Umm what did you do that photo?? Looks like old school heavy airbrushing to remove the background.
Yep, there was a very bad background and this was an early version of the editing that I threw into a sample gallery. I use this version just to show the lighting. I have another version for the family with a more gradual and natural looking transition to background.
Only shoot a wedding if.... I strongly urge you to only shoot a wedding if you: 1. Are certain of your photographic skills. Wedding coverage is not an arena in which a person should learn to use his or her equipment. It is difficult enough to get proper coverage when your equipment operation is second nature to you. It is pretty darn near impossible to effectively cover a wedding if you are unsure about the technical details of your equipment. 2. If you have proper equipment - cameras and lenses that will allow you to do quality 8x10 inch prints at a minimum. Also you MUST have back-up equipment immediately available. Redundancy is the name of the game. Shooting with one copy of any equipment (such as camera, proper lens, proper flash) is inviting Mr. Murphy to bite you in the "you know where spot". 3. If you have enough flash cards, batteries, etc. 4. You have attended enough weddings to be fully aware of the general flow of a wedding ceremony. All weddings are different but, all are the same in many respects. Most weddings are open to the public. It would be beneficial to have attended enough receptions to have the same grasp of the general sequence of events. However this is more difficult to do than attending weddings. Most church/synagogue weddings are open to the public; this is not true regarding receptions. 5. If you have studied wedding images online and in books and magazines; and have predetermined how you want to shoot the essential shots. 6. If you are willing to put the time into shooting the ceremony and not to be a guest or to interact during the ceremony/reception. The two most difficult weddings I have ever shot were of my two very beautiful step-daughters. I did not want to shoot the weddings because I wanted to take part and to enjoy them. They both, however, made it clear that they wanted and expected me to do the job. I got some beautiful results but, I missed sharing those wonderful occasions as a participant and guest. I was also not able to be next to their mother, my wife during the ceremony. Additionally, I am not in any of the formal pictures. One of the two weddings was formal and I had to wear a tux. Tuxedos are not convenient clothing to shoot a wedding in.
Something I forgot to mention.....I only owned one med for mat camera that did not have a meter in it (a RICOH FLEX twinlens and it was an antique when I ourchased it).....but it was to be only a back up camera (120 film only...no 220).....any way you really need a flash/ambient incident light meter......unless you have tons of time to chimp getting proper exposure is tough especially in this situation.......it doesnot have to a top line meter......my second meter was / is a shepard fm1000 ...... my first meter, a square box still made by Wein...believe it was a Wein WP500(sold this to a friend after buying the shepard) .....I also have my 3rd meter a Minolta Color meter....both of these meter both flash and ambient light separately and together.....this is vitally important to getting proper exposure of pure white dresses and lace.....an incident meter is one that has a white dome covering the light port a reflected meter just a has a light gathering lens (port) and is the same as what is in your camera.....To this day I never trust an in camera meter....and only use them if batteries are dead in my handheld meters.......I've been lucky with my meters, by lucky I mean both have given fantastic results right out of box and neither have been in for any repairs and still work great............
Comments
Sorry I don't seem to follow your humor?
And I get deeper and deeper
The more I see the more I fall no place to hide
You better take the call I get deeper and deeper...The Fixx
Yep, there was a very bad background and this was an early version of the editing that I threw into a sample gallery. I use this version just to show the lighting. I have another version for the family with a more gradual and natural looking transition to background.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I strongly urge you to only shoot a wedding if you:
1. Are certain of your photographic skills. Wedding coverage is not an arena in which a person should learn to use his or her equipment. It is difficult enough to get proper coverage when your equipment operation is second nature to you. It is pretty darn near impossible to effectively cover a wedding if you are unsure about the technical details of your equipment.
2. If you have proper equipment - cameras and lenses that will allow you to do quality 8x10 inch prints at a minimum. Also you MUST have back-up equipment immediately available. Redundancy is the name of the game. Shooting with one copy of any equipment (such as camera, proper lens, proper flash) is inviting Mr. Murphy to bite you in the "you know where spot".
3. If you have enough flash cards, batteries, etc.
4. You have attended enough weddings to be fully aware of the general flow of a wedding ceremony. All weddings are different but, all are the same in many respects. Most weddings are open to the public. It would be beneficial to have attended enough receptions to have the same grasp of the general sequence of events. However this is more difficult to do than attending weddings. Most church/synagogue weddings are open to the public; this is not true regarding receptions.
5. If you have studied wedding images online and in books and magazines; and have predetermined how you want to shoot the essential shots.
6. If you are willing to put the time into shooting the ceremony and not to be a guest or to interact during the ceremony/reception. The two most difficult weddings I have ever shot were of my two very beautiful step-daughters. I did not want to shoot the weddings because I wanted to take part and to enjoy them. They both, however, made it clear that they wanted and expected me to do the job. I got some beautiful results but, I missed sharing those wonderful occasions as a participant and guest. I was also not able to be next to their mother, my wife during the ceremony. Additionally, I am not in any of the formal pictures. One of the two weddings was formal and I had to wear a tux. Tuxedos are not convenient clothing to shoot a wedding in.
The great nature photographer, Moose Anderson, recommends using two teddy bears (one white and one dark brown) to practice exposure in shooting animals. Piggy backing on his technique, I recommend that you practice shooting a lot of white objects, especially lace along with dark objects – to learn to keep detail in the wedding gown and avoid burning out the white areas.
A great book for the type of shots, etc. is "Wedding Photographer's Handbook by Robert and Sheila Hurth, Amhurst Media. Unfortunately, my copy is ten years old. It might not be available and if it is - the equipment selection is out of date as is the information regarding exposure, etc. since the book was written for film photographers, not digital addicts. Otherwise it is a pretty darn good book.
Communication is the name of the game. Communicate with the bride and groom and, especially, the Mother of the Bride. Learn the sequence of events so that something such as the candle lighting doesn’t come as a surprise to you.
Some wedding related web sites with useful information and valid tips:
Do a Google search for “wedding photographers” and look at the shots they use to advertise their proficiency.
INDIVIDUAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY EXAMPLES
Tampa Photo – M.J. Wilson
http://www.tampaphotoweddings.com/gallery.html
http://tampaphoto.com/ls2pj/
Tom Ellis Photo – Seattle, WA
http://www.tomellisphoto.com/
Indianapolis and Cincinnati Wedding Photographers
http://www.proweddingphotos.com/
Gary Seim – Emphrata, WA
http://www.wildpix.biz/wedding.html
Ron Estes Photography – S.E. Pennsylvania
http://www.ryanestes.com/about.htm
Roddy McInnes Photography – Boulder, CO
http://www.roddymacphoto.com/
Wendy Woods Photography – Minneapolis-St. Paul
http://www.wendywoodsphotography.com/detected.php?page=&pass=
Spellbound Images – Upland, CA
http://www.spellboundpix.com/
The Many Lives – Garland, TX
http://www.themanylives.com/
Evoke Photography – Pasadena, CA
http://www.evokephotography.com/
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY GENERAL SITES
Onewed.com provides links to many commercial wedding photographers
http://www.onewed.com/vendors.php?category=126&state=CA&submit=Search&name=vendors
Photocamel.com provides numerous wedding related posts including examples of wedding photography.
http://www.photocamel.com/index.php/board,20.0.html
photosig.com provides (at the time of this writing) over 2,600 posts of wedding pictures
http://www.photosig.com/go/photos/browse?id=25168
http://johnlind.tripod.com/wedding/
This is an older web site that deals with film cameras. However most of the other information is as valid now as it was when it was written.
http://www.christophermaxwell.com/wedding-photography-tips.htm
Wedding Photography Tips which are, again, mostly film oriented.
http://www.planetneil.com/faq/flash-techniques.html
Excellent article from a professional wedding photographer on how he uses flash to achieve natural lighting at weddings.
Joe Demb – Flipit Diffuser
http://www.joedembphotography.com/flipit/
Chuck Gardner
http://super.nova.org/DPR/#Index
http://www.planetneil.com/faq/flash-5.html
88 Must Take Wedding Photos
http://home.ivillage.com/entertaining/weddings/0,,q5hb,00.html
U.K. Wedding Site
http://www.despugh.co.uk/
I'm a Nikon Girl:tuesday
www.BriShayPhotography.com