Comments on: Top 10 tips for professional wedding photographers

By: damien

damien — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 22:12:54 +0000

Thanks Piotr, Do keep coming back, Cheers, Damien.

By: Piotr GRAJEK | fotoHORYZONT

Piotr GRAJEK | fotoHORYZONT — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:34:21 +0000

Thanx Damien for Your inspirational marketing advice and most of all photography. Have your website in my Favourites.

By: damien

damien — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:54:52 +0000

Hi Martin, No cropping on the shots – cropping a shot does not increase depth of field anyway. I always ensure if I have multiple subjects in a shot that they are all on the same focal plane. Cheers, Damien.

By: Martin Hodgkiss

Martin Hodgkiss — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:38:45 +0000

Hi Damien,

F4 ! how do u get the depth of field illustrated in some of theses examples, have they been greatly cropped into?

I’ve been using Canon’s 24-105mm f4L since it came out and I struggle to get a decent depth of field when shooting at F4 on the 5D.
obviously ive tried using less of the lens’s length but I’ve just never been happy with it.

Excellent blog by the way ive been in the business 19 years and still picking up great ideas.

Thank you

By: damien

damien — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:41:12 +0000

Give it a go Tim.
Look at any well shot drama on TV to see the effect of constant aperture shooting (nearly always f/4)
Damien.

By: Tim Hind

Tim Hind — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:32:54 +0000

Hi Damien. This really is a great blog, thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge.

I’m usually varying my aperture from f2.8 to f8, so to see that all of yours are f4 is interesting. I’ll try keeping it constant at my next shoot to see how it looks. Would certainly make life easier!!

By: damien

damien — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:11:24 +0000

Hi Martin,

I never use a lightmeter. I use the camera screen as I can see exactly what I’ve got. I can check highlight and shadow detail and accurately asses contrast and tone. Damien.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:31:13 +0000

A very sincere thank you Damien very inspiring stuff and lots of very really useful info. Can I ask do you use a light meter much for exposure?

By: Hochzeitsfotograf ARTES

Hochzeitsfotograf ARTES — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:56:44 +0000

Danke!
Alles sehr gut beschrieben!
Thanks,
Wedding Photographer ARtes

By: Stuart Schofield

Stuart Schofield — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:43:25 +0000

Hi Damien
Having used digital for many years I have always had the absalute fear of “blown out highlights “and as a result always moved the Bride to shade to shoot.
Then Iread your techniques and watched your vids – and it suddenly clicked !!!
Place the Bride with the light ( sun ) behind and adjust exposure – result beautiful images, no noise and an increase in sales as an additional and unrecognised benefit – why?
All wedding guests shoot over the pros shoulder, and shooting into the sun screwes up all their exposures and I get more orders
Thanks Damien

My New Rules for weddings are
1 Shoot with light behind the subject
2Use f4 on all images – for consistancy
3 Avoid sky where possible
4 Use flash at 800 iso 1/60th @f4

The only deviation from your system is to use spot metering rather than adjust exposure compensation manually – any comments on this ? and a slight downside to avoid sky where possible
Thanks once again for helping increase my reprint orders

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:28:36 +0000

Thanks so much for the excellent tips. Your blog is evolving into a fantastic resource that compliments your training materials very well. Tip No 3 is so true; photographers are too frequently judged by the camera they wield. It is commonly perceived as the defining item, yet as you point out, cameras are arguably the least important component of the picture making process. Anyone who has worked in a wet darkroom will appreciate that actually the quality of the lens (and it’s settings) on the enlarger affect final print quality dramatically. And no amount of darkroom work (or digital post production) will make a bad negative good.

If I were handed a box of top quality screwdrivers and spanners I’d still not know where to start in fixing my combi-boiler. I’m not a plumber. Tools are not knowledge, just kit. It’s all about what the person knows and sees, how they interact with people in anticipating a moment or creating one. And, yes good lenses are a must for reproduction, but they won’t make the picture. That’s the job of the photographer; real empathy and openness will set your portraits alive.

By: damien

damien — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:20:02 +0000

Hi Serge,

Thank you for you lovely comment. Please feel free to ask questions and contribute as you wish.

Damien.

By: Serge

Serge — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:06:06 +0000

Hi Damien !
Thanks for sharing. I think I’m getting addicted to your site

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:22:09 +0000

Thank you Damien, yes it certainly does help.

I do have an SB800 which I use with my D200. However, I have just bought an SB900 so trying to get my head round that at the mo!

By the way have just received your Lighting Winter Weddings DVD and it is brilliant! It has also helped me tremendously in understanding ways in which to use flash and I shall definitely be using some of the tips at the wedding I am shooting on Friday.
Thanks again.

Jan

By: damien

damien — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:32:36 +0000

Hi Jan,

Flash is not just used to illuminate, it is used to add life and contrast to a scene. Just because a camera can record in next to no light it doesn’t make the light wonderful.

Using a splash of flash will add sparkle in the eyes and skin of the people you photograph. Shooting without it may just produce flat, dull, pictures.

Whether you use natural light or a combination of natural light and flash, consideration to the direction, colour and quality of the light has to be taken into account.

In dark winter interiors, I expect I’d shoot a D700 at ISO 1600, 1/90th @ f/4. That will give me 2/3rds of a stop more ambient exposure over my usual settings, with a slightly faster shutter speed to further arrest subject movement. I’d still use flash and I’d knock it back 2/3rds of a stop too.

The SB800 is a perfect companion to the D700.

I hope this helps,

Damien.