Tangents

seminar: wedding photography – Feb 16, 2013

February 16, 2013

seminar: wedding photography – style & technique

I presented a seminar on wedding photography on
Saturday, Feb 16, 2013 at Unique Photo in Fairfield NJ.

The program description:
We will discuss real-world practical steps to help you develop and achieve a personal style in wedding photography. We will also discuss photography techniques, as well as topics such as posing and lighting. We will cover various other aspects that photographers can work on and develop, so that they aren’t overwhelmed and daunted by the wedding day. Please note that this seminar is about the techniques and styles of wedding photography, and isn’t a seminar on business and marketing.

We had around 60 people there, and the place was packed! We over-ran by more than an hour – there was so much material to go through and a lot of questions.

Thank you to everyone who attended. It was a great afternoon getting to meet some of you. Best of luck with your future endeavors.

more info

flash photography workshops
more articles on wedding photography
black foamie thing
Spinlight 360
using video light
NJ wedding photographer

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18 Comments »

Oh how I wish I could go. Most weddings here in WV are country ones and the photographer is given barely enough time to shoot 2 or 3 poses after the ceremony before they rush off to the reception..no time for creativity or anything. I need to attend on of your photography seminars one day.

Comment by Charles — December 5, 2012 @ 12:23 pm
Love the picture affixed to this article; its like a classic painting by a master artist.

Comment by Roy Barnes — December 5, 2012 @ 4:47 pm
I’m very interested!! I’m very new to photography and especially wedding photography. I have been a second shooter on two weddings and would love to understand more. Is this seminar good for beginners and would I need to bring any gear? How many spots are available?

Comment by Jen Klinetop — December 7, 2012 @ 12:47 pm
Hi there Jen … the seminar is intended to help the newer photographers.

It is only a seminar presentation. No shooting. But bring your camera anyway.

We are aiming at maxing it at 80 attendees.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — December 7, 2012 @ 1:13 pm
Love how you’ve emphasized the delicate nature of the butterflies up above, and the dress down below with that expertly controlled lighting.

Comment by christopher steven b. — December 7, 2012 @ 1:56 pm
i really wish you would come to los Angeles for seminars! i will just keep learning from the blog and rereading the books and shooting.

carlo

Comment by Carl — December 7, 2012 @ 2:57 pm
Hi there Carl … I’m limiting workshops to New York only for the forseeable future.

My comment #13 here will explain it in more detail.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — December 9, 2012 @ 11:45 am
how large will the class be and will we be doing any actual shooting??

Comment by mike — December 10, 2012 @ 6:27 am
Mike, the class will be limited to 80 attendees, and is only a seminar presentation. No shooting.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — December 10, 2012 @ 11:46 am
About the image at the top.

I was asked how I got the painterly effect – here are the details about the lighting and post-processing.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — December 10, 2012 @ 9:34 pm
Thanks, Neil! I hope to get my seat right after the holidays. I’m excited to learn from you. I have your On Camera Flash book and have been reading your tangents. Thanks, I look forward to meeting you.

Jen

Comment by Jen Klinetop — December 11, 2012 @ 1:24 am
Hi Neil! So excited to come to hear this seminar! After attending your one day workshop (which I loved!), I know I am in for another great day!! See you soon!

Comment by Nancy McPeak — January 30, 2013 @ 8:34 pm
If you bring it over to the U.K Neil – I’ll be there.

Comment by Randell John — February 15, 2013 @ 3:46 pm
Hi Neil,

I just wanted to take a few moments to congratulate you on a fine seminar today! ?

It was very captivating and inspiring.

You’ve verbally reinforced everything within the Tangents tutorials and then some.

There were a few “O’h No” moments for me though, like when you mentioned your dislike and usefulness for the Gary Fong Dome Diffuser. I’m going to try and use the newly purchased Spinlight360 Extreme system instead from now-on. It’s hard to break old habits!

I also clutched my chest in dismay when you included the Nikon D300 as a sub-par performing professional camera for weddings. Unfortunately, I can’t afford another camera at this time, and probably won’t be able to for many years to come, given the astronomical price range of even the D800, not to mention the glass to match as you’ve named.

I was also amazed, although not surprised, and admire the fact that you don’t spend any time in PS6 post-processing.

However, I will take a lot of what you’ve talked about today for use in practical applications with regards to the various lighting types and techniques, posing and the usage of gels to name but a few hardcore tips mentioned at today’s seminar.

All in all, it was wonderfully intuitive, educational experience for me, and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to meet you in person and hear you speak today! ?

Thank you so much,

Best regards,
Barry

Comment by Barry Cohen — February 17, 2013 @ 12:56 am
Hi there Barry … Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the presentation and found it helpful.

Re your “Oh, no!” moments.

The plastic diffusers that are generally sold as helpful devices for your flash, most often work against you, instead of helping you. So while there are times when such a diffuser helps, mostly it stops you from getting awesome, directional light from your on-camera flash.

- on-camera flash – throw away the tupperware!
- bounce flash photography tutorial

Re the Nikon D300. Make no mistake, it is a fine camera. However, it has it’s limitations in terms of high-ISO capabilities compared to the likes of the D4 and D600. If your budget is limited, then a used D700 will already give you 1 stop better noise performance.

It’s just that for low-light photography, such as weddings where we would ideally like to have your photography not obviously have flash – then the D300 is limited.

Re my comment about Photoshop – this was regards to my initial workflow. I do use Photoshop .. just not for my initial wedding workflow. However, for finessing images for my blog or posting to Facebook, I do have to use Photoshop. I just thought I should add that distinction there.

– wedding photography: 3 tips to speed up your workflow

kind regards

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — February 17, 2013 @ 2:00 pm
Neil,
When I heard you were having a seminar on wedding photography, I knew I had to attend! I had learned so much from you when I assisted you for that wedding late last year. I own a D700 and have both a D800 and D4 on consignment from Nikon, but they must be returned soon. Do you think if I purchased a D800 that would be acceptable for it’s high iso/low light performance or do I need to get a used D3s of D4? I also need to purchase the right glass and money is an issue for me.

Comment by Dennis Dempsey — February 17, 2013 @ 3:20 pm
I haven’t directly compared the Nikon D4 to the Nikon D800, but by all accounts the D800 has excellent high-ISO noise performance. Also keep in mind that you have a massive file, and by the time it is resized, the appearance of the noise will most likely be on par with the D4 / D3s. So that wouldn’t really concern me.

I chose the D4 for the smaller file size. For the work that I do, 36 megapixels are just too huge for a high-volume workflow.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — February 18, 2013 @ 5:10 am
Neil,
Just wanted to let you know that I was in your class tonight at Unique. (You signed my book, and thank you again!). We had an excellent time, and it was VERY well done, by far one of the best seminar/classes I have taken @ Unique. Although myself and business partner are still shooting crop body cameras we found your information, knowledge, style, and of course your images to be superb! Thank you for everything!

Comment by Brian — February 18, 2013 @ 6:08 pm