Craig Stocks Arts Blog

I really like this photo of the bride and her father during their dance at the reception. It represents a special time for both the bride and her father. It symbolizes the change in her life, and give the father one last chance to be her Daddy. Of course, in modern times, that’s not really the case anymore, but the tradition continues on.

Of course, I also want to comment on the lighting. Receptions can be very difficult to manage. Normally, the lights are down very low and the people are moving quickly. The traditional approach is simple flash on camera, and that produces a usable record of the events. But, it doesn’t capture the depth of the feel of the event.

My approach is to set up a “room light” which is a studio strobe mounted high on a light stand and positioned at one end of the room. Then, my assistant provides a mobile light from the opposite direction, and I fill in the shadows with a third flash on my camera. All of the strobes are linked by a radio signal so they all go off at once.

In this image, the room light (coming from camera right) did a perfect job of highlighting the brides face. The direction of light also gives some form to her dress by creating highlights and shadows. The father’s face is in the shadow, but frankly, he’s just not as important.

Another big advantage of the room light is called “depth of light.” Since the light is rather far away, the light doesn’t fall off nearly as much as if it were placed close to the action. The big advantage is that the background is well lit as well. In this example, we can clearly see the crowd in the background, so they’re not just dancing in a black void.

I also used a relatively slow shutter speed to pick up the ambient light. In this case, the lights from the DJ’s setup create beautiful patterns of shadow and light on the floor and help recreate the mood of the dance.

OK, one more post from last weekend’s wedding. The bride had seen a photo of a bride and groom walking on railroad tracks, and she wanted to do a similar photo. Of course, what the bride wants, the bride gets. But I really do like the result. It’s not a typical setting, but it’s not way out either. I particularly like the interaction between the bride and groom, and the groom holding her shoes.

So, why did I post two photos? These aren’t necessarily my favorites from the set, but they illustrate the difference in lighting. As with nearly all of the photos, my assistant is holding an off-camera flash to add direction to the light. For whatever reason, it failed to fire for the image on the left, so you can easily see the difference lighting makes. To me, the photo on the left shows railroad tracks with a bride and groom nearly silhouetted. It’s a nice snapshot, but it’s not what I want for my brides. However, there’s no mistaking the subject in the image on the right – it’s the bride and groom. They’re brighter than the background, and the colors are much richer and vibrant. Your eye goes immediatly to the couple, and then takes in the surroundings.

With modern tools, shots like this are so much easier than they were in the “old days.” Digital cameras are great, but the photographer sill has to choose the tools and create the photograph. If you want more information, you can see a recent tutorial I posted about using fill flash outdoors.

This is a more traditional wedding day photo, and the day just wouldn’t be complete without a few portraits of the bride and groom. You can easily tell that the couple are thrilled with their special day. They’ve spent countless hours planning and preparing, and and it’s all paid off. They even had beautiful weather for their wedding day.

There are a few things about the photo that make it different from most wedding photography. First, notice their position. Rather than staying at the front of the church, we’re near the back. That allows a wide view of the beautiful sanctuary, and lets the image tell you about the couple and the setting. It also creates a composition with leading lines all around that point right to the bride and groom and lead your eye right to them.

I also really like the lighting. The bride and groom are being lit by an off-camera flash shooting through a umbrella. The umbrella creates a soft light with soft shadows, and the off-camera direction creates depth and dimension. I also added a second off-camera flash directly behind the couple pointing back toward the camera. That creates a little glow around the veil, and also adds the reflections to the ends of the pews.

I know I sound like a broken record, but lighting is so important. I see too many photographers shooting with simple, on-camera flash, and the result is harsh lighting with no depth. Recently, another photographer told me that he did mostly weddings, and only had time to use on-camera flash. I don’t buy it. For this photo, my assistant was holding the light, and it takes no time at all for him to move to the correct position. If you’re investing the time and money in a photograph, you should do it right and get the best possible result.