How does all of this apply to real weddings? We've talked, and it's great conjecture, and it's it's all well and good and nice. But when you're actually going to a wedding like this, so a lot of these behind the scenes images, you're going to learn several things. First of all, I am a hot mess on a wedding day. I start off nice and clean, and it just goes straight downhill from the start of the day. Um, make weird faces when I shoot, and a lot of these behind the scenes images were taken with my assistance IPhone. We don't compromise the wedding day to take behind the scenes images. At this point in time. During the day, she's not really doing anything. She's hanging out, making sure the gear is safe, bringing the lenses if I need them. But if she sees me shooting an interesting scenario, she'll just pull out her phone, take a quick picture, or maybe sometimes, if I'm shooting a set up all like zoom out wider and take a quick shot of that. So I don't ever want clients to feel like I'm ...

trying to turn their wedding day until like an educational opportunity. We would never stop the action to take a behind the scenes shot or anything like that. So I am in a regular everyday hotel room. I think this is the Union League in Philadelphia. I could also be dead wrong. The important things here are, um, that I found my light. I'm gonna be shooting a detail so you can literally see. I don't have to explain to you where I'm sitting, you can see the light. You can see where I am and you can see my relationship toe where my subject iss My vantage point of this is this. I'm setting up these scenes. I've got all of these things in front of me. I have earrings in the front. I've got some bracelets in the background is the clutch that she is going to be carrying all of those things together. I ended up taking the ring, putting the ring on those hearings in the front, using the clutch as the background, tossing some of the bracelets kind of around in the background so that their sparkly and you get this. Now, how do you get this right? You saw the window. You saw where my light source was coming from. You saw how far I was sitting from it and where my details were sitting. Now let's talk briefly about the settings, So d four and these images are all anywhere from three years old to current. So if you see de four d four s, don't think that I'm like carrying around nine camera bodies that I'm just switching around on on the day off the camera body is somewhat irrelevant. All you need to know is that there full frame, right 105 millimeter macro, 1/60 of a second. So let's talk about that very briefly. 105 millimeter. If I was shooting moving subjects, I would need a faster shutter speed. I try to be very careful with the shutter speeds that I choose because I don't want motion blur or camera shake or anything like that. However, the ring is not gonna get up and run away. It's not going to do a first dance. It's not going to process down an aisle, so I'm comfortable holding it at a slower shutter speed. Usually it's 1/60 to 80th of a second, but sometimes to be perfectly honest if I start the day off and I'm shooting getting ready and I'm at 160th of a second with my 85 millimeter. If I put the on issued a detail shot, I don't always change that shutter speed. Now I have to explain a little bit what I mean about that I am an auto I s O shooter and the way auto isso on my Nikon cameras work. Basically, in a nutshell, is this I tell the camera Hey, camera, this is the lowest shutter speed. I am comfortable shooting this lens at this is the lowest I s. So I want to shoot at and this is the highest I s I want to shoot out. So I'll say OK, I want you to stay between I s 0 100 I s 0 10,000 and I don't want you to dip below 160th of a second. Your camera continually is looking at every scenario that you're in. If you have to dip below 160th of a second, it will bump your eyes so to the next level, so that you can stay at that shutter speed. I'm on aperture priority. Um, and all of those things are working together. So when you look at my I s o in all of these images, when I'm on aperture priority, you'll see it bouncing around up and down and up and down and up and down. It's because I'm using auto I s So that's what's allowing me to keep my shutter speed at 1/60 of a second, an 80th of a 2nd 160th of a second and not dip below that I can change my I assume myself just fine. I can shoot manual just fine. I'm not shooting auto. I s o an aperture priority because I can't. It's just because this is the way my brain sees. If I'm shooting with natural light 99% of the time, I'm going to be on aperture priority. When I put a flash on my camera, we go over to manual. That is different and talk about that too. But I generally do shoot aperture priority for details for getting ready for ceremonies for bridegroom walking around in beautiful light outside for grab shots at the reception when I'm using just natural light manual for any formal wear. And I use a flash and anything at the reception. Where and I put on a flash or any scenario that I find myself in on a wedding day where the lighting is completely insane. I almost a swear word, but I didn't If I'm shooting a noon ceremony on the beach, I'm probably going to go over to manual, cause that's just straight up crazy. Honestly, Um, but all of these things together aperture priority my I s so does its own thing based on the fact that I don't want to dip below its 60th of a second. So the I s o starts to go up to allow me to stay above that shutter speed or on it directly f nine. That's crazy. The biggest problem that I see people having with macro photography is they'll get a macro lens, they'll shoot a ring at f 35 are at four and there will be like I don't understand. Something's wrong with my macro lens on Lee. One prawn is in focus, and everything else is out of focus. You have to consider when you're shooting a macro lens. You're shooting on a crazy magnification with that Mac Rowland's. So, therefore, when you couple the magnification of the macro lens with the F stop that you choose, you're talking about a sliver thin depth of field. So if you look at this at F nine, you can literally see if you not don't look at the ring. But look at the surface the ring is sitting on. If you go 1/4 of an inch in front or behind it, it's out of focus at F nine, so I often shoot my ring shots at F nine F F 16 F 22. Don't be afraid to really experiment with your F stop, and probably a lot of your macro problems will go away. So if you look again, we're not gonna go crazy into the exit on everyone. But some I really do want to explain. We've talked about the lens, talked about the importance of the shutter speed F nine so that the whole things in focus I s 0 6400 aperture priority and on aperture priority, I will change the exposure compensation on my camera either up or down, depending on the scene because everything is fairly even. Hear my cameras looked at the scene an aperture priority and gone. Okay, If I want to give you a really good hissed a gram out of this, what should your settings be? Right? And for this one, Because there's a nice even balance between highlights. Mid tones and shadows. I think pretty much shoot on Apertura prior our exposure compensation. Pardon me? Zero. And I'm gonna get something really good. You're going to see in a little bit. What if I'm shooting where the ring is really bright in the background is really dark. What's gonna happen is your aperture priority camera meter is gonna look at it and go Oh, uh, bright, bright, bright, dark, dark, dark. Let's even it out. So if you trust your camera, you're going to end up with a ring that is a sonic boom of light and a background that's just kind of gray. So you'll see me in a little bit. Start changing that exposure compensation up and down. And I'm gonna tell you why for each scenario, Yes. Take a step back, please. Christina. Five and one other. Want to know. Are you shooting in aperture priority all the time, especially in dorks. I am shooting aperture priority almost all the time. That flash is not on my camera.

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Susan Stripling

Susan Stripling never knew that she'd end up a wedding photographer. Though she purchased her first camera in high school she went to college to study theatre and dance, obtaining a BFA in 2001. Shortly upon her move to New

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topics covered in this class

Wedding Photography Lighting

Ratings and Reviews

user 1c7bd6

Wow! Fabulous course! Ditto with the above reviews! Thank you, Susan, for giving us such helpful information for shooting weddings in such challenging situations. You have such a brilliant and quick mind for making the magic happen! The camera settings by each photograph was so very helpful. Since I didn't write anything down I shall be in search of your books. Susan's class is a must for anyone considering a career in Wedding Photography. Thank you Suan and Creative Live!

Kat Penniman

As the description says: MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING! Spot on! Thank you Susan for sharing what you know and helping me become a more creative photographer despite less-than-perfect scenarios. As photographers, oftentimes, we find ourselves placed in a position where we are expected to create beautiful photos in the midst of difficult situations like low light scenes or crappy background. Her explanations are very clear and she definitely knows her craft. She cares about her clients and she's determined to give them great pictures despite what's thrown at her. If you are a strobist or use flash in most of your work, this course is not for you. But if you a natural light photographer and sometimes struggles to take photos indoor where light source is very challenging, take this course! You won't regret it!

Jessica Lindsay-Sonkin

Susan is amazing. This class is a pile of case studies, with behind the scenes and camera settings, to help you find the light. There are parts that can be repetitive, but that is because Susan is passionate about helping photographers memorize this message and put it into practice. A worthwhile watch!

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Macro Wedding Ring Scenario

Macro Wedding Ring Scenario

Lesson Info

5. Macro Wedding Ring Scenario

Lessons

Class Introduction

Looking for the Fundamentals in Photography

Equipment Selection: Lens Breakdown

The Importance of the Moments