Whether you are just starting out in photography and want to take better photos of your family and friends' weddings, or an avid enthusiast looking for advice on how to become a professional wedding photographer, this guide will walk you through everything. What you need to know.
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Wedding Photography Equipment Checklist
It is not impossible to escape the fact that photographing weddings is one of the most difficult tasks that a photographer can undertake. You only get one photo to capture these very important moments, so it's essential to make sure you have all the equipment you could need and know exactly where they are in no time.
Ryan's wedding photography equipment checklist includes a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II camera, which he combines with a variety of different lenses depending on the scenario.
Wedding photography lenses: If you're just starting out, don't hesitate to stick to the lens you're most comfortable with, whether it's the kit lens that came with your camera or maybe a 35mm or 50mm fixed lens. If you are using the Canon camera, check out the best camera lens for portraits and wedding photography.
But if you're interested in stepping up your game, you'll probably want to take a look in Ryan's photo bag.
Ryan says one of the main challenges he faces when photographing wedding days is that "there are so many people to sail."
It is therefore doubly important for a professional photographer to have the right lenses at hand, in order to ensure that the most important moments are captured for the bride and groom.
“The most important thing I have learned in photography in general over the past twenty years is to follow the light. Light is everything. If you can see the light and follow it, then you can create. "
Ryan's versatile default lens is a 24-70mm f / 2.8 zoom lens, which allows him to take great wedding photos whether he needs to get close to his subjects or zoom in from a distance. If there was a lens he would recommend for your kit, it would be this.
When in particularly close and close situations, Ryan uses an ultra wide 16-35mm f / 2.8 zoom lens, which allows him to capture as much as possible in the frame, even when surrounded by people or in spaces restricted where it cannot be easily positioned.
When it comes to photographing the smallest details of the wedding, such as the macro details of rings, jewelry, perfume, wedding dresses and shoes, Ryan uses a 100mm macro lens.
In low light conditions, such as wedding parties or dancing, Ryan relies on his 50mm f / 1.2 and 85mm f / 1.2 lenses. The low aperture of these lenses really lets in as much light as possible to capture the image.
Ryan also mentions that his favorite lens for photographing weddings is his 70-200mm f / 2.8 zoom lens, which he likes to use to crop very closely and eliminate objects that are not crucial to the scene.
It's a great goal to get closer to the bride and groom when they say their wedding vows, for example, or for other intimate moments when, as a photographer, you don't want to meddle in any way.
In addition to its particularly complete set of lenses, Ryan's camera bag also contains a 600EX II RT flash with a remote shutter release, which allows it to remove the flash from the camera and get a really interesting light .
Wedding photography camera settings
As a wedding photographer, your main challenge is to constantly adapt to different lighting levels as you move from place to place.
You can start the day at the bride's, before going to the wedding ceremony site where you will have to take pictures outside and inside.
Later in the day, you will likely face low light levels associated with bright neon lights and fast-moving wedding guests as they dance and celebrate the night.
To cope with large variations in lighting conditions, it is best to take photos in manual mode. This is especially important when photographing outdoor weddings and beach weddings, which can be especially difficult if you have to take pictures in the middle of the day, when you will likely be facing intense light.
Wedding photography posing ideas
Although wedding photography presents the challenge of having to capture all of your snapshots in one day, there is a major advantage over other types of photography.
Unlike street photographers, nature photographers and concert photographers, wedding photographers are able to direct their subjects and influence their poses.
The key to getting the most out of your subjects in a wedding photography session, whether you're photographing the bride and groom, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, family or friends, is to foster relationships.
“For me, establishing relationships with my subjects is essential to transmit this emotion through photography. I think my work is made up of 95% people and 5% photography skills. "
While shooting the bride's house before the wedding, Ryan notices a good light on a mannequin, which he describes as "a perfect configuration".
Ryan communicates with the bride and positions her in exactly the same place, resulting in a magnificent photograph that captures the ethereal elegance of the bride's wedding dress.
It is important to have a vision of what you would like to guide you through the filming. As Ryan explains, "My approach to portrait imagery is, I want to think of it in a way that, if I was the groom looking at the bride, how would I look at her."
As a wedding photographer, you are free to move objects and accessories as you wish. Discussing how he approaches the detailed plans, Ryan says, "It's very simple. I have to show what's important to the bride. Things like shoes, rings, earrings."
He also encourages wedding photographers to consider details that don't seem so obvious at first, like flowers, for example, which Ryan says help capture a story that will last forever.
More creative wedding photography ideas
When he offers ideas for outdoor wedding photography and filming locations, Ryan chooses a place that may not seem obvious at first. He chooses a place with a large tunnel in Sydney, explaining that it "cuts the light".
Pulling against a natural stone wall lit beautifully by soft light bouncing off a large building in front of him, Ryan talks about what he's looking for when looking for light. "The light that I try and that I always go is something that has a little direction," he says, "but gives us that softness, that glow to an image."
When shooting indoors at the wedding ceremony, where Ryan has to work with the light provided by the space, he places his phone under the lens of his camera to create a point of reflection and fill the image area. "It gives me more in the shot and also gives it a creative feel," he explains.
These unique wedding photography ideas can also be used when photographing wedding parties or when taking group shots of family members, friends, bridesmaids and groomsmen.
"For me, what makes a spectacular photograph must be light above all."
If the light is good, we can make everything else around it. Photography has rules. If we follow rules of light, rules of pose, rules of composition, we can be creative in terms of reading this real image.
What is the emotion behind this image? If we can marry rules and emotion, then we have a spectacular photo. "
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