My Second Passion

[raythompson]

My second, well maybe third, passion is photography. I do sports for a local paper, freelance stuff, and weddings. Mostly because I enjoy it. Photography is not my bill paying job as then I would not enjoy it.

I recently did a wedding and thought I would share some of the pictures with others on the board.

Pictures are at this link.

Enjoy.

[samw]

Nice pics

[TeamAllen]

Great work! I had no idea. Thanks for sharing.

You need to make the rounds at all the Tigé events as the official photographer.

[jwanck11]

Neat stuff Ray!!

I am also similarly into photography but have not shot any weddings yet. On your portraits, it looks like a haze filter was used?

[raythompson]

Great work! I had no idea. Thanks for sharing.

You need to make the rounds at all the Tigé events as the official photographer.

If they pay my expenses I will gladly offer my services at no charge.

[raythompson]

Neat stuff Ray!!

I am also similarly into photography but have not shot any weddings yet. On your portraits, it looks like a haze filter was used?

No filters used on the camera. All done with post processing in Photoshop.

I photograph in RAW for maximum color depth (12 bit vs 8 bit for JPG). Doing so also allows me to not worry about white balance issues. I always underexpose by 0.5 stop to not blow the dress. I then adjust the exposure using Lightroom and color balance using Lightroom.

Filters, such as vignetting, B/W conversion, spot coloring all done after the fact. It is always easier to start with the maximum amount of information and reduce it later.

I only custom process a few images due to the time involved. I provide the couple with a full DVD of the images (hi res JPG) to do with as they please. I charge enough up front to cover for any missed print sales. Many people are computer competent and can modify their own choice of images to their own tastes. I don't want to fight copyright battles and consider it a losing battle anyway. I will provide the enhancement service if they request at an additional charge.

[LovinPowell]

Nice pics.

This may be a stupid question but .....

How do you edit the picture so that everything is black and white except for the bouqet of flowers that she is holding?

My daughter is getting married this Saturday and I will be taking some pictures, any tips?

[jwanck11]

That is what I thought based upon the shots. Just wanted to be sure. I use photoshop too but in limited fashion.

It seems your charging method is pretty much the way most digital shooters choose to go.

Good Luck with it!

[raythompson]

How do you edit the picture so that everything is black and white except for the bouqet of flowers that she is holding?

This is done with layers in Photoshop. First I create a duplicate layer. I then convert this duplicate layer to B&W. Then using the eraser tool, opacity set to about 50% (use whatever pleases you) I erase that portion of the upper layer that I want colorized. The color shows through where the B&W layer is erased.

Some hints on wedding pictures from my perspective.

Photograph in shade. Bright sun is really a problem. Cloudy skies are great.

Watch the exposure on the brides dress. Blow the exposure and you can never recover the detail. Underexpose if necessary (I do).

Watch the color balance. The dress must be white, white, white. If you photograph in shade you may get a blue cast on the dress. Fix that in Photoshop.

Use fill flash, slightly reduced. Turn down the flash compensation about 0.5 to 1.0 stops to not make the flash as obvious.

Use a flash diffuser to soften that light.

Keep the flash above the lens at all times. When shooting portrait (vertical mode) use a bracket to keep the flash above the lens.

Photograph more in an image than you need. Don't try to crop when taking the picture by getting in too close. You can crop later in Photoshop. You can always take away but you can never put back.

Watch how the flowers are held by the women. Most tend to hold too high and look like they are clubbing the flowers. Hold the flowers low with a small bend in the arm at the elbow. Gives the women a longer line.

Avoid photographing people straight on and instead use a 30 to 45 degree angle. The look slimmer. Weight on the back foot, front foot for balancing only.

Be creative. My biggest problem is I am too traditional. That is what I use an assistant that tends to be more radical. It balances nicely. We don't always agree but we get along nicely.

There are more issues that get more complicated such as balancing flash with ambient, etc. that are too long to post here.

And most importantly, have fun. When I am a happy photographer, having a good time, so does the rest of the wedding party.

[raythompson]

It seems your charging method is pretty much the way most digital shooters choose to go.

I have been involved in a copyright battle and it was not fun. Certainly not worth the ultimate judgement in my favor.

I have since decided that almost everyone has a computer with a color printer and some photo editing software. They will find a way to duplicate an image. Even Walmart will print the images as long as there is no formal background involved.

So now I price for the job, my time, $200.00 per hour. It is treated as payment for service and that service is capturing the images. Beyond that all other needs such as enlargements and wedding books are negotiated seperately. I just don't want to fight the issue anymore as the times have changed.

I release the right to reproduce the images to the client but I keep the copyrights. All images on the DVD are full resolution uncropped. I color correct, exposure correct and that is it. The only images they do not get are those that are really bad. Even ones with eyes closed or other minor problems are released.

One of those not so perfect images may be special to them as it contains uncle Bob in his favorite tie that was a Christmas gift from his wife that died two years ago while undergoing chemotheropy just after their home was foreclosed after lossing that lawsuit from the automobile crash just after he lost his job having recently been denied VA benefits.

[jwanck11]

Ray gave lots of good tips! A couple of additional points for you LP:

Photo the lovely bride in her dress against any other background than white or grey. If the church is white, pick another spot. This will ensure clarity of the dress and look of the bride. White also tends to wash out the look of the face and skin tones. This really matters long-term to the bride and women in general.

Use the longest lens you have and shoot from ~15 feet away. It will minimize distortion (earss are big and nose is small) and it compliments the way that our minds work in processing images. I can go into detail, but wont here.

For portraits Line up image finder using a straight line for reference (tree/fence/post/window/etc). There is nothing worse than a crooked reference in the picture...

Try to capture people naturally. You can use tricks like one three... and then snap the picture on 2.

[raythompson]

For portraits Line up image finder using a straight line for reference (tree/fence/post/window/etc). There is nothing worse than a crooked reference in the picture...

I don't even bother with that anymore. I straighten later in Lightroom when I have time to think. Straight is one less thing that I have to worry about when taking the pictures. Computers have made it so much easier.

As for crooked, some people seem to like pictures that are markedly crooked, 30,40,45 degrees. I don't, my assistant does. I like it straight, assistant insists on severe angles. We give both to the bride.

And be careful on the telephoto. I want the seperation from the background and if I cannot do it with light I rely on the physical distance. Too much telephoto will remove some of that seperation.

I like your One, Three, Two idea. I will have to try that next time.

[LovinPowell]

How do you edit the picture so that everything is black and white except for the bouqet of flowers that she is holding?

It took a while but I finally was successful on a "quick and dirty" attempt at this type of photo editing.

[jwanck11]

Wow LP. That is a great first attempt.

Check out www.kenrockwell.com if you have the time and want to learn a bit more. There are good articles on composition and light as well as other topics.

[LovinPowell]

Wow, that's a great site. Thanks J. I have it bookmarked.