The Best of Wedding Photography.pdf - Free

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Because the contemporary wedding encompasses so many different types of photography, it is essential for wedding photographers to be well versed in all of these disciplines. However, no pictures are more important to the bride and groom than the engagement photo and formal portraits. The engagement portrait is often used in newspapers and local magazines to announce the couple’s wedding day, and it is a portrait that can enrich the wedding photogra- 6. STUDIO LIGHTING pher’s profits significantly. These portraits may be (and usually are) made in advance of the wedding day, providing the much needed time to get something really spectacular. An additional benefit of a pre-wedding session is that, by the wedding day, the couple and the photographer are familiar with each other before the big day. The formal portraits of the bride and groom together, and of each alone, are also significant images that demand special time allotted to them and an understanding of for- The main light defines the lighting pattern on the face. Here, the main light is actually sunlight reflected off a light brick wall back onto the bride’s face. No fill source was used to keep the lighting ratio strong. Photograph by Fran Reisner. STUDIO LIGHTING 59
On location, sometimes you can find a fill light, sometimes one must manufacture it. Here, Joe Photo needed a fill source to counteract the strong window light. He used on-camera strobe bounced into a side wall to fill shadow side of the face. mal posing and lighting techniques. Often the photographer will arrange to make the formal portraits on the day of the wedding, but several hours before the day’s schedule commences. Couples relish the alone time and it is another good opportunity for the photographer to break the ice with the couple. Because of the importance of these images, it is essential that the wedding photographer be skilled in studio portraiture, which is quite different but related to the techniques normally employed on the wedding day. The key to understanding good lighting and creating it in your photographs is to understand the concept of “single-light” lighting. The sun is the primary light source in all of nature, and all lighting emanates from the sun. While there may be secondary light sources in nature, they are all subservient to the sun. So it is in the studio. 60 THE BEST OF WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY Most photographers opt for studio strobes—either selfcontained monolight-type strobes or systems using a single power pack into which all lights are plugged. Some use a combination of the two types. A full system of reflectors and diffusers is required with any studio lighting system. THE FIVE LIGHTS Basic portrait lighting can be done with as few as two lights, but to get the full effect, five lights with stands and parabolic reflectors are often used. The five lights are: the main light; the fill light; the hair light; the background light; and the optional kicker, a backlight used for shoulder or torso separation. Main and Fill Lights. The main and fill lights should be high-intensity light sources. These may be used in parabolic reflectors that are silver-coated on the inside to reflect the maximum amount of light. However, most photographers don’t use parabolic reflectors anymore. Instead, they opt to use diffused key- and fill-light sources. If using diffusion, either umbrellas or softboxes, each light assembly should be supported on its own sturdy light stand. The main light, if undiffused, should have barn doors affixed. These are black, metallic, adjustable flaps that can be opened or closed to control the width of the beam of the light. Barn doors ensure that you light only the parts of the portrait you want lighted. They also keep stray, flarecausing light off the camera lens. The fill light, if in a reflector, should have its own diffuser, which is nothing more than a piece of frosted plastic or acetate in a screen that mounts over the reflector. The fill light should also have barn doors attached. If using a diffused light source, such as an umbrella or softbox for a fill light, be sure that you do not spill light into unwanted areas of the scene, such as the background or onto the camera’s lens. All lights, whether in reflectors or diffusers, should be feathered by aiming the core of light slightly away from the subject, employing the more useful edge of the beam of light. Care must be taken when placing the fill light. If it is too close to the subject, it will produce its own set of specular highlights that show up in the shadow area of the face, making the skin appear excessively oily. To solve the problem, move the camera and light back slightly or move the fill light laterally away from the camera slightly. You might also feather the light into the camera a bit. This method of
Page 1:
WEDDING The Best of PHOTOGRAPHY Amh
Page 4 and 5:
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . .
Page 6 and 7:
T his is the third edition of The B
Page 8 and 9:
1. THE EVOLUTION OF WEDDING PHOTOGR
Page 11 and 12: WEDDING PHOTOJOURNALISM: A MODIFIED
Page 13 and 14: things happen spontaneously and use
Page 15: 2. THE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER’S MIN
Page 19 and 20: Joe Buissink has been known to work
Page 21 and 22: ABOVE—The photographer must be al
Page 23 and 24: LEFT—Greg Gibson has a finely hon
Page 25 and 26: Michael Schuhmann created this wond
Page 27 and 28: The slower the film speed or digita
Page 29 and 30: of four or five areas of the viewfi
Page 31 and 32: 30 THE BEST OF WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
Page 33 and 34: ity or file size, it does affect le
Page 35 and 36: From outside the reception, Jerry D
Page 37 and 38: flash. Falloff is less than with ot
Page 39 and 40: 4. CAMERA TECHNIQUE Whether you’v
Page 41 and 42: TOP—J.B. Sallee used a 70mm lens
Page 43 and 44: TOP—With a 17mm lens on his D1X,
Page 45 and 46: LEFT—A tricky exposure situation
Page 47 and 48: Since most wedding photographers op
Page 49 and 50: This is a beautiful pose created by
Page 51 and 52: LEFT—Marcus Bell created this han
Page 53 and 54: Tom Muñoz has a great deal of resp
Page 55 and 56: LEFT—There is something special a
Page 57 and 58: form the pattern. They are used to
Page 59: Marcus Bell is brilliant at posing
Page 63: LEFT—The natural lighting pattern
Page 66 and 67: from the camera lens. It is a drama
Page 68 and 69: ecommended unless your only concern
Page 70: Backlighting with direct sunlight c
Page 73 and 74: TOP—David Worthington created thi
Page 75: ABOVE—Melanie Nashan captured the
Page 79 and 80: Metering and Exposure. Here is how
Page 81 and 82: Al Gordon is a virtuoso of flash fi
Page 83 and 84: the light, you’ll find that it is
Page 85 and 86: BUILD A GOOD RELATIONSHIP Alisha an
Page 87: his best man. Bridesmaids will arri
Page 90 and 91: As part of the wedding photography,
Page 93 and 94: LEFT—Working as a pair or trio of
Page 95 and 96: What couple would not be thrilled w
Page 97 and 98: LEFT—Joe Photo always makes it a
Page 99 and 100: 10. HELPFUL TIPS The following is a
Page 102 and 103: THE BOUQUET Make sure a large bouqu
Page 105 and 106: REMEMBERING NAMES Photographer Fran
Page 107 and 108: 11. PROOFING AND PRINTING T here ar
Page 109 and 110: ABOVE—Very few truly romantic ima
Page 111 and 112:
Learning to recognize shapes as pag
Page 113 and 114:
Three very simple images and a bold
Page 115 and 116:
album-page layouts in Photoshop. Th
Page 117 and 118:
Dream a Little. With digital, we ha
Page 119 and 120:
David Williams brings sophisticatio
Page 121 and 122:
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS T o illustrate th
Page 123 and 124:
Charles and Jennifer Maring—Charl
Page 125 and 126:
INDEX A Albums, 109-18 design princ
Page 127 and 128:
Also by Bill Hurter . . . OTHER BOO
Page 129:
Joe Buissink Ron Capobianco Anthony
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