Category Archive: 365 wedding project
Wasing Park ceremony barn | Wedding 365#51
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 days, 365 images. My ethos behind the way I shoot.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 85mm, F2.5, 1/100, ISO 800
VENUE: Wasing Park
ETHOS: I lament the passing of my 85mm F1.2 lens. Perhaps the slowest focusing lens known to man. I missed so may shots waiting for it to wander aimlessly into focus. BUT. It was a beautiful piece of glass, had a fabulous bokeh, and was the perfect focal length lens for documentary work. Oh why did I sell it? This one remains a true Wasing Park wedding photograph favourite. It’s flattering on a personal level as there is a real level of acceptance from those being photographed. It’s equally fabulous for it’s story telling. The groom’s mother and father are in their own moments. The best man seems oblivious to the outpouring emotion.
Wasing wedding | Wedding 365#50
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 days, 365 images. My ethos behind the way I shoot.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 200mm from the 70-200mm lens, F2.8, 1/8000, ISO 1600
VENUE: Wasing Park
ETHOS: I’d been shooting in a great deal of shade capturing an entirely different scene, when from behind me there came a howl of laughter. I shot two frames before everything returned to ‘normal.’ Most of the time these days I like to get close in with shorter focal length lenses. This does show that telephotos and zooms also have their place. I’m not sure the expression would have shown in this shot had I not been at the limit of the zoom. It’s also interesting to note from the shooting data how well the exposure held out considering the available light that suddenly became prevalent, the nature of the aperture setting and automated shutter speed. I shoot mainly AV, so I gave the camera settings a task to deal with. You can’t please everyone all of the time, and one of the bridesmaids complained that this didn’t flatter her. I like to think as a viewer you’re left thinking albeit briefly about what they may be discussing. That for me was the reason for inclusion.
Wedding photographer Oxfordshire | Wedding 365#49
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a documentary wedding photograph selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events. This one from Lains Barn.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm, F1.4, 1/320, ISO 3200, under by a third.
VENUE: Lains Barn
ETHOS: A quick word about vignetting, which is something that is obviously prevalent within the body of work I shoot and blog. I vignette fairly often and by that for non vignetters out there, crudely termed the way I work, that means to surround your image on the edge with a darker tone, thereby bringing further emphasis to the picture within. You can of course vignette in other ways. You can vignette by fading to a lighter shade, even vignette as used to be darkroom practice with shapes such as a heart for romantics. I like to think I am somewhat more subtle than that of course! A good photographer friend of mine was adversely marked down by a photojournalist society because he used the process of darker edge vignetting. I remain quite a fan though. I am using it less in some circumstances, but a new form of the practice has emerged; vignetting using people or objects, such as trees. This image is a reasonable example. If we’re encouraged to find one’s own ‘style,’ then I think I may have found one. It’s late, I’ve just come back from a wedding, downloaded the shots and backed up, so I’m off to bed to vignette my eyes a little.
The Forbury wedding photographer and a word about light | Wedding 365#48
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 (366 this year of course!) wedding photographs, one per day, this one captured at the majestic Forbury Hotel in Reading.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm, F1.4, 1/200, ISO 4000
VENUE: The Forbury
ETHOS: It’s a long piece on available light this one, so bear with me. I thoughtfully describe The Forbury Hotel in Reading as majestic, because few luxury hotels feel that way; many these days seem rather, well, corporate. The majesty is in the detail rather than size. How many hotels can boast their own small cinema for example? I’m returning to The Forbury to present my wedding stills documentaries at a wedding showcase on the 26th February and look forward to using this facility for that purpose. In photographic terms, for an available light shooter, it’s a venue that offers opportunities and challenges. Sometimes the best action, the most interesting photographs are to be captured in the most awkwardly lit conditions. Cosy corridor looks and feels good in theory, it’s trickier to capture in practice. Here’s a classic example. I’m working wide open in aperture terms, 24mm at F1.4. I’m cranked in ISO terms too, at ISO4000. (Unthinkable that 400 used to be the absolute highest I would dare go in the introductory pro digital days.) I’m minus flash, using the pin spots and wall lighting only for everything including focus! Believe me, it’s somewhat cosier than the capture displays. I’m trying to convey the spirit of the wedding; friends laughing, passing time together. And this comes back to a conversation I was having with a chap named Roy, the father of a bride I met with last night. An amateur photographer himself, he was intrigued how or why flash is not deployed in practically all the photographs I showcase where it could provide a supportive fill role. My response; it alerts guests too much to your presence, often removes three dimension from a subject and far too often performs adversely just at the moment you least expect or want. BANG, the charge from your speedlight napalms the subject in a shape and style my settings had never delineated. Next frame perfect, but oh, the first one was the ‘decisive moment.’ Kit of course is just one part of the equation. Investing in equipment suitable for the task is imperative. But equally one can have all the gear and no idea. Roy’s interest in available light shooting is born of his own enthusiasm for the medium, and was completely in contrast to a phone call earlier in the day where a mother called up to say; I have eight hundred quid, just want some photos, what’s the cheapest you can do? Google trawling to find a snapper. See, some people will never understand the difference between shooting wide open in a dark corridor, poised over a shoulder, sucking every last photon out of a lamp to capture four friends laughing hysterically about life. This is the beauty of what we do as photographers. To some, a photograph is simply a snap, and that’s fine. To others, an opportunity. Roy passed me a great compliment as he left last night; “Your pictures seem to have mood, can’t put my finger on it, but they’re different.” Vive la difference, as I said to a colleague last week on my Facebook page.
Wedding photojournalist | Wedding 365#47
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a wedding photograph selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events.
SHOOTING DATA: 5D, 58mm from a 24-105mm lens, F4, 1/800, ISO 640
ETHOS: I maintain that every photographed wedding will yield at least one signature moment, and this is the one for me from this particular wedding. It’s a simple shot featuring three key cast members from the day; groom, bride, bride’s father. They’ve just emerged from the service, friends are firing off their own frames directly in front of them. Bride turns to father and the connection is just magical. Often I photograph how fathers observe their daughters. It’s rewarding that when I return images from a wedding a response I often get is; “I had no idea dad was looking at me that way, I’m really touched.” This is role reversal. I hope this photograph is on her father’s mantelpiece because it says so much about her feelings for ‘dad.’
Documentary wedding photography | Wedding 365#46
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – one wedding photograph from my collection per day to demonstrate shooting style, creatively and technically.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 135mm, F2, 1/250, ISO 1250
ETHOS: What goes on behind a bride and groom as the story unfolds is of great significance. Captured well, these are the moments a bride and groom can often only witness through a photographer’s photographs. Rarely will a guest take a documentary stance in quite the same fashion. During a service and selected according to size of room, light available etc, I elect to sport two camera bodies with different focal length lenses attached and ready to shoot. I try to avoid changing lenses during such an important juncture of the day. These days there is often a wide-ish lens, the 24mm being my glass of choice. And then something like a 50mm or 135mm. In this case the latter has isolated the bride’s parents well and it becomes, in my mind at least, a perfect portrait of them. Photograph captured during a civil ceremony at The Swan, Bibury.
Bad weather photography | Wedding 365#45
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a documentary wedding photograph selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events. This one from an outdoor ceremony at Notley Abbey.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 35mm, F1.4, 1/2000, ISO 1000, over by two stops.
VENUE: Notley Abbey, Oxfordshire
ETHOS: I’ve just written a piece for a photography magazine on the subject of bad weather at weddings. It’ll be a month or two before that piece appears, so this will be long down the order by then. I thought it worth broaching the subject within 365. I don’t consciously use bad weather per sae in my photography as I follow the lead of a bride and groom; my work favouring a photojournalistic approach. If the couple are embracing adverse climatic conditions, so will I. Storms and snow covered vistas are fabulous environmental backdrops and offer me opportunities to record dramatic landscapes to accompany the final collection, but I generally don’t ask clients to go and stand outside. Let’s take snow as an example. As I write, I’ve just completed two weddings on bitterly cold days where snow fell and the valleys we frequented funnelled blasts of Siberian chills through them so bitter that cheeks would redden within seconds. Both brides suggested they would enjoy that. The reality was different and despite sporting Hunters bought particularly for the day, we retreated pretty quickly. So bad weather for me often results in more indoor photography where I don fast lenses, open up wide in photographic terms and go look for available light tungsten style. I prefer then to report the weather and show how it impacted in real terms on the day. This image from an outdoor ceremony at Notley Abbey near Thame is a perfect example. We’d not long commenced an outdoor service when a roll cloud brought a healthy delivery of heavy rain in seconds. It didn’t [sorry for this] dampen spirits, but it did tell a story of the day. I particularly love the image of the lady at the back rolling the carpet back with her foot.
What is a wedding portrait? | Wedding 365#44
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – one image per day to demonstrate shooting style, creatively and technically.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 70-200mm, F2.8, 1/1250, ISO 160, under by a third.
ETHOS: I’ve made a creative journey in the last couple of years, gradually withdrawing from overly contrived portraits to favour a more relaxed and natural stance. I do pose couple and group portraits yes, it’s inevitable and right that I’ll be required to, but I’m equally fond of ‘walk and talk’ capture. It’s not unusual that the resulting photographs will be something akin to today’s choice of 365 image. Ah, but is it a portrait? Shouldn’t a portrait be some kind of formal rather more staid record? That’s the traditional understanding after all. I prefer to embrace the modern comprehension of the word, where the intention is to capture the personality of the subject and by extension the moment.
Wedding photographer Oxon | Wedding 365#43
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a documentary wedding photograph selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events. This one from Lains Barn.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm, F1.4, 1/40, ISO 1600, under by two thirds.
ETHOS: Prior to working with the amazing 1.4 L series 24mm lens, this kind of close proximity documentary work would not have been such a comfortable experience in conditions where light is at a real premium. Believe me, there is little light in available terms within this location of the barn. I’ve chosen this picture today because it’s a support image within the wedding and I want to share more of my work than simply proud signature shots. I like the nature of this image. I like the depth, the richness of tones. There’s not a complex story to this, though I like the female guest’s expression, seemingly sympathising with the conversation on going. I like the texture of the building. I even like the male guest, fingers illuminated by his iPhone, sending a text or something, perhaps a tweet; “Why is the man to the right taking my photograph #iambeingphotographed.”
Wedding portraits | Wedding 365#42
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a wedding image selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm lens, F1.4, 1/100, ISO 1000, two thirds under.
ETHOS: My oft repeated photographic mantra that wedding images should be a document of the day not a Vogue photoshoot is represented well by this simple shot. Would it win a photographic portrait contest? Probably not. It’s a little busy perhaps and some would say the wrong orientation. But the ‘cluttered’ aspect is rather important contextually. I want to position my subject in a place, in this case church; scene setting, the start of my story telling process. He’s quite clearly a groom, a buttonhole identifying the fact. He’s waiting. There is I think an air of expectation. He’s reasonably serious; there’s intent to the photograph. And the fact his eye line is not directly to camera hopefully makes for a less contrived record of the moment. Could I see this as a documentary portrait, I think yes.
Wedding photojournalism | Wedding 365#41
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a documentary wedding photograph selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events. This one from Wasing Park, Aldermaston.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 135mm, F2, 1/160, ISO 2000, over by a third.
ETHOS: Just want to quickly outline a couple of thoughts about these shooting notes that accompany the 365 images daily. My musings, my approach, my thinking is all very personal and subjective, from a tog who shoots weddings week in week out as his main line of creative expression. No way is my way the right way, it’s just a different way. I’ve chatted on email to a couple of togs who with thanks are following this ‘forum of photographs’ now, and have exceptionally different styles. I’m maturing with the genre of documentary wedding photography that I favour and I do appreciate alternative styles for sure, but the over contrived stuff doesn’t float my photographic boat. Having said that, couple of posts back, the bride and groom in front of the stream shot, well that’s hardly PJ, so yep, I do think there are moments worth setting up, to get the day’s sig shot portrait. So, edging carefully into this one, I’ve chosen today’s image for the fact it doesn’t take itself seriously at all, and is unabridged silliness. I could start a collection of those that take pics of themselves, an exhibition perhaps of, well, exhibitionists. Now there’s a thought.
Wasing Park wedding photographer | Wedding 365#40
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Today’s image taken from my wedding photography catalogue with creative and technical musings.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 50mm lens, F1.2, 1/250, ISO 500
VENUE: Wasing Park, Berkshire
ETHOS: This remains one of my favourite documentary wedding images from Wasing Park and almost didn’t get captured as only a second after this was taken, someone instructed the boy to; “Smile for the man!?!” Photographers will recognise that ‘order’ to be the most destructive counter creative directive possible when trying to calmly go about one’s reportage task, appreciating at the same time of course that people are genuinely only trying to help. This says wedding without screaming dipped or leaping brides. The cross of the church, guest preparations behind the subject, a lad displaying what I’m sure my own son would be thinking; “Do we really need to go through this to get to the jelly and ice cream.” A real moment.
Documentary wedding photographer | Wedding 365#39
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a documentary wedding image selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm lens, F1.6, 1/1600, ISO 250, underexposed by two thirds.
ETHOS: “Do you come here often?” Some images merit a simple title. I think this is a pretty decent example of working close to your subject with a short focal length lens. Do they feel challenged by my presence? No. Is it even obvious that they sense my camera at all? I’d say no again. There is a creative assumption, and I started out this way, to think that the only way to achieve candid wedding photography is to stand 20 feet off with the longest zoom you can carry, popping shots like there was no end to the red top cheque book you are servicing. I find the opposite. We’re going in to the wedding breakfast and this is the receiving line. When I looked at the final collection, it was pretty obvious that I’d been accepted as part of the wedding. There are only a handful in the complete set as I elect to watch in the main, raising a camera only when I see something worth capturing. That way subjects don’t feel like they are being machine gunned by a tog with itchy shutter finger. Love the interaction between bride and groom, but there’s more to the story. One mother delights at seeing the scene, the other is pensive, thoughtful, reflective. As for father of the bride, I don’t know, maybe he’s thinking; “Please hurry up and file through, I’m hungry!”
Wedding photographer Surrey | Wedding 365#38
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a wedding photograph selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events.
SHOOTING DATA: 5D, 28mm from a 24-105mm lens, F2, 1/200, ISO 1250, underexposed by a third.
VENUE: Great Fosters
ETHOS: I’ve written in some detail within the last dozen or so posts about shooting low light; capturing scenes when the available light may only be candles and dimmed pin spots. So at last, a 365 to celebrate sunshine, and colour! There are some scenes that emphatically shout; “Shoot me in colour.” This is one. The differing tones of foliage. The vapour trail delicately hanging in the sky. I’ll admit too, to a touch of alteration in post production as the initial rather more brown toned stream was not so pleasing; it’s not something I openly subscribe to in documentary wedding photography terms, but this is a portrait, a mantelpiece moment, and it’s shot and reproduced with those thoughts in mind. With such strong no holds barred directional light, a similar problem is occurring in facial terms to when I shoot inside in darker surroundings. Shadow under eyes, shadow across faces etc et al. Step right back and compositionally work with the whole scene and that scenario is enveloped by a far more expressive and pleasing final capture.
Low light wedding photography | Wedding 365#37
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – a documentary wedding photography image per day to demonstrate shooting style, creatively and technically.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm, F1.4, 1/100, ISO 3200, underexposed by a third during capture.
VENUE: Lains Barn
ETHOS: I’m an available light shooter, inspired by historic documentary photographers who have shot this way either by necessity or style. The three dimension afforded me by embracing light this way requires a particular approach come the evening. I’ll often shoot wider at these times as I can squeeze far more light and information out of a capture when I adopt this approach. Often you can do less with detail and you may well find that shadows under eyes (panda eyes) becomes an unattractive problem. I also slow down in photographic count terms come the evening. I don’t want my record of the evening’s events to simply be ‘man drinking beer.’ So, give me a balcony and a scene, and I’m a happy photographer.
