At each wedding, I like to try and give the bride and groom an image that is unique to them and their venue, and this shot is a good example of that, and employs some basic strobist techniques I often use at weddings.
The camera was set to manual at ISO 100 (it’s a D3, which means it’s actually set to LO3 or summat, as the legit lowest ISO is actually ISO200), 1/250th sec and f4 on the Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens (pretty much my favourite lens for wedding work etc).
I wanted the highest natural synch speed of 1/250th sec so as to kill what little ambient lighting there was. I could have gone higher, but that would have necessitated the use of high speed synch and CLS, which can defeat the object by making the strobe work a lot harder, but there are times when it suits the shot.
F4 basically for the strobe and depth of field. I wanted to slightly overexpose for the strobe, so as to gather enough light for the back of the dress without having to go to the trouble of using a reflector, and possibly over cooking the the atmospheric shot I was after.
The strobe was a Nikon SB-800 set to manual at 1/4 power, with a Stofen to aid the “flooding” of the carpet surrounding the bride, but the 1/4 power would keep it within the frame rather than light the whole room.
The strobe was triggered by an SU-800 commander unit, allowing me to twiddle the power level of the strobe if needed. IR works great indoors and makes you grow very old very quickly when trying to use it outdoors!
Post processed with DxO Pro V6 and then Photoshop. Used Stuart Little’s free workflow essential actions, followed by the vignette actions (Lasso 160px).
Location: Higher Trapp, Simonstone.
My wedding work can be found at : www.weddingphotographerinlancashire.com
always loved that shot Michael – and now we have the explanation, great stuff
Are you sure they didn’t use this image at Focus this year?
Hi Sandy,
I didn’t see the image you mention at Focus, but I wasn’t contacted about it’s use, so I assume it’s a different shot.
I’ve been exploring on the internet hoping to get some ideas on the way to get our website coded, your general layout and theme are wonderful. Did you code it by yourself or did you employ a programmer to do it for you personally?
Hi Alona,
The site was coded by a professional webby, a real nice chap with down to earth ethics and morals too. I can get him to contact you if you wish, just let me have your contact details.
My friend and I were just talking over this issue, she is normally seeking to prove me incorrect! I will present her this write-up and rub it in a little!
The blog is absolutely fantastic! Lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need! Do you provide tuition? I’m thinking of the OCF in particular as I’ve followed your work on Flickr for some time, before finding this blog.
Hi Jeff,
The question of tuition has been raised before. I do provide tuition, although it isn’t formalised, and maybe I should consider creating a day course, or half day course.
If anyone is interested, either email me, or leave further comments, thanks.