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  • Category Archives Wedding Photography

  • Capturing a magical moment

    Posted on February 14, 2013 by Riaan Roux Comment

    Finding and capturing magical moments during a wedding is what differentiates a professional wedding photographer who has a passion for their art from any other person snapping photos.  Seeing moments as they unfold and being there to capture them are not a simple matter of standing around waiting for them to develop.  A moment, in most cases, needs to be created by evaluating elements in the environment and then balancing them together to create a scene in camera which tells a story.  The story need not be complete even, but could leave the view with a sense of wonder into what is going to happen next.

    The hardest part is breaking away from what everyone else is doing out there and finding a way to be different.  Many wedding photographers, especially when they are just starting out, look around at other wedding photographers work and then try to copy much of it without ever finding out what works for the environment in which they find themselves.  Many photography courses teach you to be consistent and create all kinds of rules of light, angle, composition and a host of technicalities which some people get stuck on.  I believe in consistency, but consistency for every session, not for my style.  What I mean by this is that I will talk to my clients and see what their personalities are like and try to discover what is important to them and then adjust my style for that session, whether it is a wedding or family photo session, to compliment them.  I prefer to give my clients what they want, not what I want to give them.

    So what makes a magical moment?

    People in photos make moments special and sometimes magical.  Capturing the moment of silence, a look, emotion or even their interaction with their environment is what creates a moment.  A moment can be created by posing a person or even a group in such a way that they interact with one another or their environment.  Moments are not created when the only interaction is directed towards the camera.  The next time you want to capture a moment, look for the interaction rather than technically try to create a good shot.

    This entry was posted in Photography, Photography Tips, Wedding Photography. Bookmark the permalink.

  • To Pose or Not to Pose

    Posted on February 10, 2013 by Riaan Roux Comment

    I often hear people say that they don’t like “posed” photos and would prefer photos to look “natural”. For a long time I have wondered why this is so since the some of the greatest wedding photos ever created by world famous wedding photographers such as Doug Gordon, Sal Cincotta and Jerry Ghionnis are all posed.  I then read a comment by Doug Gordon on a website that people do not like “posed” photos because photographers put them in poses which do not produce flattering photos appropriate to the moment.  He went on to say that it is the photographers responsibility to pose people correctly for every situation and mood.  Sal Cincotta says very much the same and further notes that fantasy and romance in photos cannot be captured by waiting for a moment to happen, but rather by creating a moment of romance or fantasy by correct posing and then capturing it to look natural.

    This entry was posted in Wedding Photography. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Why I bought the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8

    Posted on October 17, 2012 by Riaan Roux Comment

    As those of you who follow my Facebook Page will know, I recently bought myself the Tamron SP AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro Lens.  I posted some samples on my Facebook page and some photos of the lens.  After seeing this (fairly large) lens some people thought it is a super zoom lens, but it is not.  It has a range of 70mm to 200mm which isn’t far for a zoom lens, yet it is fairly large (and heavy, but lighter than other makes in the same class).  Many photographers, even non-professional or amateurs, usually own a 70-300mm lens which has 100mm more reach, so why would I want this specific lens which is big, heavy and reaches only 200mm?

    Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 sample

    Though I can cite many reasons why I chose this lens I will only give the main ones.

    1.  It is a “Fast” lens

    With a constant f/2.8 wide aperture it helps to take photos in low light at faster shutter speeds and lower ISO which improves quality of photos.  Since I do professional wedding photography in the North West Province of South Africa I needed another fast lens for weddings which also gives me more reach.  I already own a Sony 28-75 f/2.8 and a Minolta 50mm f/1.7, but they just  don’t quite have the reach for some situations.  Situations where I sometimes find I need a longer reach is during the ceremony which sometimes is in a church with low lighting.  To get those close-up tight shots of the bride and groom normally requires me to move in close to the couple which can interfere with the people attending.  I try to be as invisible during a ceremony as possible so those present can enjoy the proceedings without the photographer getting in the way.  Using a 28-75 lens just doesn’t get you very close to things as they happen.  Using a 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens does not cut it either as it forces slower shutter speeds and the use of high ISO which really degrades the quality of the photos.

    2.  It is a quality lens

    There is a misconception amongst many people that Tamron, Sigma and other after market lenses produced by manufacturers other than those of your camera make are not good, but this is untrue.  Like Canon, Nikon, Sony and other camera manufacturers Tamron has entry level lenses for beginners and amateur photographers which are good enough for certain applications, but cannot be considered professional grade.  Tamron does, however, produce excellent professional grade lenses and this is one of them.  using Low Dispersion (LD) glass and high quality optics ensures you get clean, crisp and quality light through to your camera sensor.  These lenses are way more expensive than the entry level lenses, but the cost is worth it.

    3.  Control of Background (Bokeh)

    Though Bokeh (blurring of the background) can be achieved using virtually any lens it is just so much easier with an f/2.8 lens.  Using this lens I am now able to blur the background even with a full length photo of a subject in a landscape shot.

    Sony A77 with Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 Landscape Sample

    The ability to blur the background on a full length landscape shot brings focus to your subject.  Though you may not always want this it is there for those times you have a background which you prefer to blur out slightly.  Some people try to do this in editing afterwards, but this always produces an unrealistic looking image.  Bringing your subject to halft-length shots creates even more bokeh as in the below example:

    Sony A77 with Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 Half-Length Sample

    Since my subject is now close to the lens the depth of field shortens (or becomes shallower) which produces larger Bokeh circles for your background.  This now completely separates your subject from the background.  This is an advantage when you shoot in situations where you cannot always control what appears in the background.  Since the background is now so far out of focus it almost doesn’t matter what is in the background as it will hardly become distracting.  This is not only great for wedding photography, but also model and portrait photos.  When bringing the subject even closer for head and shoulder shots the Bokeh effect increases even more.

    Sony A77 with Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 Head and Shoulder Sample

     

    So there you have the main reasons for my decision to purchase this lens.

    If you are interested in this lens or something similar then head over to SACamera where you can find the best professional photographic and studio equipment at the best prices.

    This entry was posted in Photography, Wedding Photography. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Outdoor Bridal Make-Up

    Posted on September 23, 2012 by Riaan Roux Comment

    Carla having make-up done outdoors

    As a wedding photographer I get to see make-up artists of all kinds using their own techniques to achieve great results in bridal make-up.  Most make-up artists will do the make-up in the bridal suite under the existing lights, but a few prefer different light, such as outdoors.  I recently again experienced a wedding photo shoot where the make-up artist did the brides’ make-up outdoors, and the results were fantastic.

    I got to thinking about this and dug through some older photos to confirm my theory that outdoor make-up gives better results.  The make-up artist picks a spot with some shade and goes to work in an open and comfortable environment where they can move all around the bride and check the colours and shades of the make-up under real daylight conditions.  The bride will be spending quite some time outdoors and especially during the couple shoot the bridal couple will often be outdoors, so the colour and shading of the make-up becomes fairly important.  This is not only because there is more light outside but also has to do with the colour temperature of light (see: Color Temperature on Wikipedia) and a make-up artist who can work outdoors or under lighting which provides the same colour temperature and intensity will achieve better results.

    I am not saying that all brides should insist on outdoor make-up, but it is something to consider when having your make-up done.

    Carla Wedding Make-up

    This entry was posted in Wedding Photography. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Photography is not a game!

    Posted on April 11, 2012 by Riaan Roux Comment

    A macro shot from my art collection taken during late March 2012

    The last month has been a little crazy.  Though I never tire of taking photos it is tiring editing all the photos after the shoot.  I use Lightroom 3 to speed up my workflow and catalogue my work, but it also has the added function of tracking my work and number of edits.  For the last 30 days I have worked on 11509 images!  Amongst these were 2 big weddings, 2 large stage events, a school sport day and a host of studio and location shoots and a couple of art snaps (just to relax!).

    When you consider that you spend a minimum of 1 minute per photo doing adjustments and small fixes then 11000 photos becomes 183 hours of work.   The average working individual works 40hours a week (5 days & 8 hours a day), or 160 hours a month, so editing 11000 takes up a whole month to edit with an additional 20+ hours!  And this does not even include the time spent doing the photography.

    Wedding Photo taken during March 2012

    Wedding photography is always fun to do, but they are also the most work.  I more often than not find myself happily clicking away during a wedding filling up my various memory cards without concern for the number of shots I take.  After much practice it has become a simple process of checking the source light and background to compose the next great shot and I easily achieve a shot rate of 2000 or more photos in a 6-8 hour wedding.  But once I get home and download all these photos I again realise, much as the person who wakes up with a hangover and swears never to drink again, that I take too many “keepers” (photos which will make it to the wedding album) and load myself with too much editing work.  But, for me, it is an addiction.  Even when I know I have more than enough photos to make the bridal couple happy I simply continue taking photos because I see the next great scene unfolding before me.

    I spent half my day today just updating my galleries on my website, so take a look around.

    This entry was posted in Photography, Wedding Photography. Bookmark the permalink.

  • How do I become a Wedding Photographer?

    Posted on February 24, 2012 by Riaan Roux 1 Comment

    Part 2 of “How do I start a photography business?”

    Firstly, and most importantly, weddings are not a training ground for photographers.  Your knowledge of photography, your camera, lenses and other equipment should be beyond “beginner” level before you venture into wedding photography.  You need to know how to use your camera in full manual mode and be comfortable with it.  You should also know when and how to use aperture priority and shutter priority modes.  You should know how to switch between settings in seconds as moments in a wedding go by very quick and a missed shot at a critical moment cannot be repeated.  Never experiment or “try” a wedding just because your model and/or other outdoor photography is good.  Weddings are very different from other forms of photography in that there is a constant flow of things happening beyond the photographers control which need to be captured as they happen.
    Secondly, you need to cover a few weddings as a second, backup or shadow photographer in order to learn how things work and learn the flow of a wedding.  You can do this by contacting experienced wedding photographers and offering to do assistant work or shadow photography for them.  You may be asked to do more than just take photos, such as move lights, flash stands, hold reflectors, etc.  Consider these tasks training!  If you are asked to hold and control a reflector it means you are there to see how an experienced photographer does things.  You could also offer your services to an engaged couple who already have a hired professional wedding photographer for free as second photographer.  It is important that they already have a hired professional wedding photographer and understand that you will only be taking extras as no charge.  Follow that photographer, even if you have to do so at a distance.  Note how things are done and how they follow the flow of a wedding.  Stay behind them at all times as this will be the best vantage point to pick up tips.  Don’t bother with trying to take many photos, but learn by seeing what the professional wedding photographer does.  Shadowing a professional wedding photographer also gives you an opportunity to build a portfolio of wedding photos to show to future prospective clients!
    Thirdly, get backup equipment for everything you have and need to complete any shoot.  This means a backup camera, lens, flash, memory cards and anything else critical to taking photos in your style.  Take your equipment list and randomly remove a single item and ask yourself if you can complete a wedding shoot from start to finish without that one item.  Never believe you are not going to run into problems.  I have seen brand new high-end camera bodies fail after less than 200 shots!  Backup batteries for each camera body is a must.

    The above points are very important, but there are a number of other points which, while important, are less critical.  Below are some more pointers which need serious consideration if you plan on moving into the very competitive wedding photography arena.

    Camera Bodies
    I often see the question: “Which camera is best for weddings” or “Can I use my Canon 550D/Nikon D3100 for weddings?”
    The truth be told, yes, entry level camera bodies can be used to do wedding photography!  But, and there are many other buts, you must note that you are using entry level equipment which does not equal higher end equipment.  Entry level cameras are meant to be used by amateur and hobby photographers.  Though in many cases they may almost match high-end bodies under certain photographic conditions they lack the sensor quality and function control found in higher end cameras.  An entry level camera body can be a backup, but it is not recommended as your main camera.  If you do not own at least 2 camera bodies then you should not be doing wedding photography, you must have a backup.  If your camera body fails, and they do, during a wedding you risk not only the photos for the remainder of that wedding and the scorn of the couple, but also your reputation!  Once word spreads that you could not complete a wedding shoot you may not only lose opportunities as a great up and coming wedding photographer, but other photographic opportunities as well!

    Lenses
    Kit lenses, the one that came with your entry level camera, is not enough to cover a wedding.  These lenses are of significantly lower quality than professional lenses, and not only in build, but the quality of the glass too.  I still have 2 kit lenses from previous camera bodies, but they are never used (except for demonstration purposes).  Once you buy you first “fast” lens you soon realise how bad a kit lens is.  A kit lens is usually an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens which is OK for general purpose outdoor sunlight photography, but they all suffer the same problem when lighting is poor in that the maximum aperture of f/3.5 just doesn’t allow enough light in.  A “slow” lens (max aperture of f/3.5) in poor lighting conditions force you to use strong unflattering flash light and/slow shutter speeds combined with higher ISO which results in grainy and/or motion blur photos.  These lenses are generally not very sharp due to cheaper production and lower quality lens glass.  They all have a slight blurriness around edges of images, even when stopped down to f/8 in good light.  At the very least you should invest in a 50mm Prime (or Fixed Focal) lens for your backup camera body and a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for you main body.  This combination will bring you joy in most wedding photography situations.

    Flashes
    You should own at least 2 flashes with a Guide Number of 32 or better.  If you do not know what a flash guide number is you should not be doing wedding photography yet.  Search Google for “Flash Guide Number Chuck McKern” to understand how this works.
    Learn how to soften the light from your flash and how to bounce light from anything and everything!  Remember that bouncing light from coloured surfaces will give a colour cast.  In one case I bounced light from a best-mans shirt to get a shot!  Do not put your flash on your camera and just keep it pointed at the couple as this results in very flat looking images and harsh background shadows.  If you do not own a diffuser, get 2 (you need a backup) and learn to use them.  If possible get a set of light stands for your flashes and a wireless trigger set so you can control direction and quality (hard/soft) of the light from your flash units without mounting on the camera.  Light from wireless triggered flashes produce flattering shadows when used in combination with soft-boxes (even mini-soft-boxes) and result in photos your wedding couple will love!

    Memory Cards
    Choose your memory cards for wedding photography carefully.  You want high quality cards and more than enough for both your camera bodies.  Avoid huge memory cards which can store all your photos from start to finish.  If you have done enough photography you will know that memory cards can unexpectedly corrupt, irrespective of quality of the card, and you could lose all the images.  I recommend a number of smaller cards to store 300-400 photos (in RAW format) then swap out with another.  If a card goes corrupt you will not lose everything.  Get a high quality card holder which is weatherproof to store your cards in.  Before you go to a wedding your cards should be empty!  NEVER format a card at a wedding because you think it just has old photos… I have seen a wedding photographer accidentally wipe the entire pre-ceremony shots this way.

    Shoot RAW
    If you are not shooting your photos in RAW format you should look this up, study it, and use it.  You will soon realize the advantages of RAW once you get the hang of it.  Shooting in JPG mode gives you photos which are compressed in a lossy format to begin with.  As you edit JPG images their quality degrades further and further with every edit and save.  JPG should be reserved for your final images and your working set should consist of only RAW or TIFF images.
    Once you are confident you have the above covered your next step would be to set up wedding packages and prices.  This is an area which is pretty personal and there are many ways to do this.  Pricing your packages is the hardest part, but this is covered in the previous article, so refer back to it if need be (link at top).

     

    This entry was posted in Photography Tips, Wedding Photography and tagged beginner, camera, howto, learn, lens, photographer, photography, wedding. Bookmark the permalink.

  • How many edited Wedding Photos?

    Posted on February 4, 2012 by Riaan Roux 3 Comments

    There are many opinions and debates surrounding the editing of photos and what actually constitutes “editing.”  I used to refer to “adjustment” and “editing” as separate mechanisms, but now refer to any change in the original image as “editing.”

    Many, if not most, wedding photographers will set up wedding packages with a certain number of photos assigned to each package.  Irrespective of the number of photos taken by the photographer, the client will only be issued with these photos in an edited form.  I have chosen a different route and set up my packages based on time spent at the wedding.  I supply every possible photo to the client unless the photo was an absolute disaster.  The beauty in any photo finally lies with the client, and not the view or opinion of the photographer.  I edit every photo that I take to my client instead of just supplying the minimum expected.  On average I will supply 800-1200 edited photos per wedding.

    As an additional bonus I edited specific photos with extra copies which have a different look and editing style to accompany the original.  This gives the customer the choice of which of the copies they prefer to have reprinted from their DVD photo disk.  The DVD photo disk contains high resolution copies of each photo, and since the original sizes are so large I may provide 3 or more disks.

    Photo editing in different stylesIn the example photo is a series of photos as I would supply on a disk.  The original (on the left of the series) is complimented by two or more enhanced edit copies.  The choice of which photo is preferred is now left to the client, and not the photographer.  Many photographers will only supply the edited copies and the client is forced to accept the editing style the photographer has chosen for the photo.  In the case of the example photo the original is slightly adjusted for colour-balance and exposure, then a copy is made for further editing.  Once edited I may feel I would like to re-edit another copy of the original for a different look.  This process may repeat itself again for more copies, but the original and all edits are always included.

    This entry was posted in Wedding Photography and tagged editing, wedding. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Does your wedding photographer have backups?

    Posted on February 3, 2012 by Riaan Roux 1 Comment

    Hiring a wedding photographer who does not have backup equipment is like going on a road trip without a spare tyre!

    No matter how good a photographer is, when your photographer does not own at least 1 backup camera you run the risk of losing some or all of those special moments which can never really be recreated.  In today’s technologically advanced world even the best of the best cameras can fail.  What happens when your hired photographers’ camera fails during your wedding day?  Yes, you may get some photos and a refund, but do you REALLY want a refund, or would you prefer the photos that preserve the memory of that special day.

     

    Just a few pieces of my backup equipment for wedding photographyThere are NO excuses that are valid for not owning backup equipment if you are a professional wedding photographer.  It is accepted that when you start out in Wedding photographey you may not own any or all the backup equipment needed, but a client should be made aware of this as well as the risks involved.

    When I started out in Wedding photography I had only a single camera, but I informed every customer that this is what I had and that in a worst case scenario would refund the full amount paid for the wedding photography if I am unable to produce an acceptable set.  I still do this even though I have a full range of backup equipment ranging from backup camera to extra lenses to extra flashes, batteries, chargers, stands, tripods, softboxes, memory cards and even remote flash triggers!

    When you want to hire a wedding photographer you should ask more than just their to see their photo portfolio.  Ask your wedding photographer what backup equipment they have in case their camera, lens, flash or other important piece of equipment should fail.

    Chances are that equipment will not fail, but I have experienced other factors that had me resort to backup equipment.

    Imagine one of the following scenarios on your wedding day.  You arrive at the church and start walking in.  The photographer rushes in ahead of you to get that perfect entry shot, but on his way in a guest is just inside the doorway holding an object hard enough to crack the lens as the photographer bumps into him.  Photographer switches cameras and carries on without blinking. During the ceremony the broken part is replaced with another spare and everything continues without the bride even knowing anything had happened!

    Here is another:  During the exit from church shots a guest with a camera rushes in to grab a few shots of the shower of rose leaves on the bridal couple and accidentally knocks into the hired photography and breaks his on-camera flash right off the mounting!  Hired photographer clicks off the remaining footpiece, clips on backup flash and continues photographing without the wedding couple even noticing!

    When you hire a photographer without backup equipment, just remember the above as they happened to me and would have resulted in loss of photos.

    Ideally your photographer should have:

    • 2 Cameras
    • Spare batteries for cameras
    • Spare Flash unit
    • Spare lens for each camera

    Perhaps it is overkill, but I have the above and more, using 6 lenses, 4 camera batteries, 20 flash batteries, 6 memory cards, 3 flash units, 2 tripod stands, 2 flash unit stands, 2 soft-boxes and 107cm scrim and smaller extras all in spare.

    Don’t get caught next to the road with a flat tyre when this road trip is going to be your most important one!

    This entry was posted in Wedding Photography and tagged backup, camera, flash, lens, wedding. Bookmark the permalink.

  • Wedding Photography for Pravesh and Andrea

    Posted on February 1, 2012 by Riaan Roux Comment

    On Friday 27 January 2012 I drove through to Benvenuti Wedding & Function Venue in Johannesburg (http://www.benvenuti.co.za/) to scout the location for Pravesh and Andrea’s wedding.  The venue is beautiful with a big green garden and little hideouts where great photos can be taken.  The reception hall is huge with white drapes hanging from the ceiling which is great for bounced light photography.

     

    I walked around for almost two hours taking a little over 180 test photos to see what the light and backgrounds where like.  I also scouted for areas we could use in case of rain; which turned out to be good planning as we got a shower of rain on the day!  It is very important that a wedding photographer visit a venue for a wedding before actually doing the photos for the wedding to check light, note settings on the camera that work best for various areas and plan a shooting path for those intimate photos after the wedding. After the ceremony you normally have an hour, maybe less, to do the family and couple photos, so you want to make sure you know what you want to do.  You don’t want to run around trying to find nice background and light while under pressure!

     

    Pravesh and Andrea arrived after I had thoroughly scouted the area and I took them along the path I suggested while repeating one or two test shots.  These test shots were then later studied at home to see what settings worked and what needed adjustment.  Following this process saves time on the wedding day and ensures that you as photographer don’t end up with shots that are poor because you used settings on your camera that did not work for the scene.

     

    Pravesh and Andrea are a wonderful couple with friendly family and friends and the wedding turned out to be one of the most enjoyable events I have attended in a long time.  After the ceremony a shower of rain broke out, but I was prepared and set up a mini studio under cover which gave me options of 6 different backgrounds to use which included open air and garden scenery.  Many of the family shots were done under the roof, but after about 20 minutes the rain faded away and were ventured into the garden.  I even repeated some of the close family shots in the garden for a different look.

     

    This wedding turned out to be one of my favourites and another I will remember for many years.

     


    By Riaan Roux Photography  |  View on Facebook

     

    You can see the full gallery of images in my Gallery section on the menu.

    This entry was posted in Wedding Photography and tagged johannesburg, klerksdorp, photography, wedding. Bookmark the permalink.

  • New Lens Arrived Today!

    Posted on January 31, 2012 by Riaan Roux Comment

    I ordered a Tokina 19-35mm AF193 lens a while ago and it arrived today.  This is now the 6th lens in the shooting arsenal and will primarily be used on the secondary camera for wider angle shots.  This specific lens is one of the “legendary” lens made originally for Minolta cameras and, since Sony adopted the A-Mount system, have remained in production.  The lens is hard to come by as it is not sold often in South Africa.

     

    Interestingly the lens has inherent “flaws” which gives photos a softer artistic edge look.  Because of these “flaws” the lens obtained a “legendary” status amongst photographers who know how to use the “flaws” to their advantage.  At F8 and up the lens is crystal sharp making it one of the great landscape photography lenses, but wider than F8 the edges tend to become soft and you have a natural light fall-off (aka vignetting).  As a wedding photographer I have search for a long time for such a lens because these effects are usually brought in digitally in post-processing using Photoshop or other photo editing software.  Using this lens at certain apertures the natural effect, which is better than any that can be digitally reproduced, can be obtained.

     

    Have you ever noticed how many wedding photographers add a hard, unnatural-looking vignette (darkening of the edges of photos) to their photos?  The idea came about in the old film days when lenses of certain construction would cause this darkening of the edges naturally.  The edges would also become “soft” (blurrier).  Modern wedding photographers still reproduce this effect in post processing of their images!

     

    Most modern lenses are severely criticized if they have ANY vignetting (or light fall-off) because it is considered a “Bad Trait”.  The reason most photographer don’t want vignetting is because it limits their cropping capability.  If you crop a photo that has natural vignetting you will cut out the beautiful natural vignette.  So, working with a lens that has natural vignetting is tricky as you have to frame your shots correctly and stop relying on cropping afterwards to fix you photos.  Fortunately I am one of those photographer who try to frame every shot correctly so that I will not have to crop afterwards, and 95% of the time I get it correct, so this lens is great for me!

     

    For those interested in what other lenses I use the list is now as follows:

     

    SONY SAM 18-55

    SONY SAM 28-75 F2.8

    SONY 75-300

    Minolta 35-70

    Minolta 50mm Prime F1.7

    Tokina AF913 19-35

     

    This entry was posted in Wedding Photography and tagged lens, tokina, wedding. Bookmark the permalink.



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