Lessons

Lesson Info

Bridal Shoot: Natural Window Light

So we've got my camera now I'm going to pre warn you before we get into it this is a little bit weird for me this is a first time I'm doing live tearing and shooting so so we'll see how guys how I've got chords that I could trippi there and everything like that, but first of all, what I want to do is I want to go through my camera and how I shoot in the different modes that I shooting and we'll do this probably tomorrow as well the next day depending on you know, the next time we shoot so so let's have a look, you know, like basically going to shoot this session just we've won twenty four to seventy and the body and you know and if we get the chance to you know use one more, you know lenses will take but one of the things that's great is at the back of the camera and I don't know which camera we want to use it's like is like the my menu and my menu is really important is that all the things and little areas that I wantto actually think about, you know, during the actual shooting on dh ...

change is all on that my money so I just drag and drop things that it's really, really great everything becomes easy, so you know, if you haven't done this do this tonight like when you get you know, like finish watching you know, get out your camera and set up your own menu and so one of the things is I so sensitivity settings and because I love the order I so picture and I'll come back to that in a little second so it means that you can change the eye so but also turned order I so on and off and said, you mean um shutter speed setting a minimum shut us in that situation is really, really important because what happens is that we can then just go through and say, you know what I mean a situation I'm going to be shooting really quickly maybe all jolly and I'll shoot like a two hundredth of a second, for instance because that way it's going toe just sort of reduce camera movement and if I'm moving like this and I still moving in a shoot if I had my sitting it maybe a five hundredth of a second then that's just going to give me added safety on because I'm using the default aiken sit the high are so point to twelve thousand eight hundred comfortably some people go what you kidding? You know, you shoot it that not all the time but I can and when I do, you know all the time not now confusing that like its head that I at a reception I gently shoot of ab ally and we'll just shoot a two thousand eight hundred I saw the whole a whole night ok, so the next thing is time and day because I should tv camera body's what's really important is that I have these two camera bodies in sync and the other thing is clean image sensor on def I'm doing any video or just have the frame rate in the movie details said they're the items that I'll use you know mainly on the day you know and so that's why I've got them there and I just have to go into one spot and it's easy already so that's some just go through um settings so a lot of the time I'm going to go straight to it is I shoot in aperture priority mode ok, so why do that is that I use to things is I used aperture priority mode in order I assign okay? The reason why is that? And this is very important especially the nick on is that I have easy exposure compensation on all right? So one of the things like let me put on auto I sigh and I'll just do that it's on we're at two hundred the second there's no reason for that at the moment but it's what I tell you it's baxam sensitive twelve thousand eight hundred s o um and currently my eyes one thousand um so if this is where it gets probably just a little bit technical is that it's ok to shoot as a minimum I saw one thousand now if it is to bride the camera is going toe just set down to two hundred I so four hundred eyes so as well so which is great because that will help prevent not using too slow of a shutter speed or so one of the things that isn't really important to use in combination here is is the easy exposure compensation at the moment like I'm going to leave it on just in the middle ok, one thing that we as photographers we all get to learn to know is is that we know that the camera sees it at eighteen percent gray like a great card so the thing is that we need to know is like how we fool the camera to thinking because really nothing is holly ever eighteen percent gray so you're going to be adjusting your order I so just incredibly all the time so he would go like I'm going to leave although I saw I'm going to shoot this window all right I know half of it and you say that it did like an all right sort of job okay but if I want to show a little bit more lie, what I do is that I just pump in some stops in like, you know, some stops like and then, like all of assad and it's just brought in a set up okay? And then so if I want to make a dark and moody and so forth on de so exposing for the light so what happens now is that way maybe in a situation where we've got the bride and and then we're going to make decisions because here I just photographed a wall right now hey, cam, you want come on over this's the gorgeous came everybody, so I'm very excited to photograph came that today we're just going to be sort of doing a little bit more technical stuff, and tomorrow we're doing the romance and the money shots and all those incredible things, so now you might just facing the window for a second, all right? And just go to the left a little bit. So what I want to show you is that, you know, if we're gonna think about, you know, what teams wearing obviously the bride she's wearing white um, we got a broad background, we got a white wall, so for instance, if we just go back to even and just making sure my all right and so I'm going to make a decision as a photographer, okay, he's so what am I doing? I'm not shoot horizontally, so that way it's uh, it's we can see that easy so we've got to make a decision as a photographer so this is just really much or auto on the camera so what we can do is that we can eva like pump down the exposure so reducing it and or you can go the other way and add exposure and writing up the shot is in between those three shots and we're not worrying about composition and the lot or anything at the moment we're just wondering what the camera is going to do you know, in a certain situation and what we now consort of gauges that you got to make a decision as a photographer as an artist is that what do you want to express you don't I mean what do you want to say and communicate you know and it's sort of like you know, even having a look at the images you're going to think ok and think on the fly what do I do? Do I choose a different angle door cheese a different exposure you know interestingly enough like the very first exposure you know is nice but you know what it's like you know, if that window to was lower so maybe like, you know we would get a totally different look but if we can't get like the window we could actually get down and like lay down on the ground and then we can just sort of like now I can't like I'm not liking the thing like the beam going through a head, but I just want to show you like now we got so there was like t stops over so if I just got a little bit under you can see now that like it's got a totally different move and that we've just gone from the angle a low angle to what we were previously as well so it's just sort of now again sort of just you know, you know, making sort of different decisions remember this is all just the technical side of it all right? So come forward for me and just say I just come back a little bit and then just twist around towards me a little bit that's it and then just bring you're like yeah and then just bring it in general yeah, yeah that's perfectly all right, so let's try this. All right? So you know, just what a place this way for a little bit, okay? So kim's facing away from the light now that's not always such a bad thing, okay? You know, because what you could be looking at is a different light to what this main window light is coming too all right, so remember just because the lie isn't powerful and obvious, it doesn't mean that's not other quality good life there so having sort of options can be really, really cool so let me, uh good emanuel you know what? I just gotta change this camera a little bit all right? And so it can I shooting a small oh yeah just I'll just try to see what happens no way I'm just getting to attend a training although I saw off now okay, I'm going to manual just so everything will be the same I'm just going to guess about one thousand I so I'm going to go say eight hundred I saw a cheap point a and just going to see what that looks like the back of my camera okay, so it's really quite quite dark now you know, I just what I'm thinking about that like I'm just going toe come up now and then just look to spring a chin down a little and then just towards me a little yeah and india and to your flowers or just look towards paris yeah that's what? This gorgeous all right, so what? I'm going to teo you know, I just night is this shot just here anyway? So I'm just going to take it is what I actually just some angle that way and then yeah that's it that's good? What I've noticed is that and this is what I think it's photographers we need to do see like the highlight like around him behind even though that you know like you know I just want to show you like you know, like I'm not suggesting that I would show this you know it to a client at all but what I'm looking at is look at the light you know, look at the live just around like the veil on behind her so sometimes the light behind could actually help and understand and define an area that you wanted your attention to so you know, it's just going to keep that in mind so let's try this live you now that after scott um again don't worry about like, a composition and things like that all right, so what I'm gonna do is I'm going to okay all right? Okay, we're good right here he said now you know what? Kim just sort of like now just slowly turn around tio like I say that and then come back it's all right, so what I want us to concentrate on is the lot and you know what? Just to do this, can I just get no I met five hundred of shutter and t point a small aperture on ice so one thousand now I wanna have a look at what light does now I'm not going to change my exposure it all but I'm going to change my viewpoint and then just let me know if like if things aren't in focus or anything okay, so have a look at the light and falling on kim, you know, and it's just that's what we're thinking about once we've got the live, then we can start thinking about the background and what distracting elements they might be, and then we can make choices and decisions say, do we move, you know, came like to the forward or backwards and so just some, but before we do that, I want to just sort of go around I came in, I want to show you just a year ago, all right now, like face on exactly the light, so we've got really, really flat, beautiful, soft light just coming on, and then if I changed and you stay exactly like that, look at the live just start to wrap around and the shadow like, like here, like on her cheats, that that would be my question, where are you looking when you're looking for the lighter you looking and her eyes are you looking at skin are on the veil or yeah, I'm looking all over really like I'm looking at, I'm analyzing everything so quickly, so like, you know, in some ways insured individually and that's where if there's a questions outside, just please are so so because, like I on order parlor and never in live you right so it's pretty fun for us to be able to see what you're seeing that's like you know so it be I thought it would be really cool to try try this because like let's have a good room the back so you know what I'm going to just stay here um but look at the line now I'm going to just um it's coming a little bit lot on the screen but so for instance overseeing cia automatically going to the viewfinder it's gonna see man and I'm just gonna just adjust my exposure and in like so the angle of you can also make it like a difference like are showing before and then let me just go back to their original pleasure so sort of like coming around now and if you sort of walk around and then you see the light wraparound again now and then what we need to start doing is then concentrate and go ok what is the great line and how can we use that and then once we know that and we've got our settings or perfect and one of the tips is is that you could actually have let me just tell yourself for one second and you can actually been just decide and say you know what what we're going to do is we can get three or four portrait with the same exposure and not adjust anything or we need to do is just change ourselves so what happens is that we just say, you know what? Like I really love this idea here and but then I want to get like, a shot just here can I get back to shooting mode or don't do that through live you ok? So let's um let's take a couple shots so come come forward and just go back a little bit yeah that's it all right and then just twist towards me a little yeah that's it this gorgeous and then just bring your flowers that yeah yeah that's nice all right, so let's some it's just do this for a second and so you know what? Like we have to make decisions all the time and one of the things I was going to talk about is creating the set you know it so when I walk into a room I know and sort of think about like, you know what is going on? What needs to be moved shouldn't need that couch should I do it? So when I got the moment to do a beautiful borrowed a portrait I can just nail it you know just so quickly. So I'm thinking about if you or you know quite a lot of things leading up to this time so for instance, like I might be cheating photo journalistic and just evaluating and then I might make it an adjustment you know me and then even during the shoot like I can even move kimmel going move something as well remember I'm mostly there by myself so if something needs to move I'm not precious I'll just go move it I'm not gonna wait for someone else to do it for me because I know exactly you know what I want on but the funny thing is I do that like even like I'm fashion shoots a swell if I just know what I want to do I'll just do it so let's just sort of try this and just sort of just anger towards the yeah that's it just gorgeous so I'm looking for that line and if I just make sure that it's in focus we can then just take that shot that I take it is it in focus all right so and then kim just look towards me yeah ok, so I've I've just sort of done a couple shots and what I would do is like just you know and then I'm always reevaluating the lot so it just sort of come back up again are ending bring your yeah and said that this is just a little bit and say the line difference between like just you know what? I'm going to try to go through the camera just bring your chin down m o o k c the hell her eye sockets a really dark and shadowy you know me now just bring you yeah like that and look how the now they field with lie you know it's just gorgeous and then sometimes like I'll think about like shooting even wider um you know and thinking about the composition now and then just moving my shooting just keep in mind like I don't ever shooting live you say all right say that guy so then we got another shot now okay, so let's think about what's happening in the background like on this shot here see how it's naturally vig netting at the side says sort of shaping a kind now when we get in photo shopped what we can do we can actually essential rate that that a lot more we can actually then dark and that little bit down the bottom down the topside and you see like, you know, like where you know, like I even use my hands is because that's what we would do in a digital in a traditional went dark room just do that and then obviously, you know, once we're being thinking about that we know exactly what to do rather than me sort of explaining and everything like that I would be just concentrating on kim and just sort of looking at how amazing show are she is complimenting her because interesting like there might be a room of six to eight women like that we're just you know, surrounding came with bridesmaids and parents and and I'm there most of the whole time and it's it's amazing it how none of them sometimes we'll tell them how beautiful they are and said sometimes if I know that and you gotta believe it that's the most important thing is that you've got to believe this when you say and you just say that you know, your gorgeous you know, you look amazing, you know, and adam, you know, he's going toe he's just going to, like, you know, fall over and find when he sees you, you know, like and that's when, like, you know, a bride is waiting to hear a swell, but like I said, you have to be genuine and the reason why they want to, like, you know, here that is because this day is so important to them and kim only cares about adam, and she just wants to, you know, make sure that she does look just amazing, you know? And so sometimes we just gotta tell her, you know, and it's just a nice little reminder that you look amazing, you know? And then, like, you know, it's like it's, just that genuineness that will make a difference and relax you, marcus, we really appreciate you kind of like thinking out loud for us but just to get a little bit more into your mind and what goes through your head for a question from fashion tv who's from singapore, how would you define good quality of light in any given scene before you decide to shoot there since we have such high I so capabilities these days, what do you look forward to create an awesome image and I just what goes on in your head when you're thinking yeah, just line, you know, it's just sort of like like I said, it could be really, really low quality, a zen like, very low output what's important is that we're looking at this, you know, the modeling like, I'll just go back into live you we're just looking at that like that light falling in, it doesn't matter how just getting and focus it doesn't matter how less it is, you know, I mean, it's got to be there regardless, you know, obviously we got a huge window light here at the moment, but it's still gonna be gray and then if you'd like, just if you look just down that way, look at the difference, you know, look at the difference in the light from there, but let's look at something a bit different just sort of like, stay there well, actually let's sum come back over here so we just don't have that light source behind you all right and then just come in looking that way and you know what like see what I'm doing now is that I'm just looking for the line and I'm going to change my exposure because what I'm now in a different light setting tio over here all right, so what I'll do is I'll just adjust it and I'm gonna overexpose and it just sort of looked that way a swell and you know, so I'm shooting against the light just bring a change in just a little bit just a little bit into the left yeah that's it all right so say we've got now like we are not using that light source but we're able to get like, a nice image with a different exposure there had to be very different to that one over there so let me turn life you off again okay, but then like you know what when I come back he uh then I'm re evaluating what she you know what's the possibility and what you know to look for and so forth so but, you know let's put that this lot back on, you want to come and sit down so then we might sort of like, you know, think ok, well, what do we want to do um you know, with the light and we might even think ok like they might be occurred in closed and so we might just sort of like, you know, look at what sort of you know difference it makes you know and you just sort of watching you know mean and so we just sort of flick that up and we want to go out like just a tiny little bit of light now coming through in that area but the difference was important because it just sort of you know, gave a really nice kick into to kim's face and so then I just sort of go through like that and you can just look straight into the camera, let me put on life you and what I'm going to do is to be just thinking about a little bit about the composition and just sort of to your head the other way just a little yeah, I like that that's it okay? She not just a little and then so you know sometimes like I will do like you know different directions as well and so like just coming to the me just say the like that yeah that's it and then just look up now like and maybe even bring your arm back like it was so it's not because it's just not seem relaxed and yeah, so ok, so now what we can do and you just be looking at side thinking about a woman so now we can sort of think about ok what do we want toe dio and like I might even use my zoom and now I'm thinking about those leading lines and not knowing if it's in focus on a but now I can just look towards mia and to say like because I'm using just sort of bring your chin down on then little yeah I like that yeah yeah yeah that's that's what are you focusing marcus when you're that distance focusing on her face and what I'm also doing is hopefully it looks focus on the tv is is that I'm actually moving the focus point over to her face okay, so that way I'm not sort of getting any adjustment and then from he likes you I would be making decisions that could do I want the lamp on and often and things like that so why I just gotta leave the camera there is that all just going and you know make adjustments turn the lamp off and then just a value like the lot again without with it off because like one of the things that we can do is just again make decisions and you know you want to just come forward and just sort of stand here for me and then not that you do this at someone's house drug cat which but he's like, you know, I think about like, sort of balance now kim's like sitting standing in like the most perfect lie and then I would just sort of like, you know, change things and think about you know, like a wider shot off well, something like that and and then just quickly just to show you this is just too well back to believe like, you know what that's sort of artistic way to see the cup is half full there marcus are you anything spot monitoring no, no, no no I'm just using like the normal metering marred and yeah, and let me just make sure it's always focus and so here for instance, like once I've moved the furniture you know, move came I start thinking ok, like I might just take a few different shots and the reason why I'm just doing this one is just to show you about balance is just trying to think about it can we get the couch? You know, with a key and we've got the, um the lamp um and then we can just sort of start thinking about well, what will we use to do that you know and how do we do it go through the creative process? What we might crop out we might now like use my other camera, you know, with the eighty five mill one point for lens and then come in really nice and time as well. You teaching had asked if you would ever use a reflector in this instance and I don't remember seeing any reflectors in your gear, do you not? Do you not use the reflect or no, but it is a really great question. So let's have a look at this if I could, you know, I would do this normally, you know about myself, but we just got this sheet over here just to emulate like, a curtain. So so just come, like, closer to the yeah, just about. Well, come come back just a little bit. Yeah, yeah. That's it. All right, so if I can get a volunteer to help me and I might need two people tio, just hold each end behind. And so you're in a hotel room and you're in, like, a it's, old messy and it's, terribly busy, and you're thinking ok, well, I want tio like a like a beautiful portrait, but you're finding it difficult with light and background. And so if I'm just going to leave this, just hold that down for one second, okay? So now just lift that up right and then just walking keep walking in walking in an inn just nice and high yep, nothing high look at the light difference what happened is that like you know, the beautiful light now is like coming in and surrounding her so it's you know obviously we're not going what you could carry a sheet if you wanted to but you know like just use what's in the room and gently what I do is like have them around the kurd and and all that's ahead let's just wrapped her around just a little bit so you're just coming behind a little bit like that okay? And so let me try to do this is going to really tricky it is just I'm gonna bring the veil over okay and then I just want you teo look down a little just think about him and let me focus all right stay there all right? So I'm gonna try to do this are so just sort of like see, this is where I need to be a little bit tola yeah yeah, maybe a little bit a lot of you just stay right here and say if you're in a hotel room like you might stand on a chair or something and so what we're emulating here is so um is just try to bring it up just a little high but trying to say I can't go to curtain behind us um you're looking down and then we're able to now do this like that on and just adjusting through this screen is just sort of like patients and normally the way you're talking as well, is that she's just sort of like relaxing, you know, she's just thinking about the day ahead and just bring your chin down just a little bit, yeah that's it just a little smile that's beautiful all right? And then like and what you could do is like, just let that go and, like, you know, and just get a couple shots, and then you just sort of take him through a cz well, so so what? Perfect. All right, any questions? That thing? That's your creative process and as time and correct, what I'm saying is, correct me if I'm wrong, so your creative processes evaluate the light, then see how the light falls with time, does it become, like, really, really, really quick? Or do you have to actually go through each step each time you go to someone? Some place, you know, does it comes really quick, and one of the great things that you can do is while people know what we're talking about, this sect, this section here is like two minutes on the day you know, that you're going, you're gonna do a broader portrait in sight in minutes, so you've done all the preparation, you know? You've cleaned the room, you've thought about it, you've gone through and then you're looking for the live already yourself for where to bring the bride to so you bring her here and then everything's really set to guard now how do you find that line? Well you know you just like lynn to look for it but you watch other people you know you assed people are moving around the room and doing different things what you try to do is just sort of observe and look at the light on their faces as they're walking past and that can give you a great key idea of where the lot is good but you know, one of the other things that you could do is like just use your hand is like you know you come into aa the live right use your hand and look at the difference in line that as I move it around so it's exactly what I was doing you know we came so you know it looks like you could be waving at people you know might look odd but you know I mean you just sort of like evaluating the lot on dh just looking at it where it's really really lovely like for me like you know, if we got time you know, like I might just do a quick shot up here you know, if kim because I just know the lights really great and the reason why it's greatest because it's the lot is lower to ground you know I mean and that's one of the things that I'm looking for a swell so um let me do you mind helping out you would take your shoes off weight yelling about yeah, well she's doing that we just we just have a few more minutes marcus when you are in this situation do you have a process in terms of going in close being sort of a middle distance and then wide shots and then we saw you do each of those but is there like, a process that you go through? Yeah, I just guess it's like, you know, like going through in my mind what's looking good it's going one hundred miles an hour and thinking ok, wow, that looks great I'm seeing more because, you know, as I said, like that one where I got her looking at I started seeing the background then because I already concentrated on the live it allowed me then to start thinking about everything else. So you sort of building and you could probably keep in mind that, like what I probably just done over the last, you know, forty minutes is very foreign for me to use live you and slow it it's completely down where I just sort of like, do it you don't I mean, I just would like lightning and you know, going through and everything like that, but you know what? I haven't honestly had anyone up here, but I just want to show you something right now is that I always knew that this was going to be an incredible shark let me put the live view on and I'm going to change my exposure, and what I want to show you is is the shot like I was thinking about and and I just want it now to look at that window and then I'm going to come up because what I want to do, he said, see what I'm doing is like, we've got perfect amazing light now, but I'm using these lines down here to go towards kim now, this is exactly what you were mentioning before kenna is that, like, I'm now seen like that wide shot first, but, you know, like it is just gorgeous likas faras like because I can't shoot very cool at the moment, I'm just I want you to not think about this window in this shot and just think of the left half off that shot and, you know, can I just get someone to get me a artist quickly, grab it? I'm going to just get a seventy two, two hundred on then the idea is is this is why it's great to have cheek cameras and I'm pushing because we couldn't do live you with cameras is that's why I'm not currently shooting one but this is why I work really quickly thinking you know what I need to go in and I have a really tight shot put it live you back on and focus hopefully just going three just sent me just look down to your flowers now keeping in mind I can't tell if I mean fly castle not exactly but haif leo just give you an idea of life then you can start to think see like how I just naturally wanted now just go ahead and shoot vertically and uh and then you can just sort of like think about the composition you know coming in and out now if I just come out here I just to about there because it's not sort of composition is I've got that highlight on the right hand side of the screen is that what you could do in photoshopping post production is eliminate that completely and then I'll just get you to look towards making that's her and I just go halfway back but like where your chain and looking back towards me that yeah looking down a little and then so that's what like you know we've got the op tension today he's like think about like that and then maybe think about like the opposite now what? Sorry and so now like what I'm the creative process is like killing me to kick in so, like, so hence, like, I've stopped talking about the technical process and because there's, just a lot. So beautiful I want I want to show you iraqi now, is that the off that lot coming through on the right hand side? It comes in and then it comes all the way up his shoulder, the veils coming in. So all those leading lines and just sort of, you know, really great. And then what happens is that you think start thinking about and critiquing your own self and going, you know what? I'm not sure about that could and because I've got a cut on the right hand side, and I've got a different witness on the other side, so what you need to do is even moved the kurd in from the right hand side or make the kurd and stretch across all the way across. So so then, it's, even than you sort of like, could be working with her like a classical sort of painting as well. So which is great, but, you know, you look gorgeous is amazing, all right? So let's have a like, a little bit of a think about what we just done today is that you know we're definitely talking about like the technical aspect of what we do a cz photographers and tomorrow we're going to get more into the creative side but you know, like very much like in the morning you know, we went through and most of the day is that it's sort of like you need to be prepared you know, you need to really think about what you're doing and have everything ready the other thing like you need to be doing is like, go through and I have a piece of you and give a piece of you to your clients, you know really feel it you know, the main and you know, it's this is where it's funny you know, it's it's different to every other photography out there in most cases, you know, because it's such a personal experience that you need to offer to be able to get the best teo deliver to your clients and like I said is that you give a gift you know, to your clients in the magic that you're able to do and like, I've experiences that my clients give me an amazing gift back and it's all about life it's about hot it's about people on respect and trust and relationships and at the end of the day is that you're photographing two separate communities coming together as one and it's not just the couple you know, it's an incredible event that is the history ofthe people and their lives. And you get to record that. So thank you so much.