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Romantic wedding portraits with incandescent light

December 11, 2016 Neil vN 8 Comments

Romantic wedding portraits with the modeling light from a flash

Defining your style in wedding photography is, for me, as much about the way you use light and lighting, as it is about composition and posing, and timing. All the facets have to come together, continually through the day to create a successful and representative view of the wedding day. When it comes to the romantic portraits of the couple, posing and lighting are inter-twined. You can't think of them as separate things. With the way I use light, I don't want to be fixed with one specific way of doing it - the style  Read more inside...

Featured in Professional Photographer magazine (PPA)

January 31, 2016 Neil vN 4 Comments

Featured in Professional Photographer magazine (PPA)

Perhaps, as you page through your February 2016 copy of Professional Photographer magazine, and you get to page 92, you may think to yourself, "Hmmm, these photos aren't half-bad!" ... then glance over to the intro on page 93, and .. oh yes, I'm featured in the latest edition of PPA's magazine! It is a huge honor that the editors at Professional Photographer approached me and wrote a feature about my wedding photography. The article concentrates on my approach to lighting, with a reference to the books I've written on flash  Read more inside...

2012 overview – My best wedding photographs

December 7, 2012 Neil vN 7 Comments

Best wedding images of 2012 – New Jersey wedding photographer

2012 was another busy year! This slideshow features some of my favorite wedding and engagement session images photographed during 2012. I traveled further than NJ and NYC, photographing weddings across the USA. Please contact me if you're searching for a wedding photographer for your own wedding.    Read more inside...

Wedding photography: Controlling those found moments

July 23, 2012 Neil vN 10 Comments

Wedding photography: Controlling those found moments

This photograph of Catherine, during the preparation on her wedding day, triggered a question in album of photos I posted on Facebook. The question was about the focal length I used, and also about how did I get this photo? The answer is that this is a found moment - a candid moment - that I controlled. As I discussed in the article - wedding photography – a photo-journalistic style, or more posed? - I often guide things along on the wedding day. If I see something that I could nudge towards being a better photograph, I have no  Read more inside...

wedding photography: portraits of the bride & bridesmaids

July 15, 2012 Neil vN 17 Comments

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

July 6, 2012 Neil vN 13 Comments

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...

Bridal portrait – Working with the available light

April 4, 2012 Neil vN 20 Comments

Bridal portrait - Working with the available light

This striking portrait is of Rachel, a bride whose wedding I photographed yesterday. Yes, a Tuesday wedding! The prep was at a hotel on the Jersey shore, and when Rachel was ready, I wanted to shoot a few straight-forward portraits there in the hotel. There was a lot of light in the hotel room itself, but the decor was white - which helps for high-key portraits. But I wanted some variety. So I scouted around, and decided to do some photographs in the passage outside her hotel room. Since it was a wedding on the Jersey shore, and  Read more inside...

2011 overview – My favorite wedding photographs

January 3, 2012 Neil vN 12 Comments

Best wedding images of 2011 – NJ wedding photographer

2011 was another busy year for me as a wedding photographer. This slideshow features some of my favorite wedding and engagement session images of 2011. If you are interested in using me as your wedding photographer, please have a look at my wedding portfolio and contact me. soundtrack courtesy of TripleScoopMusic wedding photography tutorials New Jersey wedding photographer    Read more inside...

Back-lighting with flash for silhouetted wedding portraits

December 12, 2011 Neil vN 11 Comments

Back-lighting with flash for silhouetted wedding portraits

One of the easiest ways to create dramatic light for a silhouette when photographing the wedding portraits, is to add a flash behind the couple. The beauty of this is that there is a fair amount of leeway as to what would work. We need not be all that exact, but there are some a few things we should check ...  Read more inside...

Wedding photography – Style, technique & choice of gear

November 14, 2011 Neil vN 15 Comments

Wedding photography - Style, technique & choice of gear

With Manhattan as a back-drop, I wanted a cinematic look for the photograph of Nima and Peter. A magnificent view behind them as they snuggle in. While I approach wedding photography with my eye on telling the story of the day, for me, where a photographer really reveals a specific style, is in the portraits of the bride and groom. I wanted a romantic look to this sequence of images, so there were specific choices to be made in terms of equipment, camera settings and the lighting. So let's run through the  Read more inside...

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