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My Philosophy Regarding Wedding Photography

As a child, I loved to lie on my grandmother’s dining room floor and look at the old albums – you know, the kind with black pages and paste-on corners. I could do that for hours – and if I was lucky, grandma would get down on the floor, with me, and tell me who everyone was – even though I’d memorized them long before.

When you hire a wedding photographer, you really aren’t hiring a photographer – you are hiring a storyteller – and the camera is just a tool. The end result is the album.

Still, you wedding album doesn’t have tremendous value, the day you receive it. Oh sure, you are excited to see it, but, after all, the wedding was just a few weeks ago, you where there, and you probably remember some of it

Your wedding album begins to have value when a ten year-old climbs up on your lap and says, “Mommy, you looked so pretty”. …and your album has real value when that ten year-old says, “Grandma, you where so beautiful”. 

You see, I’m not your photographer – I’m your storyteller! In fact, I don’t even work for you – I work for those, as yet, unborn generations with whom you will share your story.


Changing the way photographers connect. Join The [B] School Today!

03*09*2010 Posted in Kiva * business

Hi!

I just made a loan to a photographer in Philippines using a revolutionary new website called Kiva (www.kiva.org).

You can go to Kiva’s website and lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business – like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent – and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.

The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back – and Kiva’s loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Noel Pandero in Philippines. They still need another $675.00 to complete their loan request of $975.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to Noel Pandero too:

http://www.kiva.org/lend/178439

It’s finally easy to actually do something about poverty – using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they’re using it for. And most of all, I know that I’m helping them build a
sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world – one loan at a time.

Thanks!

———————————————————
What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:

‘Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.’
– BBC

‘If you’ve got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you’ve now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.’
– CNN Money

‘Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.’
– The Wall Street Journal

‘An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity…All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.’
– Entrepreneur Magazine

by Paul Edward

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Final Cut Pro

02*11*2010 Posted in video

If you are interested in video editing, you might check this out: http://creativetechs.com/training

I’m Taking a FREE Final Cut Pro Course from @CreativeTechs! Check it out! – http://bit.ly/d9qjtx

Join me :-)

by Paul Edward

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iPad

01*27*2010 Posted in b school * business * equipment

As the days seem to get busier, I find less time to post on the blog, and in the [b] School discussion groups, so I sometimes double post. Today is a case. Apple introduced the iPad. Photographers are talking about how to use it. Will they use it to display images when they meet with potential customers? Will it replace the laptop or printed portfolio? Will they use it in their workflow… or to present slide shows at wedding receptions?

Some are thinking of providing albums, slide shows, video, and proofs to clients, on an iPad, but are wondering how to price this. If you are a wedding photographer, read on for my musings — realizing, of course, that the iPad was just announced, today, and none of us have actually seen one.

Regarding including a loaded iPad with what you deliver to your clients: I think you DON’T do this a la carte. Since I don’t offer packages, but do a pre-design, I believe this could be built in very easily — ‘above a certain price point’.

However, over the long term, I do think, even if you load your best 10,000 photos on an iPad, it is important to remember, for many people, that looking at lots of photos off someone else’s wedding is a bit like being forced to watch the neighbor’s slide show from their summer vacation. For the most part, the bride has already seen a lot of your work, before she decided to meet with you. At the face-to-face, it really is about establishing a rapport — developing an interpersonal relationship. In other words, they still need to like you and want to spend the most important day of their lives with you.

It is especially important, for anyone who is a little shy, or uncomfortable in a ’sales’ situation, to not hide behind the technology. It is still you, and not your photos that seals the deal.

It is going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. I suspect that those who are booking now, will still be booking. And, those who can’t collect the check, will still have difficulty, iPad or not.

by Paul Edward

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Message From the [b] School co-founder

01*19*2010 Posted in b school * business

I am privileged to have a friend named Keats Elliott. She is a co-founder of the [b] School. Listen to her message!

Changing the way photographers connect. Join The [B] School Today!

by Paul Edward

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KIVA

01*15*2010 Posted in Kiva * business

I just made a loan to a photographer in Lebanon. It’s only $25 buy can make a huge difference in his life. Check out Kiva and see how you can be involved.

by Paul Edward

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Rose Parade

01*13*2010 Posted in Composition * crop * parades

It’s already January 13th, and I’m just blogging about the Rose Parade — well, not even the parade, but the floats. I’ve lived in Southern California about 30 years and I’ve never gone to see the Rose Parade — not live and in person. In fact, on many a New Year’s Day morning, I didn’t even get up in time to see it live, on TV, but watched the ‘encore presentation’ that a local TV station is kind enough to run right after the parade. I’m not sure, but I think those floats looked just as good at 10AM as they did at 7.

I decided things would be different, this year. No, I didn’t have plans of cuddling in a sleeping bag, with my wife, on a Pasadena sidewalk, all night, just to get a good view. And no, I wasn’t going to be a volunteer and help glue a gazillion flower seeds on a mechanical bird for two week, before the parade. What I decided to do was go to Pasadena two days after the parade and see (and photograph) the static displays of all the floats, fenced off on two city streets. I got to Pasadena City College about 8AM, parked for free, and paid $3 for the shuttle bus and $7 for admissions and was able to walk right up and touch — OK, they don’t want you to actually touch — the floats.

I’m not going to spend too much time talking about camera settings, except to say that I could have probably shot the whole morning at 1/60 & f16 — sort of the basic f16 Rule! What I actually did, for most images, was shoot in Aperture Priority, ISO 200 with a Nikon D700. The lens was a non-VR 24-120mm. It’s not the kit lens that sometimes comes with the D700, but a predecessor of the VR lens. It’s about 10 years old. While not a particularly fast lens (f3.5-5.6), it was perfect for the bright Southern California morning, and for the range of focal lengths I needed.

Since I had 360 degree access, and the sun was move from low in the sky to overhead, the AP settings got a little adjustment, from time-to-time. For example, if I was shooting the shady side of a float, I dialed in a little +exposure (maybe .3 to .7EV). When I had a lot of sky, I underexposed a little to make the sky a deeper blue.

One drawback to the wy the floats where displayed, it that they had security barriers very close, so that it was sometimes difficult to crop them out of the photo. This is an example:

People and Security Baricades were Hard to Crop Out

Unable to get the composition I wanted, in camera, I made the following crop in Photoshop.

This Crop Was Made in Photoshop

With the sky as a background, I can almost convince myself that this fish is swimming in the sea — OK, the sailboat, beneath the fish is hard to explain!.

Aren't the Boats Supposed to be On Top?

24MM

The Above Angle, But Zoomed In

By setting the lens at it’s largest aperture (f3.5) when at widest angle (20mm), it will maintain the widest available zoom, for each focal length (5.6 @ 120mm).

54MM, f4.8, 1/800

This little guy reminds me of a puffer fish that I played with, while diving of Barbados, about 1975. Good memory, huh? Wonder if I can still get into those swim trunks!

Not Sure Those Power Cables Would be There in the Ocean

The next two shots show the difference that your camera angle can make. In the first, the power cables really take away from the image. By changing angles, you get a cleaner background. Shot #2 isn’t perfect. It could benefit from some tighter cropping. Also, a lot of foreground detail is lost in the shadows. I made a trade-off. I could have opened up, a little, to get more detail, but then I would have lost some of the blue, in the sky. I went for the sky.

Of course, there are two other options: I could have used a gradiated, neutral density filter, to keep the sky a deep blue, while allowing me to get more shadow detail — but, I didn’t have on with me. Sometimes, you are on a ‘job’ and have a lot of equipment available. Other times, you are just out and about, and have a camera with you. A second option would be to pull some detail, from the shadows, in post.

The third image was what I felt would be the best composition.

Generally, photographs are most powerful when they tell story. The next image give us details, but the second gives us the ’story’ because it shows the protagonists.

by Paul Edward

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Did you get a fancy camera?

12*26*2009 Posted in Workshops * equipment

… and now you need to learn how to use it?

Consider this.

by Paul Edward

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Stripes

12*24*2009 Posted in Composition * b school * business

A Meet Up group, that I belong to, has a monthly theme. For January, it is stripes. The obvious stripes photo, this time of year, is a candy cane — except I already ate them all!.. This morning, I took a shot of the kitchen window, from the patio, then I went inside and shot the kitchen table. What’s your interpretation of ’stripes’?

Outside Looking In

Feliz Navidad!

If you are a professional photographer, give yourself the gift of a more successful business – join the [b] School.

Changing the way photographers connect. Join The [B] School Today!

by Paul Edward

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Christmas Lights

12*20*2009 Posted in lightroom * low light

Today, I decided to grab some shots of Christmas decorations. I want to find a few homes where I could shoot from a few minutes before sunset to a few minutes after. That means moving pretty fast because the light is changing quickly (don’t be afraid to shoot ‘after dark’). I wanted to find homes where the sun was setting behind them, so that there would a little twilight in the sky behind the house’s lights.

I pick an area know for all it’s decorated homes. I ran into a few challenges. First, many of the best decorated homes did not turn their lights on until it was completely dark. Second, there where a lot of cars parked at the curb — many of them belonging to other ‘visitors’ who were just driving around, looking at the lights. In addition to creating some composition challenges, because of how they where parked, many kept their headlights on, messing up my exposure! Finally, timing the shot, as cars drove past, was an issue, because I was using the self-timer.

Initially, I thought I would shoot wide open (f2.8). Since I was using a 35mm lens, I wasn’t too worried about depth-of-field, or exact focus. However, I wanted to see how the D700 would handle the fading light and the little decorative lights, so I went to ISO 3,200 and aperture priority, settling on f11 and letting the camera select the shutter speed. The camera was on a tripod and I used the self-timer to reduce vibration from the mirror. Originally, I thought I would use tungsten white balance (since the lights are tungsten), but it was way too cool for my tastes, so I tweaked the WB, in Lightroom, and ended up at about 4900-5000K.

So, here is what I ended up with.

ISO 3,200, f11, 1.6 seconds

The next home was much brighter, so the shutter speed was a ‘fast’ 1/13.

ISO 3,200, f11, 1/13

I doubt either of these will be made into a Hallmark Card. I’d love to hear how some of you have done this – -and see some examples. Don’t be shy :-)

by Paul Edward

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Getting Started

12*19*2009 Posted in b school * equipment

Again, I am posting an answer that I wrote in a forum. The writer had spent over $10,000 on equipment, in the past year, and had contacted local photographers, trying to learn — as an intern. Still, he felt that he was ‘missing something’ and asked how he would know when he ‘had arrived’.. My response:

My grandfather used to tell me, “Borrow a tool. If you need to borrow it three times, buy it.” — same applies to cameras and lenses. Ah, but you already bought, so do this: Pretend you didn’t buy all that stuff and take your camera and one lens — any lens — but for the sake of this conversation, let’s say the 50mm. Use only that combination until you know everything there is to know about it. What you learn about the body will be transferable to all your other equipment, so concentrate on getting the best images, straight out of the camera (SOOC). With the 50mm, learn its strong points and limitations. Understand it’s depth-of-field (DOF) at all apertures. Use it to photograph your wive, your kids, everything on your desk, on your patio, in the sink — EVERYTHING you can see. Have that lens with you, every place you go, so long a it doesn’t get you fired or arrested.

Take notes. Use your meta data. Don’t just take pictures — study your images. If you took notes, and you see an image that you really like, use your notes and go capture it again. The only real difference between the pro and the amateur is that the pro can do it again and again and again.

Do this for a week, a month, whatever it takes. Then move to the 85mm and do it all over — it won’t take as long, because you won’t be starting from scratch, and you will already know your camera. I don’t remember everything on your list, but learn all your primes, before you start with the zooms.

Study the light — be an expert at visualizing the shadows and contrast. Think of how to compose the shot — do this even when you don’t have a camera in your hands. Think of the DOF and the perfect lens for the shot you are seeing — then think of how to capture it if you don’t happen to have that lens with you. Consider all your options — but never again pick up the camera and just shoot without visualizing a result — try never to be surprised by what you’ve captured — but always be willing to be surprised because what you are capturing is getting ever closer to what you are envisioning!!!

By the time you have run through all of your lenses, you should have a pretty good command of natural light. Now it’s time to grab one of the 430s. Get a diffuser and learn to use it — and then get it off the camera as soon as you can. Now, get your second 430 and another diffuser, and get both flashes off the camera. Do this inside and outside. Learn about main lights and fill — learn to combine sun and flash. Learn to combine indoor ambient light and flash. Learn to use windows and flashes in combination.

The key to what I am telling you is to put all the crap (said lovingly) in a closet and take out one piece at a time — and learn to use it, BEFORE you take out another.

How long will the learning process take? If you’re lucky, somewhere into your 80s or 90s. I just shot my ‘final’ wedding, in Mexico, last month. It was number 800 and something — not so many when you consider they where spread over 37 years. Oh, and yes, I learned something new at that wedding. I expect learn something new, tomorrow. Heck, I can probably learn something from each of the above posts.

To paraphrase [b]ecker – make the next wedding blow away the last wedding. Do that and you won’t even have to worry about ‘arriving’ until you see them getting ready you lower you into the six feet deep hole — then figure out how to shoot that!!

Changing the way photographers connect. Join The [B] School Today!

by Paul Edward

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