Wedding Magic (1)
NEX-6, 55-210mm E-Mount Lens @ 191mm, Aperture Priority Mode, 1/100 secs, ISO 400, f/6.3
For the first of two Wedding Magic posts (there are two wedding photos in David Busch’s book), I had really planned on using a photo of the Bride & Groom together, enjoying their day, as this is really what a wedding day is all about. However, I couldn’t resist using this shot of one of the bridesmaids because I like the candid moment of her fastening her earring, along with the backlight coming from the sun shining through the large patio windows. The light, combined with the depth of field blur, just gives the shot a bit of a dreamy effect to my mind, and it was one of the few moments where Sarah was not painfully aware of the camera!
If I had been completely intent on using a shot that included the Bride & Groom, I would have used this as the featured shot – it captures the spirit of the whole day, with everybody smiling and looking on as the happy couple kiss.
I had been asked to take photographs of the Bride and Bridesmaids getting their hair and make up done in the morning, as the Bride is my best friend’s sister. She had a professional photographer for the main ceremony of course, but they thought that it would be nice to have photos of the whole day, whilst it would also benefit me being able to take shots for this blog, and so this was my very first experience of wedding photography. I’m glad that it was just a favour for a friend, as I certainly do not feel confident enough to have the pressure entirely on me of photographing the happiest day of a couple’s life just yet!
The day began with the girls having their hair and make up done. This is the Bride, Louise.
As I was excited to be taking photos of the wedding, I was awake by half six in the morning, even though I was not due at the house where they were getting ready until eight o’clock – I had even packed all of my camera gear the night before in preparation (for a change!). When I arrived, the first Bridesmaid was already in the chair, having her hair done and make up applied. I had done a little bit of research on wedding photography, to make sure I had some idea of what I should be doing, and so took this shot of Emma’s reflection in the mirror.
Whilst I do not think the shot is particularly flattering, I do like the composition of the mirror hinge directly down the centre of Emma’s face.
Unfortunately, the mirror being used was nothing like I had seen in the wedding photos I found during my research, and it was also a little on the dirty side. However, I think it was good how this allowed my shots to concentrate on the girls’ eyes to a large extent, as you can also see now with the third Bridesmaid, Karen.
I used a different angle here, to avoid cutting Karen’s face in half!
As I have mentioned in previous posts, it is seriously important to get your subject’s eyes in sharp focus when taking portrait style photographs, and so I was making a real effort to concentrate on doing just that. I was using the Focus Peaking setting on my NEX-6 to help with this, which highlights the areas of the shot which are in the sharpest focus – I believe that most Sony interchangeable lens cameras have this feature (if not all), which is not found on other manufacturers’ models. I also set the focus mode to Direct Manual Focus, which allowed the camera to autofocus quickly, whilst leaving me the option to manually adjust it by turning the focus ring of the camera’s lens for extra precision. This is actually a setting that I use a great deal, as I find that it allows me to focus on my intended subject in the shortest amount of time in most cases.
It looks as though Sarah is flashing a smirk for the camera here, but really she was smiling at the thought of how she could inflict the most pain upon me – if I didn’t stop taking shots of her without make up on.
I think that special mention should really be made of the make up artist in charge of getting the four of the ladies looking their best for the day, Sarah Green. I have been to a number of weddings where the Bride and Bridesmaids look really unnaturally made-up, but Sarah really did Louise and the others proud, making them all look stunning and natural at the same time. You should really check out this website for some professional images of her work and talent – www.sarahgreenmakeup.co.uk
I probably haven’t done justice to the make up with this shot, but I do enjoy the contrasting shadows and light across Karen’s face. Although it would have been better if the light was slightly higher up, and on her eyes.
Although the Bride and Bridesmaids are an extremely important part of a wedding day, the dress, flowers and other bits and pieces of the Bride’s outfit are also crucial, and something that should be remembered. I am a little bit more used to photographing inanimate objects than I am people, so felt more at home with the flowers that arrived half way through the morning. I did also take photos of the dress and jewellery, but not as successfully as I would have liked.
This is probably one of my favourite shots of the dress, which tells you a lot about the others that I attempted!
At least I had more luck with the bouquets (I think so, at least), and I even tried out a few special effects when processing those shots in Aperture 3 – mainly by playing about with the Curves adjustment, which is something that I have only recently started to understand the benefits of.
This was Louise’s bouquet, which I haven’t messed about with too much in Aperture.
This is a fairly untouched shot of one a Bridesmaid’s bouquet.
For this close-up shot, I couldn’t resist making the purples pop a bit more than they may have done in the original photograph.
This shot of a buttonhole rose is the one that I have altered most drastically, using the Curves adjustment in Aperture 3.
Taking photographs at a wedding has pretty much taken my interest in photography full-circle, as it was looking at the photos of friends’ weddings that originally made me realise what great shots were possible when using an interchangeable lens camera. I must admit that I prefer candid shots, over those where I would ask my subject to pose or do something specific – apart from the confidence issues that can surround telling another person what to do, I really enjoy seeing the natural expressions of people when they are not busy thinking about the camera.
The mother of the Bride 🙂
Once the hair and make up was all finished (only 30 mins late) it was time to get the Bride in the wedding car, and send her off to meet her Groom. Due to the fact that this was very much a rush, I didn’t get much chance to take photos of her getting in to the car and so on, but I did get the odd snatched moment to snap away.
Louise, waiting for her father before setting off for the wedding venue.
As the professional photographer was ready and waiting at the ceremony (and I was following the wedding car, making me as late as the Bride) I did not take any shots of the wedding itself, but did take my camera out again once that had finished, keeping it to hand throughout the meal, speeches, and until the first dance.
The Bride & Groom about to leave for a quick drive and bottle of champagne.
I suppose that one of the most magical parts of photographing a wedding is the opportunity to capture human emotions and all of the other special moments that combine to make a day that everybody will remember. Here are a few of those moments:
Fun & Laughter
Family
Happiness
Giving Thanks
Merriness
Last, but not least – The First Dance
I took nearly 600 photos on the day, many using my external flash unit (which I think was invaluable in helping the lighting of the indoor shots), used up both of my camera batteries, and was awake for much longer than I would normally care to be! It was a great deal of fun though, and really lovely to be a part of the couple’s special day. I don’t think that I could cope with doing it every weekend though – although I will possibly be taking a few snaps at another friend’s wedding later this year!
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