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wedding photography – light & lighting; posing & direction

July 5, 2011 Neil vN 44 Comments

wedding photography - light, lighting, posing & direction  - making the decisions

The title of this article is quite ambitious. To cover all of that, it would be a 50,000 word book. But in editing this wedding at the moment, I noticed this photograph, and I love the look of it. So in the context of that one single image, let's look how it all came together. While the photograph itself isn't complicated, a lot of quick decisions went into making this image work ... and easy to edit. A number of things had to be considered, but instead of being overwhelmed by juggling all the  Read more inside...

photography: looking at the available light

February 17, 2011 Neil vN 18 Comments

photography - looking for, and using the available light

Let me say this out straight – I hate gazebos. I hate gazebos and fountains and I especially hate having to photograph a couple at whatever landmark/feature that a reception venue has, where every other couple from the last five years has been photographed. There, I’ve said it. I feel better now, with that weight off my shoulders. Wedding portaits should be about capturing the romance, and capturing the relationship between the couple. I want to show how much they are in love with each other, rather than the wooden structure  Read more inside...

mixing up the lighting techniques for wedding photography

December 12, 2010 Neil vN 23 Comments

using a variety of lighting techniques for wedding photography

This recent post on lighting ideas for the romantic wedding portraits, showed that I like to mix it up a bit, and not rely on one specific technique. Not every situation we're going to encounter can be solved with one specific approach only.  Mixing it up in terms of lighting also helps to provide my clients with more variety in the look of the final selection of images. In addition, it also keeps it interesting and fresh for me.  Constantly adapting to challenges is part of the process of growing to be a better  Read more inside...

lighting ideas for romantic wedding portraits

November 29, 2010 Neil vN 15 Comments

lighting the romantic portraits of the bride & groom

Scouting around the location during dinner time, I peered over the edge of this spiraling staircase and thought it would be a good idea to get some light on the couple, seated on the couch. I posed Melissa so that  she lounged back with her head on Dennis' lap. There is no way to get light on them from my position with on-camera bounce flash, and definitely not if my intention is to get light only on them. It needed off-camera flash. To add some variety,  I also thought of a few other things to try with the lighting, using  Read more inside...

finding (and using) interesting available light

November 1, 2010 Neil vN 7 Comments

finding (and using) interesting available light

I hope that no one thinks that the flash photography and lighting techniques that I describe on the Tangents blog are only applicable to wedding photography. In a recent post I described where I photographed a model in an alley way when I noticed a splash of sunlight (reflected from a window) falling onto the wall. In recognizing that interesting splash of light, and using it, I got an image which was different than I would've had if I had just used the even shaded light in the alley. I used this very same idea at a recent wedding in  Read more inside...

wedding photography – anticipation and timing

April 17, 2010 Neil vN 16 Comments

style in wedding photography - anticipation and timing

I'm sure every photographer has this experience, where your shutter trips, and you just know you have the shot.  Something that you see - whether anticipated or just lucky timing - and you capture it.  This is how I felt when I captured this moment between Marie and Andrew at their wedding this weekend.  I got it! A bit of background to this image: During a Catholic wedding service, there is a short time after the exchange of vows and rings, where the couple are seated again for the Mass.  With everyone's attention now on the  Read more inside...

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