As I defined it yesterday, framing is when the subject is bordered on 2 or more sides by another element(s) in the image. Back to my home field - weddings . . .



Manual Mode; ISO 400; Shutter 1/250; F-stop 3.5; Focal Length 80mm. No flash.



Sometimes you just know you got it. This was one of those “Oh snap, that’s the best picture I’ve ever taken!” moments. This was 5 years ago and I was using the snail-slow EOS 1DS. Everything fell together and I nearly swooned when I looked at the back of the camera. Of course, that was like 20 minutes after I hit the shutter with that camera body!


This was at 80mm on a 70-200mm. I intentionally pulled back and framed the image with the crepe myrtles there at The Inn at Serenbe in Palmetto, Georgia. Trees are always good for framing. (Are crepe myrtles trees or shrubs? I hope that landscape-architecture-degree-holding-fraternal-embodiment I call my brother reads this blog and can help me out.)


This wedding was one of my first travel weddings in the Atlanta area. It turned out to be a good one. The groom is the head chef at The Four Seasons Atlanta. The bride worked there as well. The wedding and event coordinator for the Four Seasons, Gayle Skelton, helped her friends out with this wedding and enjoyed working with me and Laressa so much that she started referring her clients to us. (She’s since moved on to The Mansion on Peachtree, a swanky new highrise hotel in Buckhead which opens this month.) The wedding was published in The Knot magazine. And, of course, we got this image and the flower girl shot from the feature site video commentary section. All in one day!



Manual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/100; F-stop 1.4; Focal Length 50mm. No flash.



Yes, I shot this of an inanimate object handheld at 1600 ISO. Yes, it would have been better on a tripod at a lower ISO. I would normally have done so, but there was some great dancing going on, so I had to shoot quick because the “sweet light” (dusk) was waning fast and I had to get back to the action. (Photographic Observers have that added difficulty of time constraints and a zillion things happening at once. That’s what sets us apart. How quickly can we make this scene look amazing?!) I framed it with the woodwork in the background. This image was made at River Ridge Golf Club in Raleigh, North Carolina.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.” - Johnny Carson

I want to capture personality. At first blush, you think, “Sure, just hold that shutter button down all day. There’s no artistry in that. It’s easy.” I think you pros understand, especially after this week, that capturing personality is not that easy. It means getting every change in expression, which means nailing every moment, which means having been here before, knowing where to be this time, and adjusting to insane lighting situations in an instant.


We are not in control as Photographic Observers. We plan, we adapt, we move, we adjust, we capture. We do not control. We live on the edge.


This recessional series from Phillip and Tracey’s wedding reflects just how difficult not being in control can be. Let me set the scene for you. The ceremony took place in a white tent which stood about 10 feet from a pavilion. Guests were seated in both. P&T were to start the recessional from the far side of the white tent, walk through to the pavilion, hang a sharp left and head out into the open reception area. That means four different lighting scenarios . . .

1. relatively dark tent with much brighter background, severely backlit
2. open area between tents with overhead/front light on subjects, but darkened subjects in tent in background
3. darkened pavilion area with white tent in background
4. wide open daylight

The Photographic Observer has to be able to nail each of those in a matter of seconds, not minutes. It’s crazy. And it’s fun. So let’s roll . . .



Manual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/200; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 190mm. No flash.




Manual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/200; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 160mm. No flash.




Manual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/400; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 160mm. No flash.




Manual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/200; F-stop 3.2; Focal Length 28mm. No flash.




Aperture Priority Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/500; F-stop 3.2; Focal Length 31mm. No flash.




Aperture Priority Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/1000; F-stop 3.2; Focal Length 44mm. No flash.



Don’t you feel like you know this awesome couple now?! Could I in any way orchestrate any of what just happened? Look at it: 1. Tracey’s arms raised 2. Phillip is bowed out, struttin’ with his prize 3. Great expressions, great lighting, Phillip is clasping her hand with both of his. 4. Tracey is ecstatic and Phillip is enjoying her joy. 5. Phillip is clapping! 6. It’s just the two of them in a moment they’ll share forever.


Let me briefly describe to you what I did. Manual for the first three shots with 70-200mm with that preplanned increase in shutter speed for the between tent and pavilion shot (3). I metered that one spot ahead of time, knowing that the lighting would be good on them. Then I switched cameras to a set up with the 28-70mm lens on numbers 4-6. Manual mode for number 4, then I quickly went to aperture priority mode for the last two shots knowing that the drastic change from dark pavilion to open daylight would happen too fast for me to handle manually.


To give you some idea of how rapidly I was shooting, the first image you see was number 2178 and the last was 2260. That’s 82 frames between the two. The point is you don’t shoot 6 frames to get 6 great shots. You shoot 82 because there’s a very slight difference between a good shot and an incredible one. Especially when you’re not in control.


I don’t mind telling you, I get jacked up looking at this set.


Plan, watch, move, adjust, and by all means, keep your mouth shut. Photographic Observers are not in control. Out of control is a great place to be.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.” - Thomas Edison

So let’s look at a more difficult recessional scenario.



Manual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/100; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 200mm. No flash.



What can you gather from the settings? First off, I fudged on the shutter speed to focal length rule. My shutter speed was half as fast as it should have been given the 200mm focal length. (Remember, that rule applies to camera shake, not subject motion. Those are two different shutter speed to motion concerns.) I’ve gotten pretty good at hand-holding a long lens with slightly slower shutter speeds. The key is bracing yourself against something solid. Bring your elbows in. It helps to have love handles to prop them on. And shoot rapid fire. Some shots will have a little blur while others don’t. I may have even propped the camera on the tripod, though it wasn’t attached. This wedding was about a year ago and I don’t remember. I’ll make a post on this hand-holding soon. Remind me.


I knew I could fudge hand-holding this and that 1/100th of a second should be enough to effectually stop the motion of subjects walking at a relatively slow pace. I’m shooting manual because I wanted to nail the shot when they were in the spotlight. I was just hoping that both of them would be looking up in those three steps before they hit darkness again.


No flash. They were probably 75 yards away and on-camera flash just doesn’t do it from that distance. Plenty of ambient light anyway. Same recessional . . .



Manual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/85; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 75mm. Fill flash.



So I could have gone for a pan blur shot here. (Read this post for more on pan blur. Remember, you can do pan blur on recessional but not processional.) It would have been a good opportunity: long aisle, relatively dark church, an aisle on the left to stand in. But the candles would have given me fits and covered the bride up in a lot of the shots. So I went for the traditional end of the aisle shot.


1/85 of a second was cutting it really close on subject motion (not camera shake since I’m at 75mm). I was trusting my fill flash to do a little bit of motion freezing, but not much. I live on the edge on these recessionals with slower shutters to pick up on more ambient light. I hate having recessional shots that look like the B&G are rumbling out of a coal-black cave, club and raw meat in hand. I want the stage area slightly blown out and the rest of the sanctuary looking good.


The other option is to ratchet up that shutter speed which turns what was fill flash into the main light source. Then you run into face shine with heavy flash coming from the camera position. Reflective graphics may be in vogue on the internet right now, but I don’t want any of it on my peeps. You’re already getting shiney faces with this fill flash, but trust me, it can get much worse.


Look at the aisle area between the two shots. It looks like a major brightness difference with only a minor change in shutter speed. That’s because I lightened the second shot in photoshop. It came out of the camera a bit underexposed and that was purposeful. In film days they used to underexpose to freeze motion and “push-process” the film during development. Remember, when you’re in a pinch, stop the motion with a slightly underexposed image and lighten it from the comfort of your own plush desk chair.


As they near the door, they are getting into brighter and brighter light. At that point I’m increasing that shutter speed after every few shots in a very unscientific manner (guessing) very, very quickly. So, every 3 steps I’m notching that shutter speed up incrementally and turning off the flash without looking to see if it’s right. (Sometimes I just switch to an aperture priority setting in a hurry and let the camera figure it out.) There’s no time to check the back of the camera now. They’re already to second base in the hall and you’re missing it.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Kissing is a means of getting two people so close together that they can’t see anything wrong with each other.” - Rene Yasenek

Manual Mode; ISO 200; Shutter 1/640; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 20mm. No flash.

Let’s revisit yesterday’s image. Why didn’t I use fill flash?


Overcast skies are great for rendering vibrant color as you see in the flower pedals in this shot. The problem with overcast skies combined with human subjects is “racoon” eyes. By racoon eyes, I mean the darkening of the eye sockets caused by the excessive overhead lighting compared to the lighting coming at the subject from the camera (lower than the sky) position.


I usually use fill flash on overcast days when I shoot formals outside. I don’t when I’m shooting candids.


Fill flash reduces the racoon effect and creates a catchlight in the subject’s eyes. By catchlight, I mean the reflection on the eyeball from the flash itself. It makes the eyes sparkle. (You do know that on closeups you can study the way a scene is lit by looking at the reflection in the eyeball.) Fill flash requires a high degree of precision that is difficult to pull off with moving subjects and changing lighting situations. It must look natural and, therefore, be very subtle. Formal sessions are a much more controlled environment and, therefore, better suited to fill.


The problem with fill flash is that it creates a flat lighting effect. You get very little shadow on the subject. Shadow is what gives the subject texture and definition. If your light is non-directional (from the camera with fill flash or behind the camera in a silhouette) then you lose this texture and definition.


So I usually don’t use fill on anything except the outside formals. When I say fill, of course, I mean that ambient is the main source, and the on-camera flash is the secondary. I use a lot of flash in dark reception halls, but this is not referred to as fill flash. The on-camera flash (or the wall off of which I bounce) becomes the main source in that scenario, not the secondary.


If I had used fill flash here, the flower pedals that were closer to the camera would have been blown out and created nasty shadows on the bride and groom.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” - Douglas Adams

Manual Mode; ISO 200; Shutter 1/640; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 20mm. No flash.



Here’s one from Chateau Elan.


Wide angle is not my most common focal length for recessional images. The reason I went wide on this one was to show off those big trees in the background. With a wide angle I knew I could get most, if not all, of the trees in as the B&G got close to the end of the aisle.


I had plenty of room to move back and shoot with a longer lens here since it was outside and I had lots of grass behind me. But if there is anyone standing around the back row of chairs, they’ll jump out and stand in the way since you’re not there. Then you get nothing but the backside of some very important guest instead of this awesome moment. So wide angle made a lot of sense for several reasons.


When I do shoot wide angle on the Recessional, I always shoot something longer before they get to me. By that I mean I’ll shoot a telephoto of the kiss, announcement, and first few steps, then switch to the wide angle setup. That usually means having two camera setups for a quick transition. Have both cameras set (exposure and all) before this Recessional gets going. Plan ahead for this one. Make sure that the B&G get nice and close to you with a wide angle. Let them walk uncomfortably close if you want to have a dynamic shot with foreground and background.


Keep in mind that you want to shoot from a low perspective with a wide angle. That doesn’t mean you aim low, just get down low. That lengthens the subjects out as you see here. Wide angles distort and you never want to shoot formal portraits with wide angle unless you absolutely have to. The tried-and-true portrait focal length is 100mm.


But wide angles can sure be fun for shots like this.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow.” - Evan Esar
(Jack is the groom’s name in the photo above. Jack is not a dull boy. )

Let’s talk about greetings . . .



Manual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/30; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 140mm on a 70-200; Foof Flash off my right shoulder.



Specifically, I mean when guests are talking to the B&G. This is perfect for unobtrusive smile mining. First off, the person who is talking to the bride or groom is totally glued into that conversation. They don’t notice even if you’re standing 2 feet away. They’ve been thinking of what they’re going to say for the last 30 minutes. It’s funny. They’re laughing and smiling before they even say it. (BTW, the above image was taken at a Charleston, SC wedding orchestrated by one of the Southeast’s best - Kristin Newman Designs.)


That’s different than conversations between guests. Now, they’re thinking on their feet which causes furrowed brows and intense mental energy which shows up in their expressions. They’re probably even looking for an excuse to get out of an awkward moment with someone they barely know. “Look, there’s the photographer. Turn around and smile.” Or “Look, there’s the photographer, turn around and throw that biscuit.”



Aperture Priority Mode; ISO 100; Shutter 1/320; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 200mm on a 70-200; No flash.



Yep. Smile Mining works well in the other direction too during greetings. Remember, smiling is contagious. Greeting lines are falling out of style at the moment, but I sure don’t mind when they do ‘em. Especially outside. This is the cover shot for this couple’s album.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Let us make one point, that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile. Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family.” - Mother Teresa

Maunual Mode; ISO 1000; Shutter 1/200; F-stop 3.5; Focal Length 68mm on 28-70; Bounce Flash to my upper right so it hits the wall that subjects are looking at.



As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, you’ve really got two great subects (or sets of subjects) when those consumer-grade cameras come out - the shooter and the shootee(s). Chances are something fun’s happening on the other side of a guest taking a picture, either posed or candid.


While I ask folks to pose very little during the day, I don’t mind moochin’ off of someone else who’s doin’ it. (Make sure you’re to the side enough that you don’t get them looking at you instead of the shooter.)


If you’re gonna get both the shooter and shootee you better be quick; better be on your game. I can’t always get both. I didn’t on this one.


Bounce flash really helps you not to draw attention to yourself when you’re moochin’. If you shoot a flash straight at the shooter or the shootee, they’re gonna look your way. Now you’ve messed up somebody else’s shot. If you bounce off of a wall behind and to the side of you (I’ll explain this technique later) then they don’t even notice. It’s like someone is taking a picture in the opposite direction. Both yesterday’s and today’s are lit with a directional bounce flash. It’s called “foofing”. Again, more on this later.


And don’t forget to get the shooter showing the shootees the picture on the back of the camera. Smiles guaranteed again.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If you see someone without a smile, give him one of yours.” - Karen shared this one in yesterday’s comments. Thanks for sharing, Karen!

OK, I spent way too much time yesterday on foolishness. Hope you enjoyed it. Today will have to be a little quicker.



Maunual Mode; ISO 1600; Shutter 1/60; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 55mm on 28-70; Bounce Flash off my left shoulder.



This one was in an album I was editing this morning and reminded me of something I need to share with you all. You do not have to ask people to smile at a party. People smile at parties. It’s what parties are for. It’s what FOB shelled out big bucks to make happen.


Party People smile when they’re taking pictures of other Party People smiling. I was smiling when I shot this image of this girl smiling while she was taking a picture of other people smiling. It’s contagious like yawns. It’s almost embarrassing. I have absolutely no idea who these people are, but I’m grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat when I’m shooting them having a good time.


There are some big advantages to shooting someone else who is shooting. The backs of these consumer-grade digital cameras are big viewfinders so the shooter doesn’t have to squint in that disfiguring contortionist sort of way that we pros do. They hold that camera 10 inches in front of their faces with both eyes open (slightly crossed, but you’re shooting from the side anyway :)) and smile like they’re watching Letterman. The other big advantage is that they don’t notice you. Their attention is held by their picture-taking, so they are easy prey.


If they’re not smiling while they’re shooting, just wait a few seconds and watch them as they look at the picture on the back of the camera. Smiles are guaranteed. It’s just too easy. I feel guilty for it, it’s so easy.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun.” - Al Capone

Last week I posted tips on Scene Setters here, here, and here. I’ve been working for weeks on this new Scene Setter Algorithmer 4.168Q which gives you the best possible settings from which to shoot your Scene Setters.


Wedding Photographers all over the country are conducting silly workshops and charging outrageous amounts of money for very soft information. It’s time we got serious about this. You need hard information, like exactly where to stand, how high to set that tripod, shutter, aperture, etc. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you had a digital road map of how to shoot it like . . . 27.8615 latitude, 51.356 longitude, aim 59 degrees NxNE, 6 degrees below the horizon, 20mm, 2.8, 1/5 second, 200 ISO, etc. ?!


Well, now you can get that kind of reading with my new Scene Setter Algorithmer 4.168Q! The Algorithmer is specifically geared toward dinner receptions and calculates based upon sundry inputs including, but not limited to . . .

• Your altitude. You’ll need to carry an altimeter. Get one here.
• The accumulative radiance and color of the clothing of the guests at the event. To properly gauge the brightness of the scene, you’ll want to have an assistant stand at the door and take reflective meter readings as each guest arrives. You’ll want to ask each guest to take off their shoes since the shinyness can throw off the readings and won’t be seen since they’ll be under tables. We usually make bogus Homeland Security badges and wear them during this process as this seems to make guests less suspicious and keeps things moving a little quicker. Copy the Homeland Security logo from the website here. Or we’ll sell you these bogus badges. Use the order form below.
• The brightness of every light source in the room measured in kilowatt hours. Ask the site manager for a list of these ahead of time.
• Size and contents of the dinner plates. Also, have an assistant take a clipboard around and make note of how much each guest eats. Or you can have them weigh in and out with a nice set of scales. This info relates to the relative mass of the area and will figure into the angle from which to take the Scene Setter.
• The exact square footage of the area. You’ll want to measure this like you do a TV screen, corner to corner. It’s OK to crawl under tables with your tape measure. Just tell guests what you’re doing. Or put your Homeland Security badge back on.
• The height of the tent. If you’re working in a tent, you’ll need the height of the center pole. This will weigh heavily into which focal length lens to use. I keep climbing gear in my bag. Groomsmen can put you on belay. They kinda like it. Take your altimeter to the top and take a reading and subtract the reading from the bottom to get the height of the tent.
• Moon phase.
• Barometric Pressure. Do I really have to explain why this is important? If I do then you probably should not be shooting professionally.
• Relative Humidity. As you know, humidity affects the fullness and body of the girls’ hair, which affects whether or not you shoot horizontal or vertical.
• The velocity and direction of any persons/animals moving in the area. Like . . . Guest 276 moving 27 degrees SxSW at 6 kilometers per hour. Black bird flying due South at 51 kph.

There are a few more stats to input, but this gives you a general idea of what you’ll need to compute the precise settings. If you upgrade to the pro version, it’ll even tell you which eye to squint as you look through the viewfinder.





You do not want to have to do these calculations yourself. The bride and groom would likely have their Thank You cards written by the time you got it done. You need to be able to plug this data into my Scene Setter Algorithmer 4.168Q and get the info you need instantly. The consequences of not getting this shot are incalculably incalculable. And without this hard information you’ll never get it right.


In the spirit of sharing, I’m knocking 3.68 percent off the normal asking price of $267.31 and offering the Scene Setter Algorithmer 4.168Q for $257.47. Add another $16.51 for each bogus Homeland Security badge added to your order.


Mail your check to . . .
109 East 9th Ave
Johnson City, TN 37601


We’ll make the Algorithmer available to you for download 6 months after the check goes through which shouldn’t be a problem since most weddings are booked 9-12 months in advance. NOTE: The Algorithmer will not be available for use with the iPhone. Steve Jobs has been working on a proprietary Scene Setter Algorithmer of his own because ours wasn’t chromy enough.


Happy Shooting!
Eric

Here’s one from The Martha Washington Inn in Abingdon, Virginia . . .



Aperture Priority Mode; ISO 640; Shutter 1/5; F-stop 2.8; Focal Length 20mm; No Flash.



When I’m shooting a dimly lit ballroom like this, what I shoot for is a little blur in any subjects who are walking around. I tripod the camera, expose for something in that 1/5 of a second range, and drop my ISO as much as possible to get there. I like the ghosting effect on the walkers. It gives the image a timeless aspect. It’s like you stepped out of time for a second (or a fifth of one!) and things are a bit surreal. If you get into a one second or more exposure, then any walking subjects disappear. Rules are made to be broken, though.


The other thing I try to do is to get close to one table. This pulls one set of subjects closer to the camera and gives the image some depth. It gives you a pronounced foreground and background.


Dinner is a great time to try some different angles, exposures, etc. because no one wants a close up of them taken while they’re eating. Shoot your scene setters during dinner. Just because everyone else gets to relax and pig out doesn’t mean you should. There’s always work to be done.


Man, I’m feeling 11-o’clock-ish all of a sudden.


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“He looked up at his clock, which had stopped at five minutes to eleven some weeks ago.
‘Nearly eleven o’clock,’ said Pooh happily. ‘You’re just in time for a little smackerel of something,’ and he put his head into the cupboard.” - Pooh, A. A. Milne