A naturally lit photo, during a Quinceanera Ceremony – f2.8, 1/400th, ISO 1600 – 70-200mm IS Lens – Canon 5D MKII

However, there is one question that I can’t get away from… “Are you a natural light photographer, or do you use flash?” as if you can only be one or the other. Natural light photographers are quick to judge when you pull out a flash head. On the same token, flash photographers criticize natural light as not technical enough, like you need more gear to validate your status as a pro photographer.

The truth is, you need to be well balanced in both, especially as a wedding photographer. You need to be so balanced, that your viewers, and even photographer friends can’t tell if you used a flash or not. When you aren’t balanced, you run into disasters.

Every so often, I see natural light photographers approach a wedding reception without a flash. It doesn’t work. Then, sometimes you get the gear-head-flash-guru trying to light every single picture with his off-camera strobe. You’ll waste so much time doing this you’ll fail to notice your subjects squinting… rightly so after being hit with 300+ full power flashes.

Bouncing flash, giving the appearance of natural lighting – f4 1/100th ISO 2500 – 24-70mm 2.8 – Canon 5D MKIII

The Great Excuse

Its okay to be a better natural light photographer than a flash one, but don’t use it as an excuse. I’ve heard photographers bail themselves out by saying “The photos don’t pop because I wasn’t allowed to use a flash during the ceremony,” and in reverse, “Your reception pictures are grainy, because there wasn’t enough light in your venue.” Your customers don’t want excuses, they simply want in-focus, non-blurred photos of everything that happened.

Bouncing flash gives a soft light that freezes dance moves – f4 1/80th ISO 3200 – 24-70mm 2.8 – Canon 5D MKIII

The Best Solution

You’ll get happy clients when you can shoot with both natural light and flash. My goal in all the photos I take, is to have them mesh together. I want my natural light to be flattering, but edgy and I want my flash photos to be soft and easy. By merging the two techniques, you get an even medium that displays nice when telling the end story, be it a wedding album or blog post.

Denver Quinceanera Photographer

The post What kind of photographer are you? appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

Both camps will argue their points and you’ll find kinds both primes and zoom lenses in our gear bag, but the primes stay attached to our cameras more than the zooms do. Below I’ve laid out some points for each, but for us, it revolves around two key points. Image quality and reliability.

Speed

Ignoring the fact that primes have larger apertures, they almost always have quicker AF performance. The few exceptions to this rule are maybe the 85mm and 50mm 1.2s. Otherwise, your primes will get you focused quicker and more precise.

Reliability

What sparked me to finally publish this post was having to package up the 24-70mm for the second time in less than a year for a trip to the Canon Service Department. Both times it has been dropped on a hard surface, but so have the 35mm and the 45mm TS-E. Having zoom functionality significantly increases the amount of moving parts and ability to break.

Image Quality

I will always give up flexibility for image quality. Having access to 2 or 3 more stops of light and razor sharp f/2.8 images is paramount to our style of photography. Some think it’s hard to cover an event with one focal length, which is why I usually have two bodies strapped to me at all times. However, even with a one camera setup, its rather painless swapping from prime to prime.

Zooming with your feet?

I’ve often heard other photographers say they use primes because they can zoom with their feet. This really doesn’t apply though. If you have a 24mm prime mounted, walk to within a few feet of your subject and snap a headshot, your photo is going to look vastly different than a similarly framed shot with the 85mm. So, zooming with your feet doesn’t mirror zooming with a zoom lens. The perspective is going to be different.

Conclusion

If you place image quality and reliability at the top of your list of lens qualifications, you’ll end up with a collection of primes. You might spend a minute or two more each wedding swapping your lenses, but you’ll send far less time sending off lenses for repair or sharpening your subjects in Photoshop. For us, the image quality a prime lens delivers over a negligible sharp 2.8 zoom makes all the difference. If you want images that impress your clients on a technical level (sharpness & contrast), pick up a 24, 35, 50, 85 or 135mm prime lens. It has the ability to set you apart from others.

The post Primes & Zoom Lenses: What To Use? appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

Using a Lens or Photoshop for Tilt Photos

A tilted image makes things look miniature because it introduces a depth-of-field on a scene we would regularly not see it on. With the foreground and background being blurred, it seem like the subject or landscape is only a few feet away. You can achieve this using Photoshop or a lens with tilt functionality. Using a lens makes the process quicker and more genuine. Creating the tilt effect in post-processing is possible, but it takes time to perfect. The tips below will help miniaturize your scenes when using the a tilt-shift lens or software. However, our usage for the tilt-shift lens isn’t to miniaturize things, but instead to create interesting tilted wedding photos.

1. Shoot Mid-day in Direct Sunlight

When viewing miniature objects, they commonly have harsh shadows because the light source is close and there isn’t much room for falloff. Shooting at 11:00 or 2:00, the sun provides enough power and a decent angle to give even your biggest objects that sharp shadow we need. The photo below is a good example of this.

2. Eliminate Foreground Objects & Shoot Down

Again, when viewing miniature objects, your distance to subject is relatively small, ruling out the possibility for foreground objects. If there was a lamp in your way, you would probably move it. Also, when things are small, you most always look down onto them. Try to get above your scene.

3. Crop Scenes So They Make Sense

The photo below isn’t a very convincing miniature scene. At the bottom of the frame, the road is full size, suggesting the photographer was standing directly on it. If this really was a miniature scene, this vantage point would be impossible.

By cropping the image, we get closer to believing the photo was taken from the correct angle.

The post Three tips for better tilt-shift photos appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

The post A Quick Overview of Flash Photography at a Wedding appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

Next, take a look at the 2013 Toyota Tacoma v6 Base, which has an MSRP of $25,000.  Again, a 2011 model, which has a used value of $22,600 which isn’t nearly as close to the 30 percent of the Chevy.

The Difference Between dSLR Bodies & High End Lenses

This same methodology applies towards camera equipment, which depreciates at different rates depending on the category and quality. I would put camera bodies and cheap lenses in the same category as the Chevy truck and high-end lenses in the same category as Toyota.

Camera bodies are refreshed quite frequently, and in comparison to a prime lens, have a lot more moving parts causing them to wear out more quickly. Just look at the used price of a Canon 40D ($250) compared to its original MSRP of $1,300 in 2007. Now lets compare the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 L, which had a MSRP of $1,479 in 1998, and a now sells for around $1,100 on the used market.

The point is, buying used camera gear is smart, but make sure the price reflects it. Generally speaking, L series glass holds its value more than cheaper lenses. Camera bodies are like cell phones. They get minor upgrades every one to two years. Nikon and Canon’s marketing department spend millions of dollars figuring out ways to convince you to upgrade your camera. If you want good advice about when and why to upgrade, ask a professional who has actually used both cameras. Gear-heads on the forums or even some blogs use spec sheets to justify upgrading, which isn’t the complete picture.

Our Used Camera & Lens Buying Advice

If you are needing to upgrade your dSLR, first find the camera that fits your budget and needs. Then, follow it until its release, but don’t immediately buy it. Instead, set a date on your calendar to which you would like to have the camera. For example, before the start of next wedding season or your next vacation. Then use websites such as Canon Price Watch, which has a notification system for when the camera goes below your specified price threshold.

Buy during the off season or months after its release. If you’re looking for a lens popular among wedding photographers, don’t buy it during the summer. Never pre-order anything, unless availability is going to be an issue. You really only run into this problem with equipment above the $5k mark because of production limitations.

Look at buying refurbished. We’ve done this a few times, including a refurbished Canon 5D Mark III, but on a case by case basis. If purchased from the right retailer, you’ll get a brand new body for a wonderful price.

Buying Used High End Lenses. Most of the lenses in our wedding gear bag are worth nearly what we paid for them. I can’t say the same about the 1D, 5Ds and 40D. The caveat to this is that the lens has to have been well care for. Sports photographers are notorious for using their lenses outside, in the elements and giving them a beating. However, your average professional photographer’s lenses will last them a lifetime.

The post Buying used camera equipment appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

So, instead of accessories, lets talk about the bare essentials for a wedding photographer’s gear bag.

A Prime Lens

A seasoned professional is probably going to have an f/2.8 zoom lens attached to their camera throughout a wedding day, but that is because their camera sensor can handle ISO 1600 without showing much noise. However, working with a mid to low grade camera body, you’re sensor needs more light than a zoom lens can afford. Wedding venues and churches are hardly ever well lit. Rather than fighting against slower shutter speeds, your gear bag needs at least one fast prime. The 50mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.8 or even the 35mm f/2 lenses are great options that won’t break the bank. The added bonus of a prime, is a shallow depth-of-field, which can be used to blur an ugly background. These are very common when lower-end brides hire you at the beginning of wedding photographer career.

A Directional Flash Head

Your camera’s built in flash is absolutely NOT acceptable for wedding photography. First, its has very little power, and secondly, it cannot be bounced off the ceiling or walls. You need to invest in a flash gun that has a rotating head. Flash guns also recycle a lot faster than a camera’s flash, allowing you to keep up your fast pace. Once you start becoming comfortable with bounced flash, you can tackle just about any horrifically dark venue or church with a moderately slow aperature lens.

Extra Batteries

Without power to your camera, your job as a wedding photographer isn’t non-existent.  Like I said above, wedding venues are usually dimly lit, which strains your camera’s auto-focusing system. Instead of locking onto your target in the first pass, it might hunt for a bit. Your camera’s battery is driving your lens servos to move the glass, which will drain your battery faster. Now think about your flash head. If its having to provide more light to get a proper exposure, you’re flash batteries might only last 150 or 200 frames.

The Accessories – nice to have, but not necessities

Extra memory cards

You might think I’m crazy for calling extra memory not a necessity, but with today’s technology, it’s okay to have a single 16GB or even 32GB card. Failure rates three years ago were bad, so shooting on multiple cards throughout the day was smart. Set your expectations of how many frames you’ll capture, and then make sure your memory capacity will cover that, and 500 more. The caveat to using one memory card versus three or four is the possibility of losing it.

Flash modifiers

The first purchase most photographers make after they buy their flash gun is some $20 modifier that is suppose to give softbox quality light. The simple fact is, light modifiers are so small, they simply don’t have the physical attributes to do much modification. I’m guilty of it. I picked up some sort of dome-bulb-flippy thing for my 430EX. I used it twice and has been collecting dust ever since. The best light modifier you can buy is a book teaching you about how to properly bounce flash.

Lens filters

There are two filters I own for each lens, which are a neutral density and a circular polarizer. I use them maybe 3 or 4 times a year, because they have a very specific purpose. The reason is, the more glass I stack on top of my lens, is the more distortion my light has to pass through before it gets to my sensor. There is no secret glass that filter manufacturers have that increases saturation, contrast or image quality. If there were, lens manufactures would most definitely be utilizing it inside the lenses themselves. Do yourself a favor… and sell the filter you got when you purchased your camera kit. I can absolutely promise you it does nothing but hurt your image quality.

The post Three must have equipment pieces for wedding photographers appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

The image above is a photo Stacy and I captured years ago, far before Gillespie Photography would have ever been considered a successful wedding photography business. When writing this post, I couldn’t recall what was in our gear bag during that time. If I had to take a guess, it was shot with the Canon 40D, and I could check the EXIF info to confirm this, but it doesn’t matter . What matters is, we worked with what we had… and we made it work well.

The post Gear doesn’t dictate sales appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

In this article, we’ll focus on shutter speed and how it correlates to making sharp pictures. For those of you not aware, your shutter speed is the amount of time your camera opens its shutter to take a picture. Look for a number like 1/30 or 1/100 or maybe even 1/8000 if your outside on a bright day.

Most of the time when I hear people complain that their camera or lens ins’t sharp, its because they are not using it properly. The difference between a 18-55mm kit lens and a 35mm f/1.4 lens both shot at f/8 will be undetectable if shot correctly. Also, post processing tools such as RAW sharpening, high-pass filter and unsharp mask can do wonders for a dull photo. They will however, not remedy motion blur or out of focus shots.

People

They move. Even when you ask them to stand still, they’re still moving, slightly. If your shutter is too slow, this can cause for motion blur. A general rule of thumb I follow is, never shoot people with a shutter speed slower than 1/50th. At a dimly lit wedding reception, I keep my camera locked at f2.0 and 1/60th. Most of the time, this is fast enough for wedding activities. Moving a little faster, lets say Basketball, we’re going to want at least 1/400th to freeze the action. Anything slower, and the ball will be an orange smudge. Nascar? Lets keep that shutter in the 1/2000th range. Rule of thumb, never go below 1/50th when photographing people, and if possible, keep it higher.

Focal Length

Taking people out of the equation, lets say you’re capturing the Denver skyline with a 70-300mm lens. You zoom into 150mm and snap your picture. Its blurry, because your shutter speed isn’t fast enough to compensate for camera shake. As I said earlier, people move, and so do you. Another rule of thumb, your shutter speed needs to be equal to or greater than the focal length of your lens. So, if we’re at 150mm, we need to have a shutter of 1/160th or faster. Remember in 4th grade when you learned about angles and degrees? Your teacher used the example of a plane’s flight path being off 1 degree. It may not seem like much, but over a long distance, it makes a huge difference. The same applies for focal length and camera movement.

Stabilizing Your Camera

Getting into photography, if you ask for buying advice from a professional photographer, they probably told you to buy a tripod. How boring is that? Well, tripods can do wonders for delivering razor sharp photos. By making your camera completely stationary, you eliminate the possibility of camera movement, which can compensate for slower shutter speeds and longer focal length lenses.

The post Three tips for sharper photos appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

Equipment

Shooting Wide Open – Every lens has a maximum and minimum aperture opening. When you shoot wide open, you’re allowing the most light the lens will allow to pass through. Shooting wide open narrows your depth of field and give you bokeh. Don’t shoot groups of people or landscapes wide open.

Drag the Shutter – By slowing down the shutter speed, you introduce motion blur which can convey movement in your photo.

Hit it with a Strobe – You have on-camera and off-camera (rim lighting, hair light, key lights, fill light, soft light, hard light…). Hitting it with a strobe means adding some light, usually from a flash unit.

Lens Short Names – When a photographer says “85 one two,” most likely, they are referring to a lens. The first number is the focal length, and the second is the aperture  For example, if I said “24… 70… two eight”, I’m talking about the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8.

Bokeh – This is a Japanese word used for background or foreground blur.

Gorilla Pod – Made by Joby, these makeshift tripods are a great substitute when needing to pack light. The are also great for gorilla mounting a flash head.

Software

Brushing – Think of it like you would a paint brush, but instead of paint, your brushing on brightness, saturation, or many different digital alterations. You can use your mouse or a wacom tablet to brush.

Culling – The process of sorting and deleting images. One of the first steps in processing a wedding is culling it.

RAW – The only other option is JPG and we STRONGLY advise not using it. When you shoot RAW, you have more photo data allowing you more wiggle room when editing.

The post Photographer Lingo appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.

Photoshop is an amazing program and was well worth my time to learn it, however, it became a big crutch of mine. Instead of worrying about if the photo I captured was a good one, I was focused on what filter or HDR technique could I use to make it “pop.” As I progressed, it got even worse too. People would comment “That is an awesome picture… what did you do to make it so vibrant?”

After enough of those comments, I forced myself to refocus and go back to the basics. I studied the principals of light and exposure. Keeping your highlights and shadows in check does wonders come post-processing time. The less time you spend recovering, cropping, masking, the more time you can ultimately spend capturing more pictures. If I had to sum everything up, make sure you know why your camera’s histogram is important.

The post Get it Right the First Time appeared first on Top Colorado Mountain Wedding Photographers - Gillespie Photography.