I asked the group to do a simple alternating formation of boys and girls and leaving the newly-married couple in the middle, focusing right on the couple to drive the attention on them. All guys had their hands together right in front of them and the girls had their bouquets at the front. Everybody followed directions pretty nicely and they enjoyed that I could share with them some snaps and show them my intention on this particular occasion.
I engage a lot with people during my shoots and the larger the group the better. I try to “hype them up” as much as I can during this time of the day as I know sometimes their attention can be diverted to other things (like wanting to have drinks and celebrate) and they will definitely have their time for that, lol. I try to make this time as fun and entertaining as it can be because if I have my couples and their friends have fun during this time I will capture the best images possible.
Ok, guys, we have this beautiful spot here for a group photo and the light is just amazing right now. Let’s stand up forming a single row, everybody at the same level as the rest so I can have you all in the same plane. Let’s have you guys alternating boys and girls. Ladies, you all look gorgeous today, please put your bouquets at the front, waist level, and guys, in order to make you look even cooler, please give me a little bit of a power pose / wide stance with your hands together like this (showed them the hand positioning I wanted by doing it myself). All of you square towards me, standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Please leave S and K in the middle and let’s smile for this one, we’ll do “the smoldering ones right after” -entire group laughs-
I used the lower third on the frame to get the group while leaving enough space for nature, the Barn at the back and that light that was coming from the top. I tend to do this a lot when photographing groups as I believe provides a nice balance between all the multiple hits (especially the Barn in the back) and the group.
Center Framed
I focused on the couple and because everybody was standing on the same plane I got the majority in focus. That was my intention and has always been when doing these types of images. Focused on them and then recomposed a bit to get the trees and the Barn in the back. Quick, simple, and easy.
Single Shot Autofocus
Single Point
Bride and Groom's heads
The way the EXIF is written out follows the common photographic method (with the inclusion of White Balance at the end). Here it is broken down:
Shutter Speed @ Aperture ISO White Balance.
I love shooting backlit images and this was one of those cases. I took advantage of having a beautiful sunny break with light coming from behind my subjects and proceeded immediately to take this image. I’m a fan of rim light and I could see how this highlighted their hair, especially the women part of this Wedding Party. The result ended up being much better than the one I had in my head. We had this crispy, warm light coming from behind. I love it!
Natural Light
Afternoon
Sunny
Most of my work starts using Greg Petersen’s presets (G-Presets). For this one, I started with Pack 3 (Clean) and then went to adjust the temperature of the image as I shoot a lot on Auto WB. I like my images to be warm, with contrast and punchy tones. I find Greg’s presets give me a good foundation to start working on the tones, especially on skin tones. I also use a lot of local adjustments to brushes I’ve created through the years. Lots of adjustments and tweaks on clarity, highlights, shadows, and others.
I’m also a fan of using gradient tools to reinforce where the light is coming from, adding more drama to an image. I love it! Finally, if I saw something on the grass (like leaves for example) that looked like they are out of place, I cloned them out. I tend to work on an image until I’m happy with what I’m seeing. Sometimes this happens on a single sitting, sometimes it requires multiple sittings/looks until I’m satisfied. One more thing, I used Photoshop to “open” the eyes of one of the groomsmen (the one on the far left). His eyes were closed so what I did was to clone his “open” eyes from another shot I took (I shoot a lot of pictures of the same image just in case this happens).
The constantly changing lighting conditions were the biggest challenge of this day. We had a little bit of everything: overcast during the first part of the ceremony then direct harsh light at the end. Then sunny breaks during Wedding Pictures and direct sunlight after.
It was a day that definitely kept me on my toes and had to adjust rapidly to all lighting conditions. Look for opportunities to enhance the attention on your subjects and having this backlit scenario was one of the best choices I made on this Wedding day.
The Red Tin Barn
51318 RR265, Spruce Grove, Alberta. Canada. T7Y 1G1
Forest
Canada
Be prepared, scout your locations and try to anticipate how the light can be used to enhance your subjects. Besides the wind, in my opinion, Light is your best friend. No matter what the conditions are you have to adjust to these and if it happens on a Wedding Day you have to do this quickly. Sometimes magic happens in the most unexpected moments so keep your eyes and mind open at all times!
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