Lessons
Day 1
1Introduction and Gear
27:53 2More Lenses and Accessories
18:30 3Gear Q&A
36:38 4Indoor Lighting
27:54 5Outdoor Lighting
17:26 6Lighting Q&A
22:13 7Unusual Angles and Framing
33:29Image Space and Leading Lines
22:43 9Background, Stories, and Moments
19:26 10Shoot: Getting Ready - Rings
31:44 11Shoot: Getting Ready - Details
36:47Day 2
12Shoot: Getting Ready - Hair and Makeup
39:43 13Shoot: Getting Ready - The Dress
18:02 14Shoot: Getting Ready - Portraits with the Veil
23:23 15Shoot: Ceremony - Processionals
33:57 16Shoot: Ceremony - Family Formals
16:53 17Ceremony Q&A
13:19 18Outdoor Shoot: Portraits with Flash
18:59 19Outdoor Shoot: Natural Light
29:45 20Outdoor Shoot: Shooting into the Sun
13:38 21Outdoor Shoot Q&A
09:06 22Shoot: Reception - Details
29:24 23Shoot: Reception - Toasts
13:16 24Shoot: Reception - First Dance
23:57 25Reception Q&A
12:18Day 3
26Introduction to Post-Production Workflow
35:17 27Workflow with Sidecar Post
46:01 28Client Communication
1:08:19 29Finances
44:03 30Finances Q&A
36:02 31Photo Contest Winners
03:41 32Marketing
51:52 33Final Q&A
25:19Lesson Info
Outdoor Shoot Q&A
So this is just kind of a general lee's of course anything day order so from ellen k and justin manning photography would shooting the bride groom and wedding party outside do you ever procedure is to who to shoot first second and so on and then justin manning ads what's the best way to not dictate how the bride and groom's wedding day goes for photos but still balance in creative photos for them that's a fantastic one so the first one is what order I go into for uh bridal party exactly right so it depends on the flow of the day if it's after the ceremony if we've done the family formals I'll do family formals then bridal party then bride and groom if it's before the ceremony I'll do bride and groom then bridal party then family formals so it kind of goes opposite if it's before the ceremony I want to get the bride and groom first because if I don't get the bride and groom I mean I could always push some of it until afterwards and again every day is going to be a little different somet...
imes you have to make a snap decision that's different from what you normally d'oh sometimes it's you know I really would rather have the bridegroom later so all I have time for his family formals will do them now I'll get you guys later but in an ideal world, those were the orders that I would go in and and the second question which is how did I not interfere with their day but still have the ability to do creative things right right now is actually an absolutely perfect example of that, you know, let's say that our sweet young couple here we're so excited about this courtyard and they so wanted to take their pictures outside the courtyard, but they wanted to do it now at one because they wanted to go straight to their cocktail hour afterwards well, okay, we're absolutely going to do that I'm not going to make them do anything other than that, but I'm goingto ask them, hey, guys at the end of your cocktail hour, can I borrow you for five minutes to try something a little different and if they say you know no, we don't want to do that, okay? That's fine if I see something really wonderful and creative and I grab my clients and I say, hey, can I borrow you for a second to make this creative shot now like, you know it's cool, we just want to go to cocktail hour I say ok, go ahead it's not about me at all, so yeah, exactly and just to clarify for the first, um, the first question where would you put the outside pictures when you're shooting outside, where would those fit in terms of ever? And then one turns off in terms of the order, so would you have the bride come out first or the groom more like what we're doing right now? Exactly, yeah, if it's before the ceremony, I'm probably going to start with the bridegroom together and then I'll just kind of pull them in and out because a lot of times we're not stuck. We're stuck just here because of the limitations of moving multiple cameras around, but if I have the bride and groom may be I would shoot them together here and then separately here and then maybe we'd step over into the street, which is just on the other side of these trees, and I would shoot them together and then maybe I want to shoot him over there by the doorway, so we would kind of just shuffle it in and out a little bit when I have just the bride and groom it's really easy to just go back and forth between the two of them, okay? And together, okay, great, and we have another question from j photographic, the shot in the brakes on light with a veil over the bride would you use your assistant with a diffuser just in front of the bride to soften the later? I don't want that okay it's a wonderful wonderful suggestion as I was talking before the harshness of that light is not necessarily for everybody and if that is something that bothers you a diffusion panel to sort of cut it a little bit is a wonderful idea it's a great idea you'll do that sometime I mean I wouldn't bank on it but maybe you never know okay? And then we have another question um from ryan sands what happens when you have too much wind? Do you postpone that part of the shoot or work with the wind with certain poses I work with the wind okay? I mean, you just have to do what you can d'oh ah lot of times if you'll notice one of the very first shots that I did of the bride and groom together I took her veil in tucked it in his hand I'll do a lot of that and usually it has to do it's it's either the veil or the hair that's becoming a problem if I'd rather have a veil on because at least her hair is under the veil. So I'll have, you know, maybe the groom hold the veil in both hands or every once in a while if you're not going to see the bride's back, I'll talk a little bit of the veil into into like the back of her dress just so that it stays out of the way if we're doing family formals all have family hold it down and if the hair is completely crazy I'll try to turn the bride so that her hair is at least blowing away from us instead of blowing like into her face but if we come outside and the wind is horrible and the bride doesn't want to be out here because it's too windy we're not gonna be out here we're gonna go inside and find something else okay and um we have another question from a shine sun image the whole series of outdoor bride shots have the background slanted not true vertical is that on purpose or would you switch that in post production or just your way roll it just the way I roll I uh it's it's uh maybe you don't like it maybe you do like it it's it's six one half dozen of the other I'm not going to shoot a picture that's like that looks something like this let's see should take a picture of you guys just for fun you all died I know so something like this like why in god's name would you slant a picture like that like that doesn't help me tell the story at all but if I am gonna have a slant of like a bride or a bride and groom and it's kind of crippen or a little off angle usually it's because I'm using the lines either pull you into the picture or I like the graphic nature of the slant, but, you know, tilting on the side just to tilt on the side. I don't like it if I'm tilting a family formal, like if I realized later that it's one of my downfalls is to always have my hayley formals a little crooked way will straighten those backup. Yeah, I've got one from pro photographer who wants to know. How do you, um, they respond when couples show you photos that other photographers have taken and they want that shot at their wedding so bad when they do that? Why do they do that? If they wanted that other photographers picture so bad, why didn't they hire that other photographer? It kind of kills me. This is my stock answer to will you recreate this? Or will you do this thing I found on pinterest and it's? Usually I found these pictures on pinterest. Will you take them for me? My responses? Hey, listen, I can totally take those pictures for you, and I'm absolutely glad too. Unless it's like a crazy like fashion shoot where you could tell it had a million lights and it was like a commercial thing. Well so you know, this is clearly a commercial shoot, you know, unless we want to have a commercial budget to bring out all the lights, I could do something a little bit like this for you but honestly, if I'm copying these pictures for you, I'm not going to be doing the sort of things for you that you've seen in all of my sample galleries that caused you to hire me in the first place and second of all, you know, you pull these pictures from pinteresque because they're very popular on pinterest and you really like them, but wouldn't you rather be the person that other people are pinning on pinterest because you have something really original? You don't want to make something that somebody else has, right, right? And then they're like yes, uh on if they're big into pinterest, you know, don't you want to give them something that then other people will be pinning a good point? Great, yeah, yes, michelle um so I've had a situation where the client fell in love with a venue and that's where they wanted to shoot and we're all set kind of set for that mindset and then let's see the night before they come up with this is how I've seen it shot and it's the less than ideal situation with lighting like how do you get that venue to beat because they want to shoot there? How do you get that? And still sometimes when we're looking at a situation where no matter how much you try to tell them that they don't want this picture that they want, they still want that picture. If it's in my power, I'll give them that picture even if it's not great, even if the light isn't good even if I know that it's not technically what I want to dio I'll take two seconds in should it for them and then I'll start doing what I want to do. You know, I've woken up on the morning before, and a bride who had booked me eighteen months in advance sent me a three page shot list of and we want to stand here and we want to stare to stand here and we want to stand here and I had to tell her on her wedding day, I don't necessarily know if this is going to work out and you don't want to tell a bride no on the wedding day and it the thought of disappointing anybody crushes me, but do you want me to replicate somebody? Else's worker do you want me to do my own? If it's one shot it's fine, we'll take it, you want to do a shot of everybody jumping in the air, pretending to run from a freaking dinosaur okay. I mean, I know a lot of photographers will be like, well, I'll never take the dinosaur shoot. Really, because my clients just gave me thousands of dollars to take pictures for them. And last I saw, I was working for them. So if they want to dinah shore shoot, we're gonna be the best dinosaur shoot I've ever seen in my entire life. And then we're gonna do what I want to do.
Class Materials
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Ratings and Reviews
user-343746
Outstanding, one of the best courses on Creative Live. Wow! The delivery is sharp, on point, and focused. I've learned tons. There are so many gems I've watched this video many times and have now purchased more videos from Susan Stripling. Outstanding presenter. My photography has already improved greatly by implementing some of the techniques shown.
a Creativelive Student
The content of the course was perfectly taught at a "real" level. Susan's work clearly, speaks for itself, but her willingness to be so generous with her knowledge is fantastic. She has become an instant favorite of mine and her style is truly special and unique. The course was reasonably priced and I am beyond thrilled that I have taken the time to learn from one of the best in the industry. INCREDIBLE course in every way!!
Sean
I Loved this course. I would definitely take another course by Susan Stripling. Her images are beautiful. She has the posing, timing, lighting, mood, etc. all down perfectly and makes amazing, beautiful pictures. She is an excellent communicator as a teacher too.
Student Work
Related Classes
Wedding Photography