Re-editing and re-vamping photographs for my blog post of a destination wedding in Aruba, I found it enlightening to realize how much my style has progressed over years in post-processing too.
As part of destination wedding photography coverage, I offer extended photo sessions around the exotic locale after (or before) the wedding date. While we're there, we may as well use the opportunity.
The photograph at the top was taken on the day after the wedding when we took a rented car and drove around the arid areas of the island - away Read more inside...
With this background, I liked the way the dots were repeated in Olena's dress in reverse - white dots on black, instead of black dots / holds on silver. I liked the repetition, and decided to work with the composition of this photograph a bit. For the final sequence of images - of which the image at the top is one - I asked Olena to really exaggerate the curve of her body to create an S-shaped, which in turn contrasted boldly with the rigid pattern of the background.
This article's original title was going to be: Off-camera flash vs the Read more inside...
Photography composition: Working toward the final image
When I first immersed myself in photography way way back, it took me a while to realize that what I see in a magazine or book, isn't necessarily the first image. Those incredible images that can inspire us, (or even make us just want to give up photography), most often are not fully-formed masterpieces. Most often, the photograph that we as the viewer are presented with, are but one of a series. One photograph that stood out, or where the elements in the photograph were controlled by the photographer. And even with the work of Read more inside...
photo shoot & off-camera flash - making the background count
I got a call from Michael Saab of the Modern Gypsies to let me know that they were performing in a night-club in Manhattan, and would I be interested in doing some promotional photos for them? Of course! Other photo sessions with the Modern Gypsies were all energizing experiences. (The Modern Gypsies also featured in my book, off-camera flash.) Working with creative people always fuels the creative spark.
At the night-club, I looked around for interesting areas I could shoot some portraits. I felt this curving Read more inside...
wedding photography: portraits of the bride & bridesmaids
Continuing with the theme of photographing great portraits on a wedding day when there aren't beautiful surroundings: when I have the time at the bride's house, I will always try to get individual portraits of the bride with each bridesmaid.
I like doing this early in the day already at the bride's house, because everyone's energy levels are still up. Everyone is still excited, and emotions are still high. No one is hungry; with shoes that hurt them. So, with that idea in mind, I like getting as many of these portraits Read more inside...
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 Read more inside...
Composition for full-length portraits - step back!
A comment in the article on a simple lighting setup for the family formal photos, asked why I recommended that a photographer should step back rather than zoom wide when photographing a group. The reason is that the perspective distortion that a wide-angle lens will give to your subject, is not all that flattering. Read more inside...
Photography composition - Finding the other angles
At the same photo shoot-out that the stunning Film Noir Fight Scene came out of, I again worked with a model, Jill. Her hairstyle and dress were strongly reminiscent of the flapper era. Therefore a more dramatic and sexy pose and styling was suited. And of course, dramatic lighting. For off-the-cuff / on-the-fly dramatic lighting, a video light is hard to beat.
The photo at the top is the angle that my friend Peter Salo found, while I was standing on a short ledge, shooting from above. The irony here is that the first time Peter Read more inside...
This is what we do as photographers - looking for photo opportunities and looking for angles and backgrounds which are not mundane. Even when not taking photographs, it is always a good exercise to look for what would have made a good photograph. It's constant training for the mind. We stumbled upon this opportunity for this portrait of Jessica - the reception room for a wedding we were photographing had several large boxes of lights against the walls as a kind of light mural, with baubles inside that were lit up. And the back of each of these displays Read more inside...
Making your images pop through lens choice - Compressed perspective
The immediate reaction when considering how you could make your photographs *pop* might be to juice it up in Photoshop. But the process should start much earlier - in camera. With a few easy techniques, we can consistently create images that jump off the page or screen. With some of the engagement photo sessions that I've shown, I get comments about the 3D look to some of the photographs. The look is achieved through a simple technique - compressed perspective with a longer focal length. Read more inside...
