wedding photography – simplifying composition with a fast telephoto zoom
If you can create a good photograph out of seemingly “nowhere”, then you can bring a variety to your images that is out of the league of photographers who have to rely on picture-perfect scenery. This is especially true with wedding portraits. We’re under pressure for time, and on top of that we can’t always control where we shoot. We have to make it work wherever we are.
One of the basic techniques I rely on heavily with my wedding photography, is to eliminate distracting elements by shooting with a fast telephoto zoom. The shallow depth-of-field works to my advantage. And the longer focal length compresses the image so that the background isn’t a sweeping vista anymore, but a narrower view which YOU can control with your own position. Move around to find that composition.
The photograph above is perhaps an excellent example of this. The groom, also a photographer, left this comment on the Facebook album:
I also had an “ah ha” momemt watching you create images. We went to unfamilar places and you played with the background blur to create cool shots like the one of us sitting on wicker chairs, at a dumpy metal table, outside, facing a pedestrian-filled parking lot.”
There really wasn’t much more than that – the concrete slab outside a restaurant, with a few tables and chairs, with a parking lot in the background, and a few small trees and shrubs. Now, I don’t quite have a pull-back photo to show you where we were, but I do have this test shot with a slightly wider field of view, which shows some of the background. It was a mess.
If you find these articles interesting and of value, then purchasing your photography equipment & other goodies through these affiliate links would be a great help in maintaining this site. Thank you!
I wanted to make sure the light there was flattering, before continuing, so I took a few test shots, including this one. Then I fine-tuned the composition in camera, by moving around. It is essential to move around, and thereby changing your perspective and the background.
camera settings: 1/250 @ f/4 @ 100 ISO
Nikon D4 (B&H); Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II (B&H)
My focal length was 200mm. I purposely used the lens at its longest focal length. Then *I* move around to frame properly. I do this instead of just zooming to find my composition. It’s a very specific technique, and one I mentioned in a previous article: composition for full-length portraits – step back!
The reason why I decided to take the photo here, is because this is where the couple was waiting for me. The limo had dropped them off here, and we were going to walk around the waterfront for a while, for the romantic photo session. So they waited for me here in the shade, for me to catch up with them. So this is where we started with the photo session .. a found moment that I worked around, by shooting with a long lens, allowing them to just talk to each other.
The resulting sequence of images is one that I am quite proud of, especially since it received a few glowing comments … even more so when they come from my client!
more images from this wedding:
- album of images on Facebook
- Aluanda & Clarence – their wedding day – Oxon Hill Manor
related articles:
- wedding day portraits – simplifying composition for effect
- wedding day portraits – bride and bridesmaids – finding a background
- wedding photography, romantic portraits – more than just a kiss
more articles on wedding photography
Again, the lens that is essential here, is a fast 70-200mm zoom. Both the Nikon and Canon lenses here are stellar.
|
|
photography books by Neil vN
newsletter / forum / workshops & seminars
Stay informed of new articles via the monthly newsletter.
Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.
If you need more direct help or instruction on flash photography,
I do present workshops & seminars and also offer individual tutoring sessions.
If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by
using these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies. Thank you!
Neil, the technique you described works really well.
1. What’s your prefered aperture (range) when using this technique with the 70-200mm lens?
2. What do you do when there is a lot of clutter and you photograph a group?
Comment by MvH — July 6, 2012 @ 8:53 pm
MvH: The aperture (and other) information is under most of Neil’s images. To get this effect with this lens you’d typically work in the 2.8-4.0 range.
Comment by andrew — July 7, 2012 @ 1:06 am
Neil,
While not giving you the narrow view of the subject as much, wouldn’t a 50mm f1.4 (say on a D7000) give you a good depth of field allowing you to create a nice background?
Robert
Comment by RG — July 7, 2012 @ 3:22 pm
Comment by Neil vN — July 7, 2012 @ 3:49 pm
This is such a great photograph. And when you read the narrative and see the pull-back shot you realize what a stunning and effective example it is of this technique.
Comment by Jennifer Lynch — July 8, 2012 @ 1:20 pm
Neil, with such a shallow DOF, where did you focus, to the man’s or woman’s eye?
Did you use central focus point and recompose or did you move the focus point to the eye?
Thanks.
Comment by Ryano Tandayu — July 8, 2012 @ 8:59 pm
Comment by Neil vN — July 8, 2012 @ 9:25 pm
Hi Neil…
another poster asked about a crop sensor, so just wondering myself if I were to use a crop body (canon 7D) with the 70-200, would I be able to achieve similar results and also should I use the the focal length of 200 with the crop magnification factored in or just max zoom 200mm marking on the lens itself resulting 320mm?
Thanks
Comment by Roger — July 9, 2012 @ 5:15 am
On a 7D with a 200mm lens the FOV as you correctly stated will be similar to a 320mm on a FF sensor. This will have the effect of giving you an even tighter composition at the same distance, so you’ll have to move around (and a little back) to get the shot as you like it.
Not to speak for Neil, but the actual numeric telephoto setting is not what is important here, but rather the concept of compression that a telephoto brings to the composition — that is the point Neil is trying to make. By reducing your FOV with a telephoto, you reduce background clutter/distraction and bring the viewers attention on your subject rather than the background.
Comment by Carlos A — July 9, 2012 @ 3:02 pm
Comment by Neil vN — July 9, 2012 @ 4:33 pm
I’ve been serving as mostly-volunteer photography for a nearby summer-stock theater. My favorite is to photograph the dress rehearsals, when I’m free to roam the cross-aisle behind the last row of seats — all the better to frame the actors against the set.
Theater photography is interesting as a training ground, and I recommend at least a small dose of it to anyone. Consider that the director has taken care of posing the “models” and the lighting director has taken care of lighting. (Existing light all the way, during a dress rehearsal or performance.)
So the photog is free to pay attention to timing the shots and framing them (not just by twirling the zoom ring but by moving around to position the subjects against the background. It starts with the obvious — does a door casing sprout out from someone’s head, or does the door or window frame provide a natural “picture frame”? — and moves on from there. How does a given array of actors look from different angles? etc.
It’s not so much the out-of-focus effect that Neil is achieving, given the ratio of distances (camera to subject: subject to background), but experimenting with framing and then pouring over several hundred images after a show trains the eye to what works and what doesn’t.
Comment by Duane Dale — July 9, 2012 @ 4:53 pm
this is one of my favorite techniques. A long telephoto can help you not only take out the extraneous elements, but it will often give a certain intimacy to images that aren’t normally seen with shorter focal lengths. We get drawn into the special moment that is occurring.
Comment by Ed Prete — July 9, 2012 @ 10:12 pm