We’ve all been there: Your best friend begs you to shoot his wedding in exchange for a case of cheap beer because he’s “really short on cash.” And no matter how much you protest that you’re a wildlife photographer and have never shot a wedding, the response is “I’m sure you’ll do great."
When I was invited to create five lighting tips for this Exploring Light column, my initial thought was to avoid common lighting tips you’re familiar with and likely using now. Instead, I wanted to offer a few tips and techniques that have benefited me throughout my career while shooting portraits.
Beautiful people make for beautiful photographs. While that statement may be up for debate, we can widely agree that the majority of people in the world are not runway models or celebrities gracing the pages of Vogue or People magazines. So, what are some ways photographers can create fabulous portraits of their subjects, even if they aren’t fashion models?
Nothing spoils an otherwise great shot more than failing to achieve precise focus. You can compose a scene properly, nail exposure, and capture beautiful colors, but if the image is soft all is for naught.
Canadians Cici and Clement were not only serious about each other, but they were so serious about their wedding photos that they hired Life Studios, Inc. of Vancouver to join them in Iceland to document the nuptials. And the resulting images are breathtaking.
If you think you’ve run out of ideas as a photographer, watch the below video from Light Club that presents one seemingly small but actually much bigger idea: shoot the dog.
(Editor’s Note: Exploring Light is a monthly Shutterbug column featuring tips, tricks, and photo advice from professional photographers in the Canon Explorers of Light and Canon Legends education program. This month's column is by Denis Reggie with tips on how to successfully capture weddings like a news event.
Photo enthusiasts tend to have a love-hate relationship with camera settings when viewing an epic photo. Some are more concerned with the backstory and artistic details of a shot, while others seem obsessed with the arcane minutiae of every camera setting used to make the image.
Chicago-based photographer and filmmaker Eric Flobeg has been shooting weddings for seven years and he’s learned a lot along the way. In the below video, Floberg shares some of his own tips and strategies for how to get started as a wedding photographer, along with tips and strategies he’s picked up from his colleagues in the wedding photography business.
Wedding photography is serious business. Anyone who’s ever shot a wedding or, more specifically, tried to make a living as a wedding photographer will undoubtedly know this.
One of the few mistakes that can totally ruin a photo is failing to achieve precise focus on the primary subject in a scene. There are a variety of camera settings and shooting techniques for increasing your odds of success, and today we’re going to concentrate on one of the most helpful.
We teamed up with veteran wedding photographer Denis Reggie for our new Experience the Power of Canon site to learn his tips on an often tricky subject: how to capture formal group portraits at a wedding.
The late Mr. Newton was certainly onto something. I believe the overwhelming desire of most portrait photographers is to please the client, with seduction, amusement, and entertainment far from their minds. Let me submit this idea: shoot what the client says they want and then shoot something challenging their assumptions. Most wedding clients tend to be traditional but even introducing black and white or infrared images can increase sales and show clients you’re thinking outside the veil.
Yesterday we demonstrated how to make better outdoor portraits by balancing ambient light with flash. Today’s lighting tutorial takes a different approach, explaining how to shoot indoor group portraits with a simple on-camera flash technique.
Photographing couples is an art form that should not be underestimated. Finding the right way to get two people, no matter how wellthey know each other, to pose and stay in a position worth shooting can be extremely difficult. Success requires the right combination of clear communication and dexterous shooting ability. That’s why it is so crucial for portrait and wedding photographers to follow a clear system in order to have time to both shoot classically-posed shots and fun, candid photos.