Lessons

Lesson Info

The Money Shots: Part 3

Reception details use video lights all the time one tip is this whenever you see glass and whenever you see glass and liquid get some back light on it it looks beautiful. So this was that what they call that the sweetheart table there they had all these things so I put one video light behind there because I saw these flowers and the liquid and I shoot it so whenever you see liquid and glass that's going to be a great candidate for backlight and it's going toe put your detail shots, bro up seats that same thing I see that they're ok, so I positioned these jars to where I see some twinkle lights behind me I put my video light back there should bam I got some nice backlight boom shoot it backlight backlight backlight on glass especially detail shots you've got to get a ok this particular shot here is I'm shooting it with the video life but I'm creating some shadow on the detail shot on this on these details so if you just light it up just with straight light it's very boring it's almost l...

ike putting on camera flash and taking a picture of the detail shot you should like never that shouldn't exist you should take your wedding license away from shooting if you do that right no, but what you do is to just get some backlight and then sometimes I'll even have my assistant put their hand over the video light so it just creates a little bit of shadow on the detail shots just give it a little bit of mystery teo you've got to get a wide angle shot of the place because you know why the catering manager you're going to be their best friend if you can't shots like that and give it to them and so you're gonna be ableto add value to that catering manager or that venue if you're going to get some nice shots of their place that you can give to them the cake shot I talked about that detail shots on how to do the cake shot we don't have to go there. Okay, now the first dance we do the first dance and we just did that sort of shot it well, I didn't get people dancing. I do want to explain what I did here on this particular shot. I did my normal uh darn it I was going to do this over there but I did something to her. Ok, so, uh get this. What I did was I took my flash I put it on the ground and then I took my umbrella and I also put it on the ground and now I got some nice beautiful up like that's what I was gonna do for us but I well anyways, next time around and so that's how I get this beautiful up light on them see that up light there uh because I put the flash on the ground put the umbrella and I find it up and just get different things during the first down don't be afraid to get up really close to there I don't be afraid to you're not when you're doing the first dance don't be afraid to get right in that you're in control there came you okay? So you just I mean, don't hang around there forever, but once in a while you could get there, take a shot and then moved back or whatever just get a variety they're gonna want a variety of ah faraway shots close shots way back shots this like went way way back because I just want to show the beautiful how this place was lit this is all lit with just one little flash there in the corner okay, what what I expose for first year the background this I set up okay, sometimes you're triggering system won't work or whatever and you shoot it and it's all off guess what? You can always hit the rewind button so like if I totally messed it up, what I do is like something wasn't working my flash didn't go off or whatever like during dinner time I tell the d j hey, I'm going make them do their first dance again can you just kind of play something or whatever for themselves bringing them out now tel I listen um can I get you guys to the first out dance again? I really wantto get it right and so if you guys could just take a couple minutes and we do it and they just redo it again in this case I really liked these light balls here so I just said, hey, can you go here and kiss here? And I took a video light and I shined it on them then I got that shot don't be afraid to hit the rewind button okay? You can almost re enact everything almost everything uh talked about this reception hall getting a wide angle shot with ok, this is the er when they're doing their thesis speeches. Okay, so what I like to do is get good light on the speaker and it be great if you could get good light on the bride and the groom in the background two at the same time. Uh, which is really good actually tor woo who's going to be coming on tomorrow? He's actually really good at that. I don't even know if he's showing anyone of his shots but he's good at that uh create uh I reenacted that right it looks like a great moment but I love glass and lights I go hey guys can you pretend like you're doing cheers and then you get somebody to put a video light behind and then you just shoot it totally re enacted now this is what you do for the garter toss I positioned the chair where I want the background to be I'm in control so I can pull the chair in if I like this background this way I'll pull the share in here and I'm going to shoot here I'm going to get my two lights this way here so I find out the best background sometimes you just don't want to do it with the djs behind because you're in full control of the garda tossed so you can tell them where to go so I just picked the background that's the best and I said it there they uh they do their thing and then during the garter toss this is where it takes a little bit of skill doing it and so what happens on the garter toss is is I take a low angle so let's say the bride's here going to throw this way okay, what I do because I come off to the side and I take a very low angle because when that okay goes hi, I'm still going to be able to get it if I'm shooting here she may throw it out of the view of my camera, but if I'm low this way then I'm going to get it and I'm going to see everybody grabbing for it it takes a little bit of skill to get it when you shoot it in the beginning I used to shoot it right I should shoot my shot right here right when it just came out of her hand there because I was nervous I was going to miss it but now I know howto wait a fraction of a second a little bit later to when it's up in the air like that and that takes a little bit of practice to do that shot but you know you you because the problem is to is that in order to see everything a lot times your flash has to recycle so even though you're on like eight frames a second, you might not get it all because your flash might not be able to shoot at eight frames a second and another thing is let me go back to that so okay, this is what I do I don't know why I didn't include the shots but I take a low angle she throws it up it's going up in the year somebody catches it ron I'm running and bam right in the grill quickly quickly click I want that raw emotion as she catches it so so she throws it up somebody's catching it and I'm running I don't even focusing I'm just shooting like the dickens to get that reaction of that girl catching it in this month because there's a lot of motion at that that point uh when somebody catches that okay so now we get to the cake I take a close up I put the bride's hand over the groom's hand and get the ring in there at the same time I do a close up then I do back and then them eating the cake that's about it right that's that's all it is for that then on the dance floor we just did that so I don't even need to talk about that I use a wide angle lands a lot of times I used to be I need to be at least twenty I was shooting at twenty four millimeters there sometimes I go to sixteen to thirty five or seventeen or something like that I don't look through my camera I just shoot and I'm looking with my two eyes to see the because it's dark and so it's easier for me to see through my two eyes and when I see that emotion bam click click and then also people get happy if you're going to go to somebody and you're like this people go oh suit he's taking pictures of me and they don't really relax so if you don't put it up to your eye there gonna be a little bit more relaxed and then you can be kind of like with the group and you're and you're taking shots and it's a lot easier that way. But if you go wide, whatever you see, basically that's, what you're gonna get that's how I got this shot, I'm really I'm using it's probably a seventeen millimeter lands here, so I'm really close it's probably, like, you know, just like that close to them shoot landscape for these dance shots because it has a more photo journalistic feel. So whenever you want a photo journalistic feel, you've gotta shoot landscape there's a reason why people don't shoot landscape, the reason why people don't she landscape is they're poor and composition, okay? Because when you shoot portrait, you can just philip the screen with a person, and you don't have to worry about any other elements in that photo. Once you flip your camera around like this, then you're gonna have to add other elements to tell the story. But that's, what photojournalism is is where are we gotta plant? You gotta have a sense of where we're at. So the more elements that you add into your photography, the more photo journalistic it's gonna look. So look at your photos. Are you shooting mostly like this, or you've shooting like this, there should be a balance there if you're shooting like this all the time and you're just feeling the frame with a person that means like I gotta work on my composition a little bit more because I'm afraid to turn the camera this way but you're not going to get these photo journalistic moments if you don't shoot wide, these dan shots are great because they're going to get people to your website everybody wants to see themselves okay? So that's very very important on it generates traffic to your to your business so these reception shots are great because they all everybody wants to see pictures of themselves okay? We're getting close to the end here and the very last shot I reenact this I have everybody dancing on the floor and then I have them do some sort of intimate moment and I take a picture of it and I end it with that, but I always do it it's just a great way to end the wedding. All right? So that's it I don't even know if have you had time for questions wedding story can be told within fifty images client expectation is relative to how much they pay more they're paying you the more well you're going to put it on yourself to, but relatively they're gonna have a lot of high expectation for you it will take about fifty weddings before photographer has encountered almost every situation your personality and professionalism is just as important as the quality of images, I will say that again, your personality and your professionalism is just as important than the quality of images I the best photographer in the world, I could do some things. Yeah, but I know like people just like me, I just have a way that people just have fun with me, and I use that that is my time might be a short asian dude with no, but but I do have some personality, so I just worked with what I got, right? But I know that for a fact that that professionalism and that personality is going to take you far, maybe even farther than your photography when it comes to this business, right? So that's it fantastic, scott. Thank you. I'd be willing to bet that you get a comment that I often get sometimes I shoot a few weddings, these bitches, they people come up to you at the end of the wedding and say you did such a great job. Yes, they haven't even seen any pictures. Yeah, like you, I'm like, well, wait, look about you, really? That is so true and that just every single wedding with people would say that to me, and I'm like what's going on here, I didn't realize that I had that gift, it wasn't a parent to me because that's just the way I am and then I go yeah that's a positive so if you have that trait or you need to develop a little bit of it if you really want to be successful in this wedding business fantastic we're going to do just a couple questions where we go out brutal and be ju st guy both had similar questions wanting to know about your lighting during the ceremony a lot of times they won't even let you use the flash so you just natural light but if I do have it yeah a chance to let's say it's in a room like this all put what I'm going to use backlight so I'm going to set up a couple flashes they give me some back light behind the bride and groom if I can if if I'm allowed a lot of times that I truly try to keep it plain I know for a fact people don't hire me because of my ceremony shots so I'm documenting at that point on dh I'm shooting that and it's like I don't think anybody goes I heard this talking because of the most amazing ceremony shots be right? So I think ceremonies is the one thing that I just recorded your good personal opinion and I think that's beautiful thing because what I'm hearing from you is you can be a ten k wedding photographer and not I have to worry about every single thing and if that's not what clients no you four or perhaps therefore they don't value is much right then that's awesome it's an awesome kind of load off I think I do have a goes back to passion, right? You think about the wedding day would he love about it and me was like, well, I like the bride she looks awesome and I'm going to feature that and that's my passion and so that's what's in forefront that's what's going to give me my signature style and so I just use that I think a lot of people relate to that just another really quick question just to clarify because we've seen several folks asked us in here is when you aren't looking through the viewfinder again and you're taking pictures whether it's the bouquet toss everyone dancing tell us again how you're focusing um you can put it on all points, right? And so well you could try a couple things I usually put it on all points and so it'll focus whatever's near closest to you, but a lot of times they just forget it's on center focus anyways and whatever, right? So for example on that tossing of the bouquet ah lot of times I'll focus on the bride and then I'll reposition and then I'll do that so I'll at least the bride I will be in clear view, and because I'm running up, taking other the other pictures, and I'm going to get a good shot there, I find I mean, because of technology, and that passed for some reason, and I still feel that I don't know. You can argue with me, but I still feel that the center, the dot in the center of your camera, focuses the fast arrest. I don't know why, but I just feel that it's, always faster in the center, on dso, that's. What I've learned to just keep it on every position. I'm kind of like old school. I'm on one shot. I'm always on one shot, and I'm always center focus, reposition, that's, just the way I've been used to doing things since the eighty one.