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Posted on September 28, 2011
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There’s a real mixture of pictures in this section because I wanted to talk about the importance of shadows (not ignoring the role of highlights too). The key image above was taken in a lounge full of furniture and soft light from some large windows. Directional light produces shadows and it’s the shadows that do the work in that picture. But without shadows, life can get difficult. The architectural shot of the New Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury is as flat as a pancake because there is no sunshine, no shadows to really make the excellent design come to life. The stage shot of opera singer Rosie Aldridge from Glyndebourne testing the acoustics on stage in the main auditorium relies on a shadow cast by a speedlite hidden in front of her (in the absence of stage lighting!). Again, the shadows do the work.
The shot in the church – the darkest church I have ever been in – is a speedlite faking the direction of the window light and thus creating shadows. The shot of the groom on the steps at Mount Ephraim is packed full of interesting shadows – a speedlite creating a harsh light and the ambient lifting the shadows.
Posted on September 15, 2011
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I’ve always been keen to recce a portrait location or wedding venue prior to a shoot for practical reasons and to get some ideas on where to shoot certain sequences. More and more I find that having a plan “B” is not enough, and the changeable weather of this summer has made me glad to have had back up plans, creative alternatives and studio lights in the car! If you check the position of the sun prior to the day (imaging beautiful back-lit veils and long shadows) what do you do when it’s overcast and raining? So my approach these days is more free and works around a simple three point plan:
1. Natural light – look for where the light is painting the picture already and follow it:side light, rim light etc.
2. Reflected light – where are the plain surfaces that will work for you, placing your subjects close to them
3. Flash light / artificial light – don’t be afraid to use them to boost the natural light or be the dominant light
So, using examples from the last few weeks – (i) flat lighting and a cluttered background meant shooting a couple on the running board of the car, subtle side lighting against the deep tones of the paintwork; (ii) at Knowlton Court intense sunshine meant looking from diffused cross lighting and rim light, some fill in from flash; (iii) at Winters Barn, Canterbury and Salmestone Grange – overcoming rain by showing some of the outdoor location under cover; using natural wrap around lighting from a window and white table cloths as giant reflectors; closing curtains to make light directional and also a zoomed speedlight to create shafts of light or accent light for shoes, flowers and veils. If you’re looking to become more consistent in your photography or would simply like some refresher training, do please get in touch.
Posted on September 7, 2011
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There are numerous ways of describing wedding photography – contemporary, traditional, reportage etc. Reportage is sometimes used as shorthand for “relaxed” and “informal” or “documentary” with no intervention from the photographer. Where there is absolutely no intervention you are really looking at wedding photojournalism. For now I’m going to stick with reportage for a moment. Some photographers prefer to rely on capturing the moment only and there’s nothing wrong with that. But sometimes there needs to be a little nudge here and there to make something come together where it might not have done so and this is what I call “styled documentary”. This is a subtle difference but doesn’t rely on hoping that everything will just happen in front of you. More often than not it will be looking for where the light is and moving something or someone closer to it. It might involved tidying something up – from flowers, table decorations to where hands are placed. It might mean choosing a different background to avoid something out of place. It’s helping to tell the story but not writing it for you. If you would like to get in touch and look at some portfolios of this style of wedding photography it would be great to hear from you.
Posted on August 29, 2011
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Here are some examples below of how to get different pictures by modifying your lighting (the portraits are on Whitstable beach and seafront). Natural light can produce vibrant colours and long shadows (depending on the time of day) but makes for a harsh direction light. You can place your subject into the shadows but think about what you’re doing next. Is it to fill in with some reflected light or to fake the sunlight and build the picture up from scratch? Both are valid in different situations. Do you want a kicker light that is the sun itself or fake it with off camera flash? You’ll decide what’s best for you depending on the look you’re trying to achieve.
Posted on August 23, 2011
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Where I think where we as photographers work for and earn our money – particularly in commercial photography – is where you have to control the situation and environment, regardless if the weather or how much time you have. When a shoot is booked and there’s no light, you make the light. When it’s raining you have to adapt the style or look you were thinking of when it was sunshine. So, as you heard me talk about before, it’s about lighting. The selection below from a location shoot used mostly a softbox and reflector to fake sunlight and try and make highlights where they were missing under flat, dull diffused light.
Posted on August 13, 2011
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It’s not everyday that a lobster that was meant to be sleeping (after being in the freezer) decided to wake up mid-shot, thrashing it’s tail around knocking the ice off the table. All in a day’s work! This was during a location shoot of a series of images for Le Petit Poisson. Although you can shoot some types of food with just natural light and reflectors – editorial style – it’s not always the brief to have shallow depth of field and a styled rustic kitchen location and boho chic crockery. These shots were with 2 lights and a number of layers of diffusion with no natural light at all – high contrast for a new website.
Posted on August 5, 2011
This was a quick one hour retro shoot using just one off-camera flash. Speedlites when used with a softbox can produce a less harsh and directional look, but you do lose power. I had left the shooting time until later in the afternoon so that the sun would be a bit lower in the sky, and just got away with the speedlite on full power, close in, with the softbox. It’s expecting a lot of it to fill in the shadows of a very powerful sun. If you would like to know more about training in lighting or other aspects of photography please do get in touch.
Posted on July 18, 2011
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A hot June day. A ceremony that began in Hackney, a lunch reception at Fredericks in Islington. Then some photography by St Paul’s, The Millennium Bridge, More London and the Blue Print Cafe near Butlers Wharf. The very dark church interiors were boosted with some cross-lighting whereas the outdoor locations were about working with the intense sunlight (as a backlight, a kicker, a rim light or using s bit of fill flash in the shadows).
Posted on June 23, 2011
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Winters Barn is located just outside south Canterbury and having only opened as a venue a few years ago, it has grown to become a much sought after location for weddings. The weather during the spring and early summer can be pretty much anything (except snow, but not ruling out hail stones) but for my last wedding there is was harsh sunlight for first half of the day and then a rapid fall off as the clouds came over. This means that when you’re shooting pictures you’re either working with or against the sun, and using the shade when necessary.
Posted on June 6, 2011
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I was asked to re-shoot something for a customer that had visited a certain high street studio chain recently and so the studio session for this Kent family from Canterbury was high key. A high key effect is two things really. It’s a white background lit separately, stronger than your key or main light by 1-2 stops. The stronger the background lights the greater then potential for light spill (this can be a good or bad thing depending on what you’re trying to achieve). The second part to high key is in adding some additional contrast (at the time or in post production) combined with additional colour saturation – the technique applied by that high street studio chain I mentioned but without the same price tag! To learn more about family portrait studio photography in Kent why not get in touch about booking a session or some some training – in Whitstable, Faversham or Canterbury.
