Art it seems is a term used loosely among photographers these days. Yes we would all like to think of ourselves as artists with our own unique vision of the world, that what we do has never been done before and that our prospective clients couldn’t live without us. But the truth is for the vast majority of photographers art is an alien word that is not completely understood. Think about it. When was the last time you actually painted with light? If you’re a studio photographer you do it all the time, but if you’re a wedding photographer working in the real world you may need to ask yourself if you have ever done it. The truth for wedding photographers is that theirs is a chaotic world. After all weddings are events made up of micro events which must be micro managed to be documented adequately, and for the wedding photographer this means running from one micro event to the next with no break until the limo drives off. So in all of this madness where is there time for art?
If you are a solo photographer you will simply wear yourself out trying to lug around the tools you need to really create and control the light by which we can take our imagery to the next level. (Trust me it’s exhausting!) So what’s the solution? Hire an assistant; see how easy this can be… Oh if only! Yes having someone to lug around all that gear will indeed make your life a lot easier and your time shooting much more enjoyable, but that being said, having all the gear in the world won’t make your images any better unless you learn how to use it. And by the way, turning your strobe to ETTL is not learning how to use it. In the coming weeks I will discuss in greater detail the lighting techniques I use for various images through out the wedding day. I will also go into detail of the post processing that takes place to finish off the image. But for now I will address what I think may take your images to a new level right away.
Though it is not a new concept, getting your strobe off camera will be like putting tires on your car. Yes you could drive on your rims for a while, but sooner or later your going to get tired of the lack of control you have. The same is true of getting your strobe off your camera. Direct flash always looks unnatural. But once you get your light source off axis you create depth, your create highlight and shadow, and you create contrast. Bounce the light you say emphatically! Well, yes you could bounce the light, if there is a wall or ceiling near buy, but often times there is not. Or what if the ceiling is dark wood and thirty feet high, then what? Solution – go out and buy yourself some radio slaves and take control of your lighting.
The Bridal image above was not taken in a studio; it was taken at the venue. (By the way, The White House Farm is an amazing venue especially for bridal sessions) In this image there were a few factors I took into consideration. (1) The chandelier over her left shoulder. (2) The abundance yet flatness of the available light coming from the bedroom to my left and the bathroom to my right. (3) Placement of an artificial light source. (4) I wanted to match the color of my strobe to the much warmer light of the chandelier. And finally (5) I needed to control the spill from my light source on to the floor and background.
(1) The chandelier. If your not careful these are easy to over look and over expose. A simple exposure check on my LCD ensured that this didn’t blow out.
(2) The available light was sufficient for fill but if used as only light would be flat and unflattering. Solution, introduce key light with a lighting ratio of 4 to 1.
(3) Artificial light source was a 580 EX II set high a top a light stand with shoot thru umbrella placed camera left at 90% angle to subject.
(4) Matching the color of my strobe to that of the chandelier. Here in Houston I’ve found it harder to locate color correction gels, but in LA they are abundant, however thanks to the Internet you don’t have to fly to LA to get them. Purchase yourself a set of these little gems via Calumet Photographic and it may just rock your world. For this image I used ½ CTO to balance my strobe, which burns between 5000 to 5600 Kelvin to the much warmer chandelier, which burns around at 7500+ Kelvin.
(5) How do you control your spill when using an umbrella? First remember I used a shoot thru umbrella not a regular one, I could also have used a small soft box but they take to much time to set up and time is of the essence. Second you will need to do one of two things or both in conjunction depending on how narrow you want your light to be. You can always zoom your flash head to 100mm or you can do like I did and place a set of SP video light barn doors over your strobe. If you’re a Strobist subscriber you know what I’m talking about. If your not you should be. (www.strobist.blogspot.com)
Finally I used a gold reflector on an assistant stand to camera right for fill. Mind you this is a venue I had never shot at before and I didn’t see this spot until we were heading into another room.
The post took about 5 minutes in Photoshop. Some levels adjustments, a little burn and dodge, and +10 in saturation. That’s it.
Original image capture RAW, Canon EOS 50D, 24-70 2.8L @ 24mm, ISO 800, 1/25th @ f – 3.5.
Next time: “The Dramatic First Dance”
Join the Pro Photo Business Forum to talk with me further.
Scott Villal0bos
Houston Wedding Photographer – RSVP Studios
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Great article. Beautiful image!
I really like the warm tones of this portrait.
Thank you for the very helpful explanation of the lighting you used to make this image. I now understand one definitely needs an assistant to be able to make these kinds of wedding images.
[...] can view my latest article here: http://prophotobusinessforum.com/2009/10/next-level-%e2%80%93-turning-your-wedding-imagery-into-art-… My third article is due out this Saturday. It’s called the “Romantic First [...]
[...] can view my latest article here: http://prophotobusinessforum.com/2009/10/next-level-%e2%80%93-turning-your-wedding-imagery-into-art-… My third article is due out this Saturday. It’s called the “Romantic First [...]