Always Be Prepared

Whenever I leave the house, I always take a camera with me. If i'm travelling light, it'll be the little Fuji X100, or if I think that I may be photographing landscape or macro, then in all likelihood I will carry some Nikon equipment. One of the reasons why I do this is because I always want the camera to be an extension of myself. I don't want to take the camera out of the case and for a split second be thinking, now what does that button do again? By keeping a camera with me at all times I am always familiar with it's functions and settings, and quirks in the case of the Fuji X100. Sometimes this can result in a photograph being captured that I may have missed had I been fiddling with the camera's settings and wondering where everything was. A case in point is the image you see below. This was from a recent wedding shoot where I had about 10 minutes with the bride to capture a nice full length portrait and some detail shots. Most people who have taken a portrait photograph will be aware that when asked to pose, the subject can become stiff and the smile forced, leading to a slightly false looking image. There are ways to overcome this though. Getting the subject relaxed is of course, a very important step in helping create a lovely natural pose, but I also find that by cracking a joke just before I press the shutter can also do the trick, the resultant smile or laugh looks completely natural. Sometimes catching the subject unawares can pay dividends as well, as they tend to be more relaxed thinking that they're not being photographed at that exact second. The image you see here was actually captured before the bride thought I was taking the shot. The other shooter, Julian, was busy preparing the position of the dress and sorting out the reflector, so I asked the bride to just stand in the position I wanted the photograph to be taken and wait while we moved the equipment out of the way. I told her to look towards me as I wanted to check composition and exposure details through the viewfinder. As she turned, there was a lovely natural expression on her face, 'BAM', I took the shot, quickly altering the settings on the camera as I went. The resultant image, pose and expression, almost gives the photograph a fashion shoot look and one that I hope the Bride and Groom would be happy with, framed and on the wall.

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200 F2.8. ISO 200, F4 @ 1/500 sec, + 0.7 E.V.

The bright sunshine hitting the wall behind the bride was tricking the camera in to underexposing so I quickly altered the setting just before I took the shot. The more you use your cameras, the more you get to know how they will react in tricky lighting situations. The little Fuji X100 would have metered this scene so as to almost cast the bride as a silhouette. I reckon a setting of + 1.3 E.V. would have been needed to correctly expose the bride with that camera. Always keeping a camera by your side, practising as you go, helps you see the world as a camera would, and helps you react that much quicker when you really need to capture 'that shot'. 

Building a portfolio

I started my business with Julian Clune in the summer of 2011 and we had the same problem many people face when starting a new Wedding and Portrait website. We needed images. I had already photographed at my girlfriend's mum's wedding and some of the finished images made our portfolio, but we needed more. We needed images from different venues featuring different people. This was proving tricky as no one knew us, and our website was somewhat lacking because of this, the proverbial vicious circle. We decided to enrol on a 2 day wedding photography course in Norfolk, where we were taught how to pose the bride and groom and understand the mechanics of the day, from bridal preparation, detail shots and formal portraits of the loving couple. We both learnt a great deal from the two day course, became more confident at directing the models, and really started to understand when and how to use flash, not to mention how amazing and powerful reflectors can be. I believe that in the majority of cases, it is the bride who will pick the photographer that she wants to capture her big day, so images of brides on the website are of vital importance. We concentrated a great deal of our time in capturing beautiful images of the model in a gorgeous wedding dress, utilising the beautiful architecture and gardens of Norwich Cathedral. These were amongst the first images that graced our homepage of C&G Photography's website and undoubtedly drove traffic to our site which in turn has allowed the business to flourish and grow.

Nikon D90 with Sigma 50mm F1.4. ISO 200,  F1.4 @ 1/400, -0.7 E.V

The image above was underexposed by 0.7 E.v to control the highlights on the dress, which was very reflective and tried to blow out at every given opportunity.

Nikon D300 with Sigma 24-70mm F2.8. ISO 1000,  F2.8 @ 1/40, -0.3 E.V 

This classic image by Julian Clune was quite a tricky exposure to nail. Exposing for the model's skin tones blew the background and resulted in a dreamy, ethereal capture.

Off camera flash test shoot

Most of my Portrait and Wedding work utilises natural light with the aid of reflectors. Sometimes however, it's necessary to introduce a splash of flash to the scene which can add a touch of sparkle and a third dimension to the image, especially when the ambient light is flat and dull. I use Nikon speedlights for this purpose and C&G Photography have SB700 and SB900 units. When fired off camera, these are triggered by a Pixel King transmitter and receiver set which allow shutter speeds of 1/8000 sec to be used. This can be very handy when shooting in bright conditions with fast lenses, as you're not forced to select a smaller aperture to control the shutter speed which can be the case with some other transceiver sets. Most of the time I like to shoot wide open or stopped down no further than F4. Having a high speed sync facility on the Pixel Kings allows me to shoot with large apertures and high shutter speeds and a great deal of creative fun can be had as a result. The image below was from a test shoot a couple of weeks ago. The setup and technique was fairly simple and I have included a diagram to illustrate where the flashes were positioned in relation to the model Emma. The first thing I did was to take an image of Emma without the speedlights in place and work out the pose I wanted her to adopt, and the exposure of the ambient light I wanted to record. I decided that underexposing the image by -1.3 E.V. would result in a darker, moodier image with a brooding sky, and once the flashes were introduced, result in Emma really standing out from the background, a real pop effect. Once happy with the pose and ambient light settings, the key light was placed to the right of the model, approximately 6 feet away. The light source was the SB900 with softbox fitted to a light stand. I tested different power settings to achieve a nice bright even light across Emma's face and clothes, and i found that 1/4 power worked best. The fill light was then added to the left of Emma, this time a SB700 with softbox, attached to a Manfrotto tripod approximately 8 feet away. This was used to fill shadows and even the light from the SB900, and a setting of 1/8th power seemed to work well. I was shooting with the Nikon D4 and 70-200mm F2.8 at F4, 1/2000th of a sec, ISO 200 to achieve the desired exposure for the background.

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, I don't use off camera flash a great deal and I have a lot to learn. But I'm very happy with my first results, and having the knowledge and ability to use flash when the light is flat, or when you just want to be a bit more creative, can allow for some amazing results and really take your photography to a whole new level.

Simple diagram of the setup.

Nikon SB700 to left of model, 1/8th power through softbox.

Nikon SB900 to right of model, 1/4 power through softbox.

If you want to learn more about strobist setups then check out www.ricknunn.com .You will find a lot of excellent information there.

Pretty Panache

It's always a good idea to try to get to know a few local businesses who may have similar interests to your own. It can provide a vital source of networking, information and contacts to help you and your business grow. We had the opportunity to work with local business 'Pretty Panache' recently, one of Lincoln's premier Bridal Wedding dress an accessory shops. They provided pretty much everything we needed, models, dresses, accessories, and for once the weather was pretty much on our side. We decided to shoot around the historic part of Lincoln, both the Cathedral grounds and the Usher Gallery. Unlike a Wedding day assignment, the pace of a fashion shoot, while brisk, is a lot more relaxed. We try to pose the models and manipulate the light, something that can be very difficult and completely out of our control during a Wedding couple's big day. Jules and I try to use natural light only, with the aid of reflectors to bounce light back towards the subject. We do sometimes use speedlights if we feel we need to inject some light into the scene, and we do use small softboxes to diffuse the light where necessary. A combination of full frame and DX sensor DSLR cameras were used, a Nikon D3s, D700, D300 and D200 with 50mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm Nikkor and Sigma lenses. We all had a great time throughout the shoot and drew quite an audience at one point. The models loved dressing up, and we loved photographing them. 

The final image in this set is courtesy of Julian Clune. It has been used by Pretty Panache on their flyer at Wedding Fayres and has certainly given www.candgphotography.org some extra publicity. 

    









Never work with animals or children

You're always looking for new angles and locations when photographing the Bride's big day. When the bride in question mentions in passing that she owns several horses, and the evening reception is being held in a field right next to the paddock, you just know that the two elements have to be combined somehow. When I suggested to the Bride the idea of photographing her and a horse together, she was well up for giving it a go. As we walked towards the paddock across the muddy fields, cameras and reflector in hand, I kept telling myself that Jules and I would nail a shot, all the while trying not to look at the beautiful white Wedding dress taking on a disturbing brown hue, as it was being dragged through the mud. At this point, I have to mention that it's quite a good idea to ensure your Wedding couple have downed several glasses of Champagne prior to embarking on mad ideas like these. It really does seem to help. We climbed into the Paddock and waited for one of the horses to trot on over to us. Of course, it had to be the largest of the beasts, all 25 hands of him. ( Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but he was huge ). It's at this stage that all posing ideas go out the window. You may be able to direct the bride, but the horse, forget about it. It was quite late in the evening and the Sun was low, casting lovely soft, warm light across the Bride and the horse. Off camera Flash was a big no no, we couldn't afford to spook our furry friend, so a reflector was used, just to push some ambient light back towards the subjects and lift any shadows. Then I started shooting, waiting for the one moment when it would all hopefully come together. When the horse tried to eat the bouquet, and failing that, the dress, and with the Bride in fits of hysterics, I pressed the shutter and knew I'd nailed the shot. Images like this can't be posed, they just happen, and I have to be in the right place at the right time to capture them. This is why I'm a photojournalistic Wedding Photographer, and why I love my job. "Never work with animals or children"... I couldn't disagree more.  

Never work with animals or children

        

Nikon D3s

1/2500 sec @ F4, ISO 800

Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8 @ 70mm

The Nikon D3s has such exceptional high ISO performance that ISO 800 is considered a very low setting. This allows very fast shutter speeds to be employed without losing quality or dynamic range in the captured image, perfect for fast moving equine subjects. 

'Gigi'

 Gigi looking fantastic on her Wedding Day last September.

Nikon D3s with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 mk2 @  F3.2, 1/1000, ISO 800 at a focal length of 160mm. I was the second shooter at this moment as Julian was taking the main image to my right. Some times the candid shot seems to work that little bit better, and this was one of those occasions. Gigi's attitude is fantastic. It was bright but overcast so we had lovely soft light for the majority of the day and there are lovely catch lights in Gigi's eyes. I love shooting wide open, especially with longer focal lengths as this causes shallow depth of field and really draws the viewers eye towards the sharpest areas of the frame.