Everything Matters
The ability to take pleasing group photos is a challenging issue facing all wedding photographers. Ideally, the weather is nice enough to take the group outside so you can eliminate any problems of space. If it is a bright sunny day, you really need to get everyone into open shade- such as under trees, or the shadow cast by a nearby building. The objective with groups shots is that everyone is evenly lit by daylight. The last thing you want is for your audience to be squinting because of the sun in their face, or some members in shad and some not.
In certain locations you will findthat there is no open shade available so position yourself and your crowd sideways to the sun or shoot into the sun as a last resort. The easiest outdoor group shots happen when the sky is cloudy.
It can be trickier taking group shots indoors. First you have to find a good amount of space to fit everyone and you’ll normally find that extra light is needed. If you find the ambient light is poor use your portable flash units off camera into umbrellas.
Two of these can work magic, and you might want to use a silver umbrella for maximum light output. To achieve the best spread of light place your umbrellas high on either side of the group and aim them into the middle row of your group (not the front). If you only have one umbrella the best thing to do is place this above and behind from your shooting position. One speedlite firing into a 100cm umbrella on full power can handle a group of 15-20 people indoors.
A trick you might want to try is to start everyone off with their eyes closed and tell them to open on the count of 3. At the moment you shout “open” keep your finger on the shutter for 4-5 continuous shots just to be sure. Before taking your picture it is also worth spending 10seconds quickly scanning the group to make sure you can see all faces without obstruction. Remind them that if they can’t see you the camera will not see the them. In addition to positioning the group, the other important factor is to position yourself as the photographer in a good vantage point. The photographer will either need to step up on a chair or ladder or arrange the crowd up a staircase to bring all faces into view.
Your final concern for group shots is making sure you achieve a good focus point. As your group will likely consist of numerous rows of people you’re immediately going to need an aperture of F8 or F11 (which also means you get the sharpest results from your lens incidentally).
As the bride and groom are going to be front row, focus on their eyes. Remember that focus extends further back into the frame than in front, so by focussing on the front row those standing behind fall into focus also.
This article is copyright of Visualsnap.co.uk Wedding photographers in Kent Established and reputable Wedding photographers Kent
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Posted in Photography · December 3rd, 2009 · Comments (0)
The majority of wedding photographers do not work with an assistant. For these people this means the use of flash photography can present real challenges. Why? Because controlling an off-camera flash rig can be cumbersome and time consuming when trying to concentrate on your framing and roaming between guests and locations. The goal of course is to create soft light from your small camera strobe unit – to make the light softer you need to make it bigger.
Without doubt the best quality option is to get small lightweight lightstand and use your speedlite on this with an umbrella. A shoot-thru umbrella is preferable because it can get closer to the subject and so become a bigger light source. Unlike a softbox, and umbrella is also simple to collapse and carry. If you are taking group shots you can then use the umbrella in reverse for a bounced effect giving a larger spread of light. The disadvantages of the umbrella are that it does naturally waste some lighting power through spillage (compared to a softbox ) and on a windy day, they can prove impossible to use outdoors.
Of course, in tight or crowded indoor locations popping open an umbrella may not be practical and even dangerous, so many photographers without an assistant tend to stick with on camera flash. However, all is not lost because in this configuration you still have the option to bounce your light off walls and ceilings (if available – so no use outdoors). As an alternative you can also use a good diffuser like the Lightsphere2 or the Lastolite Micro ApolloXL – with the later proving more versatile for outdoor use too. If you seek to create professional looking images, you need to soften your light source to produce flattering photography at a wedding – direct flash is a no no unless in bright sunshine or used from far away.
You will probably also be aware that on camera flash introduces another problem of orientation. If you turn your camera vertically for a portrait shot the flash is now off centre and will produce shadows or red-eyes. The solution is to use a camera bracket which allows you to rotate your camera while leaving the flash in the same overhead middle position for consistency.
Another point to consider is how you are going to trigger your flash. In a fast moving situation like a wedding you don’t particularly have time to calculate the manual flash power or use a light meter. This is why many wedding photographers may prefer to leave the camera and flash to do their automatic flash ETTL metering. Pocket Wizard offer their MiniTT1 radio signal transmitter kit which now allows you to maintain automatic flash metering over hundreds of feet, removing all limitations from where you may wish to place your flash creatively. If you prefer to keep your flash unit mounting on the camera with a diffuser, just make sure the ETTL transmitter of the flash is not blocked by your choice of diffuser or you will not benefit from automatic metering.
In winter months you will find your batteries do not last as long as the cold weather sets in. The solution is to use an external battery pack for your flash. Apart from longer lasting flash usage you will also benefit from much shorter recycling times (how long you wait before being able to take another flash picture). Finally, only use NiMH rechargeable batteries by the way – they recycle much faster.
This article is copyright of Visualsnap.co.uk.Kent wedding photography Promoting high quality professional wedding coverage. Established and reputable Wedding photographers Kent
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Tags: wedding photographer
Posted in Photography · November 30th, 2009 · Comments (0)