhone up behind it so the light can shine through the target sights – when you can see a clean circle of light coming through to the camera via LiveView, you are in perfect alignment.
The bride had just finished her make-up and hair when the mother and bridesmaid entered the room. All eyes were on the mirror so my presence went unnoticed. I moved a little closer and took the shot before the first words were spoken.
The brides face tells the story together with the gesture from the bridesmaid. I also like the way the characters on the wallpaper seem to be looking and reacting to the moment. The room was small and the lighting low (ISO 3200 at F/2.0) and I enhanced the natural warm feel of the colours in post to add to the cosy and private feel, which is also further enhanced by the voyeuristic nature of my shot over the hairdresser’s shoulder.
In terms of composition, the focus point and position of the bride is also on the third of the frame which makes her stand out. Double that with the fact she is in a frame within a frame thanks to the mirror.
Pictures like these make preparation shots on the wedding day a hit with brides. Preparation shots also let the groom see a part of the day they otherwise never would.
The obligatory shot of the church is often little more than a scene setting image for some. In this shot I wanted to convey more emotion than bricks and stone, and while I was outside waiting for the bride to arrive the moment came together.
The bride was late, very late. All the guests had arrived and taken their seats inside the church, the bells had rung and then everything went quiet. I had finished taking shots of the groom understandably looking very nervous by this point, and decided to wait outside for the bride’s arrival at the top of the pathway by the road. I was out of site at this time, and when I turned around shortly after, I noticed the vicar sitting on the bench. Unaware of me for that brief moment, I took the shot ensuring I fully framed him and the church with my wide angle lens. If I had instead chosen to take a close up shot of him to show his full expression this picture would have lost its scope.
For the couple this photo will tell the story of this moment despite neither being present. The vicar’s body language conveys a feeling of isolation and tension and the viewers’ eyes are drawn to him instantly by the leading pathway and the brightness of his outfit. The church, the path and vicar are also located on the thirds of the frame – which compositionally adds to the impact. The rich colours of green and blue leave the image with a calmness that would not have been present had this been presented in black and white.
Oh, for those wondering at this point, yes the bride did eventually arrive
It’s a regular question for a wedding photographer – the one about what equipment they take to a wedding. So to clarify for those interested, I currently use the Canon 5D Mark2 cameras (fitted with UpStraps) and take 3 lenses with me, these being the 24mm f/1.4L, 50mm f/1.2L and 85mm f/1.2L or the EF 100mm f/2.8L IS. These are fantastic lenses and have shaped my shooting style over recent years. On occasion, I will also grab my EF 70-200 f/2.8 Mark II if I need the extra focal length due to limitations at the wedding venue. Generally, I do not like to use zoom lenses, and although I also own the EF 16-35 f/2.8L Mark II - I never take it to weddings as the optics do horrible things to people caught at the edges of the frame at wide angle. As a side, previous lenses I have owned and sold include the popular EF 35mm F/1.4L, the EF 24-70 f/2.8L and the 135mm F/2.0L - I didn’t find these lenses very exciting in terms of developing a shooting style.
I also pack a 580EXII Speedlite or two for splashing around a bit of flash as needed, and these are attached to a PocketWizard FlexTT5 and MiniTT1 when used off-camera.
The whole lot is carried in a ShootSac. Chuck in spare batteries and 4 x 16GB memory cards and that’s it. No need for big cases, wheelie trolleys or assistants.
I expect I will upgrade my camera bodies to the upcoming Canon 1Dx or 5D Mark III at some point this year. The ISO performance of these cameras is likely to be so good, that I might even rethink my lenses and go back to the convinience of mid range zoom.
Welcome to Visualsnap 2012. I’ve decided to take my blog in a new direction this year and have cleared the slate to lay down some exciting new content based on user feedback. If you have any ideas on any particular topics you’d like covered continue to let me know.
If you’ve been to my website before you’ll notice I’ve revamped the entire site. In particular, I hope you really enjoy the new gallery section where you can now view a huge selection of pictures in glorious full screen colour and detail. If you’ve been comparing photographers for your wedding you will love browsing my photography on line, in contrast to the small pop-up images you probably struggle to view on other photographer sites. Even I find it frustrating seeing world class wedding photographers who are only prepared to show less than 50 images on their website – and they’ve been taking pictures for how long? Anyway, enjoy and see you back here soon.
Feel free to catch me on twitter and facebook too for more random chat or advice (links at the bottom of the webpage). Happy new year all.
