Not a Wedding Photographer—Part 5

As I was packing my camera equipment, Master Hunter walked up. When I suggested that he come home with me, his face turned into a broad smile. Even though I had already but my camera in the back, I had to (the devil made me) pull it out and start firing. Hunter and I had a running conversation going all through the many final shots I took of him.

As JD and I headed for the door, Hunter was beside us. He was ready to go. But, we thought it might be better to have him stay with his mom and dad, so we escorted him back to mom.

Again, this is an all-natural light photo. I really liked the way the light fell across his face. The light provided a perfect balance between highlights and shadows that gave his face just some depth. The sides of the pews also added some great depth to the image.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, shot at ISO 800, f/2.8 and 1/60^th of a second.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity.

Photoshop—Cloned a few distracting elements and used lens correction filter to add a dark vignette.

Not a Wedding Photographer—Part 4

No set of photographs of a wedding would be complete without at least one portrait of the bride. This portrait was taken outside the church before she made her grand entrance.

Everything (her dress and the color of the church) made me think “high key” photograph. She was in the shade, so, to achieve the “high key” effect that I wanted, I set my exposure compensation to +1.5 EV so that the whites would be near blowing out.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at 100mm, shot at ISO 200, f/5.6 and 1/1,500^th of a second.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Added mid-tone contrast, clarity and vibrance.

Photoshop—Cloned out sign designating church as a national historical site behind the brides left side (a major distraction), used lens correction filter to add light vignette and softened skin using onOne soft skin filter.

Not a Wedding Photographer—Part 3

I think every mother of the bride will recognize this look—midway between total joy (for your daughter and “her” day) and absolute fear that something, no matter how small or trivial will ruin it for “her.” This photo was taken at the back of the church just before an usher escorted her to her seat.

Although I had my flash attached, I wanted this photo to be 100% natural light because I really liked the way that partly opened door provided a natural hair light and the large windows to the left and right provided a relatively even lighting to her face. I also believe that the simple background helps add to the overall portrait.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at 140mm, shot at ISO 800, f/3.3 and 1/90^th of a second (braced against a pillar to steady camera).

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity.

Photoshop—Cloned out a few hot spots and added dark vignette using lens correction filter.

Not a Wedding Photographer—Part 2

Today’s photograph is a portrait of one of the groomsmen. What is it about this photo that I like. Well, there are a number of things that I like.

First, this young man has a smile, even though it is a very slight one, that engulfs his whole face and just seems to make you happy. I think that this portrait captures his smile very well. Next, the idea of a wedding is incorporated into the portrait, not by the use of the church, but by the second groomsman in the background. Finally, I like the backlighting that was provided by large glass window. The backlighting is different and some might even say you should not have that much white space, but, I think it really separates him from the rest of the scene.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm, shot at ISO 200, f/6.7 and 1/180^th of a second with a Nikon SB-800 attached to a shoot-through umbrella and triggered using a Nikon SU-800 using CLS.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity.

Photoshop—Cloned a few hot spots out, and used nik Silver Efex Pro to convert a layer to black and white and then applied it to the image using an opacity of 20%.

Not a Wedding Photographer—Part 1

I am not a wedding photographer. I do not want to be a wedding photographer. And, after you see this week’s photos, you will probably say: “It’s a good thing that you do not want to be a wedding photographer, because if you did, you have a lot of work to do!”

I know what you are thinking. If you are not a wedding photographer and do not want to be one, how in the world is it that you are presenting wedding photographs on your blog? Well, it is a long story, so let’s just say that I agree to be the second shooter at a wedding during a moment of temporary insanity.

What was my job at the wedding? I was to shoot the groom and groomsmen before the ceremony, the bride outside the church, the ceremony from the balcony and some candid shots after the ceremony. A little advice here for anyone thinking about being the second shooter at a wedding: photographing a bunch of guys is no picnic, especially not at a wedding. Why? Because guys do not like having their photos taken and they really do not want to be the guy who messes-up anyone woman’s wedding by being “the dork in the bad photograph.”

All the groomsmen at the wedding were great guys, but they were guys. So, getting a great GQ shot at the wedding was not really in the cards. Today’s shot is of my groomsmen and Master Hunter. Why is almost everyone watching Hunter? Well, it might have something to do with the fact that at the rehearsal he did a few drop kicks of the ring pillow.

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 at 20mm, shot at ISO 200, f/9.5 and 1/90^th of a second with Nikon SB-800s shot through a translucent umbrella at camera left and right and triggered by Nikon SU-800 using CLS.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity.

Photoshop—Cloned a few hot spots out of the photograph and used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast filter to add contrast to shadows, mid-tones and highlights.