Wedding Photography: Shannon & Jason

Filed under: , , , , , , , , , , by:

Late summer wedding photography.  Photography session was scheduled at 2:30 but things got little delayed as usual wedding day.   I loved the inside of the academy chapel located in downtown Vancouver, Wa.   We used just one Elinchrom Quadra with an white shoot though umbrella and head was plugged in B socket.  It was plenty of power and recycle time was just immediate.  

I wanted to shoot quick outside the church shot.  Here, as you can see, it was shot bright sunny day.  It was really hard to over power the sun with 400w Elinchrom Quadra.  I just wanted to fill any shadow on the good looking subjects.  Lighting was on full power on camera right.  
I wasn't able to shoot without flash because of harsh shadow (it was very bright sunny day).  Quadra on camera right on almost full power.  A gold reflector would have been nice as long as they could see me without closing eyes  .
some candid shots before the ceremony


and after the ceremony
on the way to the reception, we decided to stop by waterfront.  I shot this with natural light.  My original shot was backlit pretty bad and I wasn't able to see subject.  I shot the image so that background was little over exposed yet the subject was underexposed.  I post processed the raw image in Lightroom and it was easy to do since I shoot everything Raw.  

I shot this with Elinchrom Quadra on camera left.  Little harsh but I think be able to shoot at F16 for small to medium size group on a very sunny day is pretty impressive.  I've never seen any wedding photographer bring studio lighting gear to shoot outdoor portrait on a busy wedding day.  Elinchrom Quadra is small and light enough to bring all day and my assistant, David is so much happier as well.

Dance with father picture.  I used a fisheye lens to capture dramatic moment.  Back of the stage, I placed two Nikon SB 26s and triggered via pocket wizard.  They are gelled (CTO) to match with ambient light. 

Inside the ball room was just totally dark.  
David backlighted using Quadra and I bounced the light using the back wall.  
We used a LED modeling light of Elinchrom Quadra with 1/2 CTO gel. White balance was tricky since the office building on the back was fluorescent and mixed with incandescent light. 
 Fisheye, ISO 3200, shutter speed at 1/20.  I love 5D Mark II 

Bridesmaids & Groomsmen

Filed under: , , , , by:

Here's another wedding portrait.  Late August clouds looked nice and wanted to create some fun yet dramatic shot before the stressful ceremony.  I used only one light source; Elinchrom Quadra with standard reflector on camera right.  It was set full power at F16, 1/320, and ISO 200.  No post processing has been done in this image and it's pretty much like I saw in the back of my 5D MK2 LCD.  

Later, a train passed by us.  I told Bride and Groom stop right there.  I shot couple of images on the way back to the church.  It's not the best image in terms of lighting and composition.  But it's one of the unique images I've got on that day.  If I had a tripod with me, I would have slowed the shutter so that there's some train movement in the background.  

Wedding Photography: Jamie & Larry

Filed under: , , , , , , , , , , by:

Jamie and Larry wanted to do formal portrait session at high noon. David (my assistant) and I knew that we had to bring high power strobes to overpower the bright sun. With new pocket wizard, my 5D Mark II can now sync at 1/400 sec no problem. A 1600 Alienbee strobed was powered by Vegabond. My strobe was at F16 and camera left. Stones, trees, water, railway, bridge and four good looking guys.
We found old building and it was in shade. It was a lot easier to do and I used 70-200 2.8 and shot wide open.
Group portrait was done in shade as well. This time, we used an umbrella to soften the light. Umbrella is great for large groups and it's small and inexpensive as well. I used telephoto lens to compress the background. Camera was 1D Mark III and sync speed was 1/320 sec. With 1D Mark III, I can sync at 1/500 sec.
Last image was shot under the gazebo. I started with natural lighting. Very soft lighting but little flat on my opinion. I added a background light behind the couple. Background light was 580 EXII and triggered by pocket wizard mini. I like to use background light for bride portrait since it lid up the veil and hair nicely. It also separates the background.

I still have to edit 600 + pictures for Jamie and Larry those are just some of my picks (August is busiest month for me).
I will be photographing Portland Winterhawks player headshots and I will post some of their pictures.

Cool wedding video

Filed under: , by:

Wedding season is coming up. I am booked every single sat except 15th in August. I found this cool video on YouTube and I'd like to share with all. Seems like everyone is having a good time except the photographer. This is kind of like sportsshooter wedding and may requires multiple cameras and at least 3 photographers. Hope I get one or two weddings like this year though.


Nik Software Webinar

Filed under: , , , by:

Nik software is offering free online webinar.

Go to Nik software to register
I am going to be taking "Enhancing Wedding Images" class

Wedding: Jason & Hannah

Filed under: by:




Elyse & Thomas Wedding

Filed under: by:

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)