Have a Master Schedule

Planning is essential to a smooth wedding day. The couple should know that if there are delays, adjustments or deletions will have to be made to the requested pictures. Good planning and an understanding of exactly what the bride and groom want will help prevent any problems.

Inform the bride that you will arrive at the her home or hotel room (or wherever she is getting ready) at least 45 minutes to an hour before she leaves for the church. You should know how long it takes to drive from there to the ceremony, and leave in time to arrive at mosque at about the same time as (or a little before) the groom, who should arrive about a half hour before the ceremony. At that time you can make portraits of the
groom and his groomsmen and his best man while you wait for the bride and bridesmaids to arrive.

If the ceremony is to take place at a mosque or synagogue where you do not know the customs, make sure you visit the officiant beforehand. If you are unfamiliar with the customs, ask to attend another wedding as an observer. Such experiences will give you invaluable insight into how you will photograph the wedding.

Bear in mind that having a master schedule does not preclude massive scheduling changes. A good plan will only guarantee that you are prepared for the events as they are planned, not necessarily how they will actually unfold. Yet, the better your preparation and planning, the more adept you and your team will be at making last minute adjustments.

Engagement Portraits Smooth the Path and Make a Bridal Portrait

Engagement Portraits Smooth the Path

The engagement portrait, which has become a classic element of modernday wedding coverage, is often used in newspapers and local magazines to announce the couple’s wedding day. These portraits are generally made in advance of the wedding, providing the time needed to get something really spectacular. This pre wedding session also allows the couple and the photographer to become familiar with each other, making the wedding day photography much easier. After a successful engagement-portrait session, the photographer doesn’t seem like an outsider at the wedding.

Most photographers offer this session at no charge, because it affords them two to three hours of bonding time with the couple. Engagement

portraits may involve great creativity and intimacy and are often made in the photographer’s studio or at some location that is special to the couple.

Make a Bridal Portrait

According to Kevin Jairaj, doing a bridal session before the wedding is a great idea (and very profitable too!). It allows him to get to know the bride a lot better and to see what she is comfortable with in regard to her photos. It is also a great dress rehearsal for the bride as she can make sure that all parts of her dress fit just right and look exactly the way she wants.

Kevin always approaches his bridal sessions with the attitude that it’s

more like a fashion shoot. He tells his brides to “expect to be my model for a day and to prepare to have a lot of fun.” During the session, he will do quite a variety of shots from very sexy and fashion forward, to a few traditional ones to please Mom and Grandma. He offers some tips:

1. Tell the bride to have a glass of wine to relax before the session, as putting on the wedding dress comes with a few nerves.

2. Have the bride wear comfortable shoes (tennis shoes or flip flops) especially if you cannot see her shoes under her dress when she is standing. Having your bride get blisters while walking around in her heels is no way to have a productive shoot! For any shots sitting down you can simply have her put her heels on when you get to the spot.

3. Bring a white sheet or clean painter’s plastic to place under the dress during some shots. This is the secret to not getting the dress dirty. Some brides are terrified to have their $10,000 dress get dirty before the wedding! Have her sit on the sheet or the plastic and then tuck it under her dress so that it doesn’t show. 

4. Have her bring friends to the session to help out with all the stuff (shoes, makeup, tissues, etc.). “Most brides seem to relax more when their friends are around,” Kevin notes.

Kevin tries to do the bridal session about two months before the actual wedding, since the bride’s weight, hair length, etc. will be pretty close to what it will be on the wedding day. Also, that allows him plenty of time to order and frame a print to be displayed at the reception. A typical bridal session will last about two to three hours.

Make a Good Potrait

Befriend the Couple Most successful wedding photographers get to know the couple and their families before the wedding so that everyone knows what to expect. This process can involve in studio consultations, creating an engagement portrait (in which the photographer and couple actually work together), sending handwritten notes, communicating via e-mail, and talking on the phone. Alisha and Brook Todd, successful wedding photographers in the San Francisco area, send out a bottle of Dom Perignon and a hand written note the day after the contract goes out, then follow it up with monthly phone calls to check in. The more familiar the couple is with the photographer, the better the pictures will be on the wedding day. Get to Know the Event Preparation is critical when photographing a once in a lifetime event that is as complicated as a wedding. With lots of people, places, and events to document, getting all the details and formulating a plan will help ensure you’re ready to capture every moment. Begin by arranging a meeting with the couple at least one month before the wedding. Use this time to get all the details, formulate detailed plans, and get to know the couple in a relaxed setting. Make notes on the colour scheme, the supplier of the flowers, the caterer, the band, and so on. After the meeting, contact all of the vendors just to touch base. You may find out interesting details that will affect your timetable or how you make certain photos. Introduce yourself to the people at the various venues (including the minister, priest, or rabbi), and go back to the couple if there are any problems or if you have questions. If you have not worked at the couples’ venues before, try to visit them at the same times of day as the wedding and reception. That way, you can check the lighting, make notes of special locations, and catalog any potential problems. Also, you should make note of the walls and types of ceilings, particularly at the reception. This will affect your use of bounce flash. It is useful to produce an “A” list and a “B” list of locations. On the “A” list, note the best possible spots for your images; on the “B” list, select alternate locations in case your “A” locations don’t work out on the wedding day. Your initial meeting with the couple also gives them a chance to ask any questions of you that they may have. Discuss what you plan to photograph, and show them examples. Be sure to ask if they have any special requests or special guests who may be coming from far away but avoid creating a list of “required” photographs; it may not be possible to adhere to one.

Lighting in Photography Part 14

Try Handheld Video Lights



Small handheld video light are a good addition to your location photography kit. Perhaps the most useful video lights come from Lowel Light, a video and hot light manufacturer. Lowel’s 100 watt dimmable iD light, which is ultracompact, does not get too hot to manage and is ideal for hand holding when your other hand is holding a camera. Barn doors are part of the kit and the light is crisp and bright and, more importantly, easily feathered to produce the desired on location lighting effect.

David Williams uses video lights to augment existing light at his weddings. To bring the white balance back from tungsten to about 4500°K (slightly warmer than daylight), he glues a Cokin filter holder to the front of the light and places a medium blue filter (a 025 Cokin filter) in it. The result is a perfect warm fill light. For an even warmer effect, or if you are shooting indoors with tungsten lights, you can simply remove the filter.

David uses these units when shooting wide open, so they are usually just for fill or accent. They can also be used to provide what David calls a “kiss of light.” For this effect, he holds the light above and to the side of the subject and feathers the beam back and forth while looking through the viewfinder. The idea is to produce just a little warmth and light on something that is backlit or lit nondescriptly.

Alternately, David will use an
assistant to hold two lights, which cancel out the shadows of one another. He often combines these in a flash bracket arrangement with a handle. His video light has a palm grip attached to the bottom to make it very maneuverable, even when he has a camera in his other hand.

Lighting in Photography Part 13

Try the Nikon Speedlight Commander



The latest development in electronic flash is a device Nikon calls the SU-800 Wireless Speedlight Commander that enables you to wirelessly coordinate the independent operation of two groups of Nikon Speedlights in close up mode, or three groups (A, B, C) of compatible Speedlights in commander mode. In either mode, the commander manages flash output with exceptional precision, automatically delivering the light level dictated by the camera’s metering systems and supporting automatic balanced fill flash with compatible cameras. Further, the Nikon D200 and later models feature a built in flash commander that allows the on board flash to control the output of two groups of flash units remotely to a distance of 66 feet.

In use, the Flash Commander is remarkable because you can easily control the output and ratio between flashes and verify the results on the camera’s LCD. With an assistant or attendee helping you, you can light scenes with multiple flash wirelessly and easily control the output of each flash so that you can shoot groups at the reception, or special moments like the first dance or cake cutting, with sophisticated TTL flash lighting.


Studio Flash Systems on Location



You may find it useful to have a number of studio flash heads. You can set these up for formals or tape the light stands to the floor and use them to light the reception. Either way, you will need enough power (at least 50 watt seconds per head) to light large areas or allow you to work at small apertures at close distances. The most popular type of unit is the monolight, which has a self contained power pack and usually has an on board photo cell that triggers the unit to fire when it senses a flash burst. All you need is an electrical outlet and the flash can be positioned anywhere. Be sure to take along plenty of gaffers’ tape and extension cords. Tape everything in position securely in order to prevent accidents.


Use Umbrellas



Often, you will need to light an area, such as the dance floor. Using stationary umbrellas that are “slaved” to your camera or on camera flash is an ideal way to accomplish this. When setting up, be sure to securely tape all cords and stands to the floor in as inconspicuous a manner as possible to prevent anyone from tripping over them.

Once positioned, focus the umbrellas so that you get even illumination
across the area. To do that, use the modeling light to adjust the distance of the umbrella to the flash head until outer edges of the light core strike the outer edges of the umbrella. This is the optimal setting. If the umbrella is too close to the strobe, much of the beam of light is focused in the center portion of the umbrella, producing light with a “hot spot” center. If the strobe is too far away from the umbrella surface, the beam of light is focused past the umbrella surface, wasting a good amount of light.

Feathering the light past the area you want illuminated will help more evenly light your scene, because you are using the edge of the light. Additionally, you can move the light source back so that is less intense overall but covers a wider area. The light will become harsher and less diffused the farther back you move it. Triggering is best accomplished with a radio transmitter set to fire only those strobes.

Lighting in Photography Part 12

Using Remote Triggering Devices



If using multiple flash units (to light the dance floor, for instance), some type of remote triggering device will be needed to sync all the flashes at the instant of exposure. There are a variety of these devices available. Light actuated slaves are sensitive to the light of a flash unit being fired and fire the flash they are attached to at the same instant they sense a flash going off. Unfortunately, this can be your flash or someone else’ real drawback to this type of remote flash trigger.

Infrared remote flash triggers are more reliable. Since many monolight type flash units come equipped with an infrared sensor built in, it is a simple matter of syncing the flashes with the appropriate transmitter. A third type, the radio remote triggering device, uses a radio signal that is transmitted when you press the shutter release and then picked up by individual receivers mounted to each flash. These are
reliable, but not foolproof; a cordless microphone may trigger them accidentally.

Radio remotes transmit signals in either digital or analog form. Digital systems, like the PocketWizard, are much more reliable and are not affected by local radio signals. Some photographers will use, as part of the standard equipment, a separate transmitter for as many cameras as are being used (for instance, an assistant’s camera), as well as a separate transmitter for the handheld flashmeter, allowing the photographer to take remote flash readings from anywhere in the room.

Lighting in Photography Part 11

Adding Bounce Flash



Bounce Flash Off Walls and Ceilings. By bouncing the flash off the ceiling, you can achieve soft, directional light that fully illuminates your subjects. When using bounce flash, you must learn to gauge angles and distances. Aim the flash unit at a point on the ceiling that will produce the widest beam of light reflecting back onto your subjects. There are two things to watch out for when using this technique. First, avoid bouncing flash off colored ceilings or walls; you may not be able to compensate for the resulting color cast, even with custom white balance. Second, watch out for excessively overhead lighting. This can be a big problem with high ceilings, producing light that is almost directly overhead in nature and not the most flattering look for portraits.

You don’t necessarily have to use your flash sync speed when making bounce flash exposures. If the room light exposure is within a stop or two of your bounce flash exposure (1/125 second at f/4, for example), you can select a slower shutter speed to record more of the ambient room light. If the room light exposure is 1/30 second at f/4, for example, expose the bounce flash photos at 1/30 second at f/4 for a balanced flash and roomlight exposure. Be wary of shutter speeds longer than 1/15 second; the flash will freeze the subject, but the longish shutter speed might produce “ghosting” if your subject is moving. This effect can be quite interesting visually. In fact, many photographers incorporate a slow shutter speed and flash to record a sharp image over a moving one for a painterly effect.

Keep in mind that TTL flash metering systems and auto flash systems will read bounce flash situations fairly accurately, but factors such as ceiling distance, color, and absorption qualities can affect proper exposure. Bounce Flash Devices. A number of devices on the market are designed to eliminate the excessively overhead quality sometimes found with bounce flash. The Lumiquest ProMax system, for example, mounts on the flash housing and transmits some of the light forward onto the subject, with the remainder of the light being aimed at the ceiling. Lumiquest also offers the Pocket Bouncer, which redirects light at a 90 degree angle from the flash to soften the quality of light and distribute it over a wider area. No exposure compensation is necessary with automatic and TTL flash exposure systems, although operating distances will be somewhat reduced.

Lighting in Photography Part 10

Flash for the Main Light

When using flash as the main light and ambient light for the fill, it is important to remember that you are balancing two light sources in one scene. The ambient light exposure will control the exposure on both the background and the subjects. The flash exposure will affect only the subjects.

At Twilight. If the light is fading or the sky is brilliant and you want to shoot for optimal color saturation in the background, overpower the daylight with the flash. This is where the flash becomes the main light and the ambient light becomes the fill light. Returning to the situation above, where the daylight exposure was 1/30 second at f/8, you could adjust your flash output so your flashmeter reading was f/11, one stop more powerful than the daylight. Then, you would set your camera to 1/30 second at f/11. At these settings, the flash would provide the main light while the soft twilight provided the fill light. This technique works best when the flash is diffused and at an angle to the subjects so there is some discernable lighting pattern. (Note: The only problem with this technique is that you will get shadows from the flash. This can be acceptable, however, since there aren’t really any shadows coming from the twilight.)

On Overcast Days. When the flash exposure and the daylight exposure are identical, the effect is like creating your own sunlight. This technique works particularly well on overcast days when using barebulb flash. Position the flash to the right or left of the subject(s) and raise it up for better modeling. If you want to accentuate the lighting pattern and darken the background and shadows, increase the flash output to 1/2 to one stop greater than the daylight exposure and expose for the flash exposure. Do not underexpose your background by more than a stop, however, or you will produce an unnatural nighttime effect.

Many times this effect will allow you to shoot out in open shade without fear of creating eye sockets that are hollowed-out by shadow. The overhead nature of the diffused daylight will be overridden by the directional flash, which creates a distinct lighting pattern.