Tag Archives: weddings

Assignment, Photography

A Wedding & Cruise on the Sacramento River 2

Cutting the rug– I dragged the shutter shooting at ISO 400 1/6 sec @ f2.8 and set my flash to 1/32 power.

As twilight approached, we went one deck below for our scrumptious dinner.

My choice of fish delectably decorated with a bright red pepper  looked mouth-watering.

Had our waitress not warn us that the pepper was a jalapeño, all the drinks in the “Open bar” wouldn’t have been enough to quell its hotness.

By the time I finished, the late evening light was just too good to ignore.

It was also time to raise the ISO from 100 to 400 to get a shutter speed that I knew I could comfortably handhold.

Using my 580EX off-camera in manual mode, even at 1/128th power, in such close quarters required me to feather its output some more.

The built-in white diffuser card was actually kicking in too much light.

I ended up using my fingers over the flash head.

Continue reading A Wedding & Cruise on the Sacramento River 2 →

Assignment, Photography

A Wedding & Cruise on the Sacramento River 1

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Michelle’s dad, Lee, gives her away at the ceremony as Alex looks on. Extreme contrast is always a photographic challenge. I was at least 40 feet back. Because the 580EX had to kick in quite a bit of light from that distance, I used the external power pack to allow for quicker recycling. 1/200 sec f5.6 ISO 100. I should have raised the shutter speed to 1/320 sec from 1/200 sec to retain the highlight in the bride’s veil in retrospect. My 580 EX speedlight was at 1/2 power.

There is no doubt, a wedding on board a ship is romantic.

I’ve been a part of 3. My first time  was on board the Star of India in San Diego too many years ago now.

Though the cutter never left the dock and the temperature was  too hot to be in a suit and tie, I can still remember the name of the vessel.

Two days after I quit the newspaper business I shot my first wedding “professionally” on board the Dandeanna, a yacht which circled Marina Del Rey for 4 hours.

On that occasion, I remember borrowing a 2nd camera body from the person who replaced at the newspaper.

Waiting for the guests–The Empress at the dock before all the guests board her for the evening’s cruise and festivities.

Those of you thinking about doing weddings for a living, yes, you should never shoot a wedding with just one camera.

It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.

This weekend was a special treat and a delight.

My nephew Alex married his sweetheart Michelle on board the Empress as we cruised  the Sacramento and American River. Continue reading A Wedding & Cruise on the Sacramento River 1 →

Assignment, Photography

Learning from your contact sheet

Unless you have darkroom experience, you probably won’t know what a “contact sheet” or “proof sheet” is.

Now that we have digital photography, the term itself is irrelevant.

The “contact sheet” or “proof sheet” is nothing more than a grid of thumbnails of your entire shoot which displays unique numbers underneath each image.

A lot can be learned from it. But you must have the right attitude when you share it with your coach or mentor.

Remember not to get defensive. If you’re asking for help this way, leave the attitude at the door.

As I said previously, if you have enough memory cards, never erase your images in the camera.

I’m not saying save those “masterpieces” of your foot, car trunk or back of your lens cap when you accidentally fired off the shutter.
Continue reading Learning from your contact sheet →

Assignment, Photography, Tutorials

Photographing a Yacht Wedding

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dandeanna_left_face1

Above, a reasonable facsimile of the Dandeanna, my 1st  and only yacht wedding.
Over the years I have photographed many weddings. This was officially the first one I did after I quit the newspaper.

Having survived the experience of photographing a wedding on board a yacht, I thought I might share some insight on what to expect if you were ever shanghaied to do one of these.

dandeannaIn Southern California, there are a few outfits that provide this service.

The yacht really goes nowhere except around and around the harbor or marina for the entire duration of the wedding. Continue reading Photographing a Yacht Wedding →