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If you’re a photographer, have a love for photography, or just want to know my favorite cupcake flavor and want to have one of your questions answered on my next FAQ post, feel free to email me here, and I’ll try to include it!

I’ve gotten a lot of questions lately about how to shoot in undesirable lighting conditions, specifically close to high noon when the sun is almost directly overhead.  Hopefully these images from Mary Anne and Gus’s engagement photos, help illustrate how I go about lighting my subjects in those tricky lighting conditions.  First and foremost you need to practice in all lighting conditions, and learn to see the light.  Knowing how the light hits different objects and surfaces will make a dramatic difference in your photographs.

I started shooting Mary Anne and Gus’s engagement photos at 10:30AM.  One: because it was supposed to be a hundred degrees that day and we wanted to beat the heat.  And two: because I was trying to shoot their session before high noon, to avoid that direct overhead light.  We started off in Georgetown in a little alley where unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of open shade.  As exhibited in the image below, the alley was flooded with strong light on the right side, and slightly shaded on the left.  This meant that I wanted to shoot most of the images with them on the left side facing the strong light.

I chose this little corner off the left side of the alley where it was partially shaded and faced Gus towards the opposite wall.  By placing Gus in this position he was in the open even shade but facing the alley where the strong light was shining.

By placing him here he was perfectly illuminated without any shadows on his face and the background being evenly shaded.

As we moved down the alley and the walls on the right were painted cream colors, they became perfect natural reflectors.  The first thing I look for when shooting is the lighting, the second thing I take into consideration is the background.  If you notice in the following image, there is a bunch of stuff on the left side of the wall.  There is a big pipe sticking out, a fire alarm, and a parking sign.  After I figured out where the best light would be reflecting off of the right side of the alley, I then needed to place Mary Anne and Gus in a way that would crop out the junk on the wall behind them.

While I’m shooting I always crop the photograph in camera.  Rarely do I shoot a photograph that I will need to go back and crop out things later.  It’s more time and work, so I like to streamline it by doing it while I’m shooting.  So as you can see in this next image, I placed Mary Anne and Gus about a foot to the right of the no parking sign and thus cropping it out out the view finder and image.

Thank No Parking Sign for being perfectly placed in my way.

As I backed up to get a wider angel, the sign became more apparent in the shot, so I decided to reposition myself.  And that sign in the left image?  Well, it’s behind Gus’s head.  I know, don’t mess with me little sign!  And to get a full body shot I could no longer hide the sign behind Gus’s head, so I just had them move to the right about three feet, thus cropping out Mr. Stupid Parking Sign.

As we kept shooting the sunlight was getting stronger the closer it became to noon.  Which I was totally fine with, because it really illuminated their faces as I placed them on the left side of the alley.

Then we moved further down the alley, and this image was taken in the opposite direction facing where we were shooting just before.  The next set of their images, after they changed, were shot on the right side of this image, right in front of the gray painted wall.

Though the sun was quickly becoming more overhead, I placed them close to the gray wall, opposite the brightly illuminated wall.  At this point the sun was super strong, but bounced back into their faces while they stood in the even shaded area, perfectly lighting their faces.  I know it can seem like there are a million things to remember when you’re shooting, but I promise with practice, it becomes instinctive and much easier.Contact me here. Join me on Facebook here. Follow me on twitter here. And feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

If you’re a photographer, have a love for photography, or just want to know my favorite cupcake flavor and want to have one of your questions answered on my next FAQ post, feel free to email me here, and I’ll try to include it!

Emily asked:  How do you shoot bridal party photos, I can never get them all in focus?  I try to keep them in a straight line, but it still never works out! 

I approach bridal party photos very differently than I shoot portraits, as normally I shoot portraits with a very wide aperture, at 2.0 or lower.  But because there are always several people in bridal parties or family photos, on several different planes it is imperative to keep your aperture at least a 4.0 or higher.  I like to shoot at 5.0 or 5.6 just in case.  In shooting at higher apertures, you are making sure that a broader area/plane is going to be in focus.  Think of it this way, the lower the aperture, the lesser the amount of space in the image is going to be in focus.  The higher the aperture, the more area around the focal point of the image is going to be in focus.

This image of Jeremy and his boys I shot at f/5.0 with a shutter speed of 1/200.  Both of the guys on the ends are in focus, as well as the slightly differentiating planes that they are on.  Had this been shot at a lower aperture some of the guys who are slightly in front, or behind Jeremy (the focal point)  wouldn’t have been as sharp.

This image from Hilary and Brett’s wedding is a great example.  I wanted to layer everyone on different planes with steps, and the two wicker chairs for a casual J.Crew looking bridal party in the gorgeous gardens we were shooting in.  In order to insure that everyone was in focus and sharp I shot this at f/5.6 and the shutter speed was at 1/250.

Jamie and Joe’s smaller bridal party all fit under this little walkway.  Although they were all in a straight line, I shot it at f/5.6 and 1/60 to make sure that both people on the ends of the image were in focus as well as the middle focal point.

And this bridal party photo from Jill and Devin’s wedding at the Strong Mansion was shot at f/5.6 making sure that everyone in the photo is in focus including the little guy on the end!

Contact me here. Join me on Facebook here. Follow me on twitter here. And feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

If you’re a photographer, have a love for photography, or just want to know my favorite cupcake flavor and want to have one of your questions answered on my next FAQ post, feel free to email me here, and I’ll try to include it!

Recently, Gracie asked me about lenses:  Can you tell me about lenses!  Which is your favorite?  For portraits? Weddings?  How often do you change them during a shoot or wedding?  What’s your strategy?  Take all with one lens and then switch? Or switch back and forth throughout a shoot?

Favorite lens.  Favorite lenses can be all subjective.  They’re like styles of clothing; it’s all about personal preference.  Some photographers like to shoot wide open scenery, with the widest angle lens they can get, and that’s their style.  Some like to shoot with a tilt-shift lens that blurs the top/bottom, or sides, and that’s their style.  Your favorite lens should be what produces the style of images you like.  My style is crisp, sharp, closeup, with lots of blur between the subject and the background, it’s was I prefer, therefore my hands down my favorite lens to shoot with is the 50mm 1.2. Weddings, portrait sessions, and just my everyday life, I use it all the time.  The lens is fast, tack sharp, with a narrow depth of field and works great in low light situations.

My strategy of shooting has changed since I started, in the beginning I used to carry two cameras slung over my shoulders with two very different lenses, in addition to my Shootsac.  Although this allowed me to have access to two different lenses ready to go, it was just too much.  Carrying that much gear on my person not only provided comical relief being the photographer tangled up in a spaghetti maze of straps, but it hurt my old lady back and shoulders.  I have since simplified my shooting by anticipating my lens needs, only shooting with one camera, and taking the straps off my cameras.

Although all weddings are different I’ve found that in many cases I’m using the same lenses during specific parts of the wedding.  When I arrive with the bride, I start by shooting all the getting ready details with the 50 1.2, and then switch to the 24-70 2.8 while she’s getting dressed to capture the whole room and everyone in it, helping.  Depending on the size of the aisle I will shoot the processional with the 70-200 2.8 if it’s long, or the 24-70 2.8 if it’s shorter.  If it is longer, about half way up I switch lenses and throw on the 50 1.2 just as they’re getting close to me and being presented to the groom.  At that time I’ll shoot both sides of parents as they’re seated, then head to the back of the ceremony and switch back to the 70-200 2.8.  During the recessional I shoot half of it with the 70-200 2.8 (if it’s a long aisle) and switch again to the 50 1.2 as they are getting close to me.  During the family formals, and bridal party images I shoot with the 24-70 2.8 at a 4.5 or 5.0 since it’s a bigger grouping of people and I want to make sure that everyone is in focus.  For the bride and groom portraits and reception details I mostly shoot with the 50 1.2, with the exception of the overall image of the not yet touched reception room which I shoot with the 24-70 2.8.  Then during most of the reception and dancing photographs I stick with the 24-70 2.8.  Another thing to keep in mind is only carry on you what you know you will need.  Since I only shoot with the 70-200 2.8 for a small period of time, after the ceremony, it goes back in my camera suitcase so I’m not lugging that heavy lens around.

I know this sounds really confusing, but I try to stick with this formula for all weddings so I basically know what I’m going to need when.  If you can anticipate which lenses you’ll need, then you don’t have to carry multiple cameras and lenses around all day.

These images from Jamie and Joe’s wedding I shot from the back of the church with the 70-200 2.8 as they were announced husband and wife, and then kissed.

And although the aisle was relatively short, I still had time to switch my lens to the 50mm as they were being congratulated and making their way out the front of the church.

I stuck to the same set up with Elleni and Jason’s wedding. Here I’m shooting with the 70-200 2.8…

And switched to the 50mm lens as they were walking back down the aisle.

Contact me here. Join me on Facebook here. Follow me on twitter here. And feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

If you’re a photographer, have a love for photography, or just want to know my favorite cupcake flavor and want to have one of your questions answered on my next FAQ post, feel free to email me here, and I’ll try to include it!

Mindy asked:  Most of my photos are outdoors, but I am finding that no matter what settings I use, or how I adjust it, I have harsh shadows. It is one thing to wait for a cloudy day, but as a wedding photographer, you don’t have that option right?! Is there a certain flash you would recommend? or is it my camera? Other than using a reflector or using studio lighting, what do you recommend?

Yes, actually that is a great question. Everything that you see on my blog (and most of the images I take) solely use natural light. Shooting with a flash is a whole different ball game, if you so desire.  When I was younger I learned how to shoot solely with natural light, and now as a professional photographer I would rather capture things in the moment then carrying around big heavy flashes and lighting set ups.  I personally prefer natural lit images as opposed to to harsh flash look, therefore I never use a flash (except for during the reception when I set up strobe flashes), or reflectors.  Shooting with natural light is all about how you position your subjects in relation to the sun.

1.  Shoot with your camera on M (manual) mode. Shooting in manual mode gives you more control over the camera, so in a scenario where you’re placing your subjects back towards the sun, you dictate how the image comes out, versus what the camera thinks. If you’re shooting on P mode it would come out dark because the camera doesn’t know that you want the subjects face to be properly exposed.

2.   Learn to see where the light hits.  Open even shade is best for shooting in.  Or purposely diffused directional light.  But to give that extra glow and prevent the harsh shadows on their face, place them opposite a bright wall/piece of concrete/car to bounce light into their faces.

3.  Throw out all the rules you once learned about placing people directly in the sun, because you never want place a subjects’ face in harsh light.  If you have to work in full sun, you place their backs towards the sun and then properly expose for their skin.

For these next two images I was looking for somewhere with diffused light to place Jamie and Joe while we did their portraits around high noon (which provided for almost no shade.)  We found this overpass with a walking tunnel under it which turned out to be optimal lighting.  First I placed them about fifteen feet back behind the opening of the tunnel, because directly outside of the tunnel was bright sunlight shining on the concrete walkway.  Placing them there provided for the proper amount of shade, but with the concrete just outside being so brightly lit, it reflected the perfect amount of gorgeous light to illuminate their faces.  Another reason why I love this lighting setup is because it’s a tunnel, meaning there is light coming in from both the front, and the back.  So with the gorgeous light from the front, also came the little bit of light from the back, giving the image great dimension. These images would have come out totally different if there weren’t that little bit of light source coming in from the back.

And here is an image of Jamie and her dad just to give you an idea of the tunnel, and the lighting right outside of the tunnel on the walkway.

For Amanda and Sonny’s engagement session in Annapolis, I placed her across the street from a white wall (wall was on the right in these images.)  The key to this setup was that it was around 6:30pm at night and the sun was low in the sky and directly shining on the wall.  So by placing Amanda here across the street from the wall, light was bouncing off the wall and illuminating the right side of her face.  Another thing to keep in mind is avoid the hot spots.  Instead of being soft even reflected light, hot spots are harsh beams of light shining on your subject.  In this image on the left (that obviously didn’t make the final cut) she is standing directly in the hot spot, so then I placed her a foot directly behind the hot spot, resulting in the gorgeously lit image on the right.

This image of Michelle and Markus is lit almost the same.  In this photo we were standing on the right side of the street, with a park in the middle and on the other side of the park were white limestone buildings that were reflecting light into their faces.

In this image of Jill and Devin, I placed them against the wall facing the sun behind me.  The key to lighting this image was the pond to the southwest of me that was bouncing soft even sunlight into their faces.

And to give you an idea, here is an image of that pond.  This was obviously right after night fall, but during the afternoon the sun was shining directly onto the pond.  I placed Jill and Devin up against the house, behind the right tree with lights, in between those two windows.

These two images are both strongly backlit so I had to place them with a bright light source in front to splash light into their faces to offset the lighting in the back.  The key to backlit images is to diffuse the light with something.  In both of these images I placed the leaves in the direct path of the bright sunlight in the back.  In the left image of Jill and Jeremy there were cars right behind me reflecting light into their faces.  And in the image of Courtney and Chris, there was pavement in front of me bouncing the front light.

And bouncing natural light also works well with large groups.  In this image of Katie and her girls, I was limited to the bride’s parent’s house at high noon light.  I took them outside and placed them in front of the garage door.  The entire driveway was bright white concrete with high noon sun shining on it.  By placing them here, their faces are all perfectly illuminated by the sunlight that was bouncing up from the concrete driveway.

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Often times I get asked how do I pose my couples and make it look so natural, and in my experience it just takes a ton of practice, and trial and error.  Here are a few important points that really have made it easier for me, hopefully this makes you more comfortable taking charge and posing your clients.  And to have one of your questions answered on my next FAQ post, feel free to email me here, and I’ll try to include it.

1.  Trust. First and foremost you want to build trust with them.  I’ve met with all of my couples for an engagement session, before their wedding, so they know me and are somewhat comfortable with me shooting.  But before you begin shooting on the wedding day let them know that it’s ok to relax and just enjoy the day.  Since my couples already know me, they normally trust what I ask them to do; sit down outside in your wedding dress, certainly.  You can comfort them by reminding them that a little dirt won’t damage their dress, and will always come out when it’s professionally cleaned.  My couples know that I wouldn’t do anything that would ruin their clothes or put them in a position that would make them uncomfortable.

2.  Laughter. Many of my couples tell me that they’re uncomfortable having their pictures taken, and I can totally relate.  By making them laugh you’re making them more comfortable in the somewhat awkward situation.  I try whatever joke I can think of to get them laughing, sometimes even making fun of myself just to get a laugh.  I haven’t quite figured out if they’re laughing with me, or at me, but whichever it seems to be working.  Here’s Andrew showing off his new bling.  I didn’t use this image, and they didn’t order it as a print, but it prompted a series of shots where Abby is laughing.

Nicole certainly thinks I’m funny.

3.  Mix it up. To keep things fresh all you need to do is try different variations on poses that you already remember.  Start off with the pose you know, shoot a couple of images, then move the hands, arms, or the direction of the head.  Then try moving the angle that you’re shooting from; if you normally shoot from straight on, move to the side and shoot.  These two images I started with the same pose, then rearranged the hands and direction of the head a bit to make them different.

4.  Be aware. It’s your job as the image maker to be aware of how things look when you pose them.  Never have a hand or an arm flat against the body.  Unless you’re Kate Moss, it probably won’t look good.  I always try different things to keep the arms away from the body such as: play with your hair, touch your earing, bend your arm while you’re holding the bouquet straight down.  Anything to keep the arms slightly away from the body will make them look much more flattering.  The same goes for if they are leaning against the wall, or leaning their face against something.  If they’re sitting with their hand against their face I normally tell them to lightly lean or fake lean so that it doesn’t smush their cheek.  The same for leaning their face against someone’s shoulder, always be cognizant of what looks flattering and what doesn’t.

5.  Be encouraging. Let’s be honest here, sometimes poses work, and sometimes they don’t.  And they can work/not work for a number of reasons, sometimes the difference in height just doesn’t work with the pose you’re trying, or their clothing is too restrictive.  When I’m shooting, I’m always encouraging, even if I know the pose looks terrible or it’s not turning out how I want.  Oh yes, that looks great;  I love that; fantastic; this looks awesome. You never want to be negative to them by saying uh, no that does not work or you’re doing it wrong.  You want to build them up, not knock them down.  If they are doing it wrong, or you want them to do something else you have to spin it with a positive tone such as ok that was great, now why don’t we try this or I love the way you softly rested your head against his back earlier. If they’re already uncomfortable and you are negative with them, they’re going to feel like they’re doing it wrong and be more uncomfortable and stiff.

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