Olympus has updated the firmware for its flagship mirrorless camera, the OM-D E-M1, adding a mode that’s designed to eliminate image blurring due to ‘shutter shock’ by using an electronic first curtain at speeds below 1/320sec. The update also adds more options for audio control during movie recording. It’s available to install now, using the ‘Olympus Digital Camera Updater’ program.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
There’s really no question that wedding photography is one of the most common forms of professional photography and if you’ve recently become the owner of a DSLR odds are sooner or later someone you know might ask you to photograph their wedding. Though this might be a tempting offer, I want you to think long and hard before saying yes, because photographing a wedding is a lot more than pointing a camera and capturing the moments. To help drive home this point I’m telling a bit of a story today.
My story is about why, even though photographing this wedding was the best experience of my photography life, I more than likely won’t be photographing another wedding anytime soon.
I don’t want you to think that I’m here to tell you that it’s a bad idea to get into wedding photography, or even that my first (and last) time as a wedding photographer was a bad experience. Neither of these are the case – in fact I quite enjoyed photographing this wedding, but there are some things that I learned about myself which would make me hesitate if I were asked to do it again.
Like most new photographers these days I created a website, set up a Facebook page, and started sharing my photos on a daily basis. Over time I noticed that my page was growing with not only my immediate friends, but friends of friends, and even people I didn’t know – I guess you could say I started attracting a following.
After a couple of years of sharing landscape and wildlife shots from around the New England area, one of my sister’s friends reached out to me and asked if I’d photograph her wedding.
My first instinct was to say “I’m not a wedding photographer – why are you asking me?”. So I sort of brushed it off as a random thing, but she insisted that she liked my style and wanted to work with someone she knew and trusted. If there’s anything to my credit – I’ve always been a hard worker. So, as this post requires that I photograph a wedding, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that I eventually did commit to the job.
And I mean months!
The bride-to-be was extremely organized and prepared, having everything booked months in advance – in fact – the photographer was one of her last jobs to tackle. After accepting the job I had nearly a full year to learn as much as I could about photographing weddings and that’s exactly what I did. This three part series here on dPS: Wedding Photography 101 (Part 1), Wedding Photography 101 (Part 2), Wedding Photography 101 (Part 3) should be on every prospective wedding photographer’s reading list. But a quick search for “wedding photography” on dPS will yield dozens of other great reads.
However, all the reading that I was doing, really couldn’t prepare me for the real thing. Emotions, stress, time crunch, uncontrollable problems, and anything else that you can pack into the ten hour day – you simply can’t read that, so I enlisted the help of a professional. I reached out to a local photographer, who worked closely with a friend of mine, and he was kind enough to allow me to shadow him, and even second shoot for him on a couple of occasions.
This experience gave me a huge boost of confidence going into the event, and I highly recommend reaching out to your own local wedding photographers prior to photographing a wedding on your own for the first time. The experience is priceless.
The final bit of preparation was gear related – I was being paid for this shoot and as a landscape/wildlife photographer my ultra-wide angle and telephoto zooms were not ideal for the task at hand. So I spent a little of the money that I was paid for the wedding to rent a second camera (you can never be too prepared) and a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens which would be my workhorse for the night.
Due to my preparation and my commitment to wanting to provide the best possible photographs that my ability would allow, I’d say the wedding was a success. The bride and groom got photos that they will enjoy for the rest of their lives and I learned more than I could ever have imagined in a very short amount of time.
The day of the wedding I was at my wits end, running on pretty much pure adrenaline at that point. I had a list of ‘must have shots’ which I was able to check off throughout the day and night. It’s hard to imagine that the event lasted as long as it did, as it all went by so quickly, with barely a break for food or drink. All said and done, I left the reception after the last dance feeling confident that I had done the best that I could. So why never again?
There’s no question that this was a valuable experience. I learned more about myself as a photographer photographing this wedding than I had in the nearly 3 years of photographing landscapes, but I’d also learned that it wasn’t for me. I enjoy the peace and quite of nature and the ability to go back to the same location to fine tune the shot over a period of time and lighting conditions. Weddings are a one shot deal – you get the light you get – you get the weather you get, and you get one shot to make it happen.
You have to be a people person – something I am not. Going around to get various people that I didn’t know together for photographs was hard enough when there were actually a handful of people that I did know at this wedding (sister’s friend remember?). I don’t think that I could do this on my own, without help, and without a lot more practice. So I urge anyone who’s thinking about photographing a wedding to not take it lightly. It’s an important day for a lot of people – not just the bride and groom – but their parents, extended family, and friends will want to remember this day as well so you MUST get it right.
The moral of this story is that wedding photography can be a very rewarding experience, but you have got to put the work into it. If you are thinking to yourself that it will be an easy job – think again. Oh and please – don’t ever do this for free – being paid to shoot this wedding was what motivated me to find help, rent gear, drive to their location and process hundreds of photos – the experience was a bonus.
Editors note:
Having done somewhere in the neighbourhood of 250 weddings in my time, I can concur that everything John has said is absolutely true, and some of the same advice I give people considering doing one for the first time. Being prepared is the number one thing I can say also. I remember wanting to throw up the entire first year I did weddings, the pressure is THAT intense. These are people’s memories and not something to take lightly. I too, like John’s mentor did carry such an emergency kit and can tell you I’ve used deodorant, men’s black socks, nylons, clear nail polish to stop runs in nylons, safety pins, After Bite for bug bites, Visine, allergy meds, Stain remover (get the stick, takes grease right out of a wedding gown), nail glue, bug spray, sunscreen, and more. John gives great advice from his experience – heed it well.
The post The Story of Photographing my First Wedding also Likely my Last by John Davenport appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Samsung has announced the NX mini, the world’s slimmest interchangeable lens camera. It boasts a 1-inch, 20MP sensor and provides all of the wireless connectivity we’ve come to expect from Samsung’s cameras. We spent a little bit of time with a pre-production unit getting to know it, photographing it, and pondering its existence. Take a look at some hands-on photos and read our first impressions of Samsung’s latest (and littlest) connected, mirrorless camera.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Nikon’s latest flagship body, the D4s, gets an updated 16 megapixel full-frame sensor, Expeed 4-level processing, 1080/60p video recording and can now autofocus at up to 11fps. Beyond that it boasts a laundry list of small (but potentially meaningful) improvements over its predecessor. After spending some brief time with the camera, we’ve prepared some first impressions of the pro-level body. For a detailed analysis of what’s new in Nikon’s top-of-the-line, take a look at our first impressions review.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]
It is a fantastic endeavor and nearly finished – a movie made up of 56,800 stop-motion paintings, all presented in the style and told by the characters of the tale’s protagonist: Vincent van Gogh.
The first full-length feature of its kind, Loving Vincent uses van Gogh’s own techniques to explore the life and death of the artist, “through his paintings and by the characters that inhabit them.”
As its creators explain, “the intrigue unfolds through interviews with the characters closest to Vincent and through dramatic reconstructions of the events leading up to his death.”
This production by Breakthru Films features 120 of the artist’s paintings and draws its plot from 800 letters, using them to flesh out a deeper picture of this often-misunderstood painter whose work goes well beyond his most famous Starry Night and Mona Lisa.
In van Gogh’s own words: “Well, the truth is, we cannot speak other than by our paintings” – these industrious filmmakers are taking him at his word, and animating his images and subjects to tell his story.
Breakthru was founded by Oscar award-winning animator Hugh Welchman. Unfortunately, the project did not raise sufficient funds on Kickstarter, but given how far they have come one can only hope the work does not end in tragedy.
Some cinematic experiences are defined by their built environments, be it the minimalist architectural plan outlines of Dogville or the lavish Mid-Century …
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Tilt-shift photography techniques are often used to give a unique look to landscape photos, but these altered images started out with Van Gogh paintings.
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Today’s society feels increasingly insecure, as if everything could fall down at any moment; Amy Casey taps into this with precarious, topsy-turvy worlds:
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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]
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The a6000 sits in the middle of Sony’s range of mirrorless cameras, just above the a5000 and aging NEX-7. The feature that makes it stand out from the crowd (and not just among Sony cameras) is its Hybrid AF system, which has phase detect points across 92% of the frame. To learn what that means to photographers, and learn more about the a6000 in general, then have a look at our a6000 First Impressions Review.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]
3D printers are now making it possible to quickly and economically ‘print’ everything from haute couture to full-scale architecture, medical prostheses to cars. Now, the technology has advanced enough to blend two different materials in a single print to make them stronger and more functional. ‘Blossom,’ a project by designer Richard Clarkson, not only produced 3D-printed flowers made from two materials with properties ranging from flexible to rigid, he also made them inflatable.
Believed to be the world’s first inflatable 3D print, Blossom is a series of flexible artificial flowers that can be inflated with air so they ‘bloom’ like real flowers. Completed in 2013 but just now released to the public, the project incorporates a rubbery black material called Tango Black for the petals and a clear, solid substance called Fullcure 720 for the center and stem.
While this project may not be as immediately practical as many other 3D printing demonstrations, it gives us an intriguing look at what might be possible in the future, pushing past limitations that have held innovation back in this field.
“As in nature, materials can be distributed seamlessly within objects for structural and functional advantage,” says Clarkson. “The variation offers an opportunity to generate complex forms and dynamic structures that are impossible to make by any other means.”
Imagine programming a large-scale, 3D-printing robot to simply print your entire home, from top to bottom, within a matter of hours.
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A giant purple bubble will rise from a pile of plastic to bring music, workshops and performance to Japan’s northeastern coast, which was devastated by …
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Designers are creating everything from working guitars and records to puzzles and puppets with desktop 3D printers, bringing their digital concepts to life.
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[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]
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The Olympus E-M10 wraps much of the E-M5’s feature set into a smaller, more compact body. It retains core OM-D features like twin dials, a built-in EVF and a 16 megapixel Four Thirds sensor, but manages to fit them into a body that’s more Stylus 1 than ILC. It sits below its E-M5 and E-M1 siblings in terms of both price and specifications, but with features borrowed from two very strong predecessors it’s potentially a very impressive camera in its own right. Take a look at our first impressions and sample gallery.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The Fujifilm X-T1 has a lot in common with its X-series siblings – bearing an important distinction: it’s weatherproof. It does in fact offer many of the same inner workings as the X-E2, including its 16MP X-Trans CMOS II sensor with on-chip phase detection. On top of that it adds a revamped EVF, an OLED panel boasting a claimed lag time of 0.005 seconds. Consider also that it shoots 8 fps with subject tracking and it all adds up to a very well specified package. Read our first impressions review
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Phase One announced today their new IQ250, 50 Megapixel medium format back, which uses a CMOS sensor for the first time in a medium format. This sensor is made by Sony, the first time that a Sony sensor appears in an MF product.
Part One of our on-going analysis of the IQ250 features online a video interview with Phase One executives, a video on how the back’s Live View works, and sample ISO 6400 images, as well as our initial impressions of the back. The article contains price and delivery information, which incidentally begins this coming week.
Kevin and Michael are leaving today (Jan 24) for two weeks in Chile and Antarctica, and will be testing the IQ250 on this expedition. Part 2, full report and video coverage will follow.
And speaking of Antarctica –
we have a few spaces left on our January 31 through February 9, 2015 Antarctic workshop.
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The Luminous Landscape – What’s New
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