Archive for the ‘Photography Tips’ Category

Posing is HARD. Heck, photography is hard. Sure, today’s DSLR’s take better photos in auto mode than the average point-and-shoot, but as a professional photographer, it’s so much more that pushing the shutter button. Looking for (and creating) beautiful or dramatic light is one topic; and posing is another. As a lifestyle photographer, my clients are NOT models, and having a camera suddenly put in front of you and your fiance is intimidating! It’s my job to look for the best light and backgrounds, as well as guide my clients into poses without them looking too stiff.

This freaked me out a little earlier in my career, but the longer you work with clients, the easier it comes to you, I promise! I am also always finding new inspiration by following other wedding photographer blogs. I have Design Aglow’s Inspire Me cards, which are very handy to look through prior to a session.

Another great source is magazine ads! Some of them are too high-fashion for me, but I’ll rip out ads and keep them in a binder. Here a couple examples:

This ad is a pretty good example. I like the closeness of the couple, and I like the woman’s hand placement. The only thing I don’t like is her downcast stare. I’m actually a fan of having one person look at the camera while the other looks away, down, or closes her eyes, but she doesn’t look happy! I try to go for the happy vibe if at all possible :)

This ad is gorgeous! I love the woman’s serene expression. The light is what really makes the photo, though. You can see the light is coming in from the right side, and the left side of her face is cast in shadow, although it’s a soft shadow. You can also tell the light source was large because the highlights in her eyes are large. Large light source = soft light.

I’m not a fan of this posing. Granted, this was a two-page ad and the pose DOES fit in with the ad campaign. But, this is not a pose I would use for an engagement session. Well, I would with modification. The fact that they’re looking in different directions makes for a huge disconnect. So I might have the man look at the woman, the woman look at me, and she could ditch her gargantuan purse and place her hand on his forearm.

This an exercise I do quite frequently, actually. I’ll take a look at a pose and make a lot of adjustments in my mind and see how many different poses I can come up with. Livin’ la vida loco, I know!

LOVE this ad! I love how they are tangled together, her hand on his chest, their relaxed expressions into the camera. Of course the fact that they are each roughly the same height as a giraffe doesn’t hurt, either.

Now pick up that Vogue and get your own inspiration! :)

As a “duh” statement of the year, photography is visual. The best learning takes place by doing, and I often turn to video education to further my knowledge base. However, I’m a bookworm, so naturally I’ve taken to a number of photography books. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

Available Light by Don Marr

One of the phrases I hate the MOST in photography is, “Find the pretty light!” Most often, this phrase isn’t followed by any detailed instructions. Just “look” for it. Um, okay. This book has really helped me to identify the best light to flatter my subjects. In short, it’s the best book I’ve read on finding good light in a myriad of settings, both outdoors and indoors.

Captured by the Light by David Ziser

This is my (dog-eared) wedding photography Bible! David Ziser is a brilliant technician, especially when it comes to using light skillfully in a variety of situations. I’ve had this book since it was first released and I turn to it time and time again. Stylistically, I think I have a very different photography style from David, but his photography skills are top-notch. If you’re just starting your wedding career, this is MUST buy. Even if you’ve been at it for awhile, this is still a valued book chock-full of great tips and advice!

Happy Monday!

As soon as I heard about the Kelly Moore photography bag, I put it on order. I had looked at the Shootsac, but I really wanted a bag that could carry a LOT of gear. And I wanted something sturdy, that could stand up on its own when I set it down.

I love this bag! It’s very well-made. There are 3 dividers, so there are 4 sections to place your gear. However, with my camera in there, one of these sections is pretty small. Still, I usually get my flash and 2 lenses in there, as well my backup batteries, cards, and other small items. There are two pockets in the front, as well as pockets on the side, and another pocket in the back. This thing is lousy with pockets!

I can carry my stuff all day without problems. Of course, with all that gear, the bag is rather bulky and you have to be careful when moving around, especially covering events like the reception.

I have only one criticism of the bag. It only has snaps at the top to close the bag. This means your gear, most likely, is always exposed. This has been a problem for me at beach shoots, for instance. In one particular shoot it was drizzling outside, I set my bag down, and when I flipped it back up, sand got everywhere in my bag, and I almost freaked out when I saw sand all over the lens element of my (new) 24mm 1.4L. Another problem is I crouch down a lot, and if my bag is tilted, all my gear could spill out. I’m surprised a zipper top, at least, was not designed in the bag.

Overall, though, I don’t think this is a deal-killer. I just need to be aware of the bag, which in general you should be if toting around that much gear! Here are a few images:

Flash used to intimidate me.  In some ways, it still does. I’m certainly not an expert when it comes to off-camera flash, for example, but you definitely learn how to use on-camera flash pretty quickly when you have to work at receptions!

First of all, I use an external flash. The little pop-up flash that comes with my 7D is good for a quick family photo, but I loathe using it in general. It’s very “flashy” looking, and quite powerful. I use a Canon 580EX II with PowerGenix rechargeable batteries. I always carry at least 3 sets of batteries with me to a wedding because you just never know how much you’ll be using your flash.

I have two flash modifiers of choice: the black foamie thing and the Gary Fong Lightsphere. Below is the Lightsphere:

The Lightsphere is my “easy” flash solution. I point my flash straight up, and attach the Lightsphere. It comes with a detachable dome, which I usually leave on if the ceilings are high. The point of a modifier like this is to diffuse the flash and make it appear softer. It does a pretty good job. The fact is, soft light is better, and the larger the light source, the softer the light. Your photos will still look “flashy” with a Lightsphere. But they’ll look better.

My favorite modifier is the “black foamie thing,” something I picked up from Neil van Niekerk. This is something you might spend $3 on total – you need some black foam from the craft store, and a hair tie.

This modifier is all about bouncing the flash. The black foam acts to “flag” the flash, so no direct light falls on the subject. Indirect light is best for making a subject appear to be lit naturally. The downside is this can be hard to use consistently if you’re moving around a lot. For instance, recently I was shooting a reception and going around various tables to get shots of guests. I was shooting in a tent. The center of the tent was high, and the sides were low. So depending on where I was, and how far away the walls were, my images ended up being rather inconsistent. Additionally, the further away the wall is from your flash, the more power you’re dumping for each image. The color of the walls also have to be considered. White is ideal. If you’re trying to bounce flash off a red wall, your images will be warm.

As for settings, I end up switching between manual and ETTL depending on the situation. If I’m moving a lot, ETTL is the way to go. If I can stay in one spot for awhile, manual is better. In either case, because the flash is illuminating the subject, my settings are usually around f/3.5, 1/60 shutter speed, and 800 ISO. The higher the ISO, the less power your flash is putting out (good for your batteries), and a lower shutter speed means you’re capturing more ambient light in the background.

Hope this helps!

I don’t know what it is about flash, but it scares the crap out of most photographers. Just when you figure out how to manually meter to get great exposures, then you have to add flash and it’s like something short-circuits in your brain. Or maybe it’s just me. It has certainly taken ME awhile to grasp flash!

First things first: direct flash is evil. It rarely looks good. It hits subjects in a flat, cold sort of way that isn’t that flattering. Great for candids with the family – bad for professional photographers.

Well, that isn’t completely accurate. There are many flash modifiers you can use, such as softboxes and grids and Fong Dongs, oh my! But that’s an entirely separate subject.

So, the first bit of advice is to get an external flash. I’ve never used the pop-up flash on my 7D. I’m not even completely sure how to “activate” it, other than to put my camera in auto mode.

I use a Canon 580 EX II on my camera, Canon’s current top-of-the-line flash. I love everything about it, from the rotating head to the fast recycle time. I use PowerGenix high-voltage rechargeable batteries which I also highly recommend.

Okay, so if you have an external flash, how the heck do you learn how to use it? First, a few good free sources:

1. Melissa Jill’s blog – for a wedding photographer, these posts really opened up my eyes. I was still learning the basics and her posts (and her FAQ’s in general) have helped me tremendously.

2. Strobist – one of the best sources for learning flash. If you’re brand-new to flash, start with Lighting 101.

3. Neil van Niekerk’s blog – this is my favorite online guide for flash photography. This is where I first learned about bouncing flash and exposure compensation. He also has a book, which I have, although most of the information is online. I learn better by reading, but check out his website!

Now…I’m probably going to go off on a little tangent here that won’t make a lot of sense at first, so bear with me. There’s this concept of “rockstar photographers” currently; essentially wedding photography or photography gurus that have lots of workshops, command quite a bit for their services, and are very popular. It’s not something that I subscribe to, but if I were to consider one photographer a rockstar, it would be Zack Arias. He has a consistently fresh perspective not only with his work, but the industry in general. He’s also funny. This is one of my favorite videos (probably not funny if you’re not a photographer):

Zack Arias:  Sucksessful Commercial Photographer

Anyway, Zack is somewhat of a lighting god and I have always wanted to take his course. For lack of him coming by locally with a workshop, I picked up his OneLight DVD. This is SUCH a great DVD! I cannot more highly recommend it.

Oh! And it shipped with this!

YES, I actually kept the packaging! I thought it was really cool. Am I fangirl-y for doing that?

Anyway…happy flashing! In the photography sense, of course.

I have been DYING to take a workshop this year, but every time I’ve found one I want to attend, I’ve already had something planned or it just hasn’t worked out. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard about Red Leaf Cinema. Red Leaf Cinema is an online workshop created by Richard and Amy of Red Leaf Studios. If you’ve not checked out their work, the word that best describes their amazing photography is ethereal. Their imagery is simply stunning. Read the rest of this entry »

I get a lot of questions from my friends who are now buying DSLR cameras as to the best way to use them. There’s no doubt a DSLR takes a better picture than a point-and-shoot, but learning how to creatively use your camera can be challenging. Especially when the manuals are seemingly written in another language ;)

For people who want to be a little creative without going full-boar in manual mode (which I shoot in), I suggest shooting in AV Mode – aperture priority mode.

The aperture that you can set your camera to depends on the lens on your camera. When buying a lens, the aperture is also called an “f-stop,” and represented with a number such as “F/1.4.” The lower the f-stop is, the more light the lens can let into the camera.

To illustrate what I’m talking about, this is the display on the back of my XSI:

Read the rest of this entry »