127
June 5, 2010
One last post from Becky and Jeff's wedding showing off James' hard work. Becky and Jeff made sure we brought out the Crazybooth during the reception. It was the perfect addition to their wedding. Instead of boring table shots of guests complete with food hanging out of the mouth, everyone was able to show off the party. we even made prints on site so that guests could sign the pictures - how cool is that? All night long James rocked the Crazybooth, making sure that everyone had the chance to to have a picture or three taken.
If you made it through that night, make sure to check out all of the photos in this slideshow.
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116
June 3, 2010
Sometimes I dream bigger than my budget allows. Wouldn't it be cool to have a lot of really powerful lights and big silks and softboxes to be able to do anything? Yeah, it would be cool but I really don't need something else to carry around at a wedding. So until that day when I have a crew to carry all of my gear and set it up for me when I want, I'm going to keep on getting the job done with the gear I have. Here's how I shot Sarah and Chase in a '65 Cadillac at their wedding with one light.
I started by selecting a location that had enough elements to build the photo. Because I am working with so much light, I can selectively bring out elements of the frame I want and drop others that I don't need. I liked the trees above with the car below. I went with a long lens to compress everything and not let in too many distracting elements. Double check your frame and make sure it's what you want, once you start this it takes a while. Then it's time to lock the camera down on a tripod and get to work. The idea now is to take many photos, each frame using the flash to light up just part of the scene. Later we will combine the various parts to create the whole.
I decided to shoot this at iso 200 f4 1/200th. This killed the ambient but also gave me some room to work with since I was using just one speedlight. For ease of post production, it's best to have a solid black background, so it is important not to have too much ambient. If you want to include a background, just take a separate frame with a long exposure. You've gotta use manual power on the speedlight here, ETTL just won't work with the light being in the frame (plus the car is too reflective for consistency).
Starting with the car, I put a shoot through umbrella in front of my light and walked around the car lighting up the car. Don't worry too much about getting yourself in the frame, just worry about lighting up the car properly. I worked around the car, lighting up one side or part at a time until I knew I had lit the whole car in pieces. Next, I repeated the process with the trees, but this time with a bare flash. I shot the trees being lit up from different angles making sure to give myself options later.
Finally, I went and got the bride and groom from the dance floor for a few minutes. I posed them in the car, put a tight grid on the flash so as to not re-light the car, and walked around them lighting them up. At the end, I had about twenty or so photos of the car, ten of the trees, and maybe fifteen of the couple. Now it's time for that dreaded thing called Photoshop.
I sorted through the photos and grouped them according to the area, car, couple or trees. Then place each photo on its own layer in photoshop and set the blending mode to "Lighten". Now with each individual layer in Photoshop, you can turn a layer on or off to turn the light in that particular photo on or off. Experiment and find the best look for what you want. I played a bit to get the right balance of light and dark on the frame. Once you get things looking the way you want, its time for some quick masking in the individual layers to block out anything that you don't want in your final edit (in this case I am in the frame pretty consistently). Thankfully this is pretty quick and easy to do.
So thats it. Pretty simple really, lots of effort but the results are worth the effort. I've done this a handful of times in the past, but this was the first time I did it with a UV filter on. Trust me, do yourself a favor and take off the UV filter (unless you like to spend extra time cleaning up the image). Now that you know how to do it, let's see your shots! Drop a comment with a link to your work to check out.
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derek lapsley says:
Thursday, June 3, 2010
i absolutely love light painting this way! the first time i saw it done was by john michael cooper on one of his TTD sessions, very inspiring and i was hooked! Great shot, super clean!! its been on my to-do list to de-construct one of my images like this and you couldnt have explained it any better.
you said drop a link so here's one of mine from an engagement sesh awhile back, different flavor but same 'ol process with one strobe. check the link:
http://www.lapsleyphoto.com/2010/04/08/fresno-engagement-photographer-4/
thanks for sharing! cheers
Patrick says:
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Thanks Derek! It's funny, I ran into John Michael Cooper's work after I tried doing a few of these a couple of years ago. To me, this is about the best place to use Photoshop in work. Shooting like this is actually a lot easier than you'd think, just don't move the tripod!
I love that shot you did on your site! Super moody and textured! Of yeah, and the rest of the shoot is amazing as well :)
Patrick
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126
May 31, 2010
With what was one of the better parties I have ever seen at the Ahwahnee, Becky and Jeff celebrated their wedding day in Yosemite. Celebration really is the best word to describe what happened throughout that day. Their ceremony was just outside the Ahwahnee on the wedding lawn under a beautiful sky and roar of the waterfalls. Just a few days earlier it had been snowing in this exact spot which made the weather even that much sweeter.
Although I met both Becky and Jeff before the wedding, their true personality really came out on their wedding day. Throughout the rush of the day stress never got to them. Becky was surrounded by her friends as they prepared for the wedding. All the time, Becky was laughing and joking. About an hour before the ceremony, I asked Becky what she thought Jeff was doing right then. Before I could barely get the question out of my mouth, Becky exclaimed "He's having a beer" as if there could be no other answer.
Sure enough, when we met up with Jeff and his groomsmen, they were all relaxing and sharing a drink. Just as with Becky and her bridesmaids, it was a time of celebration amongst friends.
Just outside on the lawn, the guests began to gather for the ceremony. Whenever a bride walks down the aisle towards her groom, I always like to watch the expression change on the groom's face as he catches his first glimpse of his bride. When he saw Becky, Jeff already had a smile on his face and it just continued to grow and grow. They seemed to share a look of amazement on their faces - amazement that this day had finally come.
The reception was inside the Ahwahnee's Solarium, Mural Room and Underlounge. Family and friends shared drinks and memories while we were outside for a few portraits. Once we were all inside together, everyone gathered for toasts to celebrate the marriage. It was somehow fitting to do this immediately, to send off the evening right. Later on there would be fine food and dancing (all night long in fact), but for now heartfelt words.
The dance floor took on a life of it's own that night and no one could resist. Becky's bridesmaids surprised everyone with a unique dancing story chronicling Becky and Jeff's early relationship. In fact when the end of the night came (all too soon) the party couldn't be stopped - everyone moved from the Solarium straight over to the Ahwahnee Bar.
It was a wonderful day to say the least. Becky and Jeff carried this amazing energy with them all day long - you could just see it in their eyes as they tried to soak in every last bit of their wedding day. Massive thanks goes to James for shooting with me all day and night long while helping me out. Even more photos are on the way from what James was up to all night long...
Congratulations again Becky and Jeff and enjoy Barbados!
Comments
Colleen Huck says:
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Stunning! Becky and Jeff will have a tough time deciding what to frame! Thanks for capturing the beauty of the day and the fun of the party :) I'd love to order any ring bearer/flower girl pictures of my kiddos that turned out too!
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125
May 31, 2010
CRAZY PARTY... but just before that, they were alone in Yosemite. Much more from Becky and Jeff's off-the-hook wedding celebration coming soon.
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124
May 25, 2010
Way back when I was in high school, I had a job as a designer for a local contractor. Much of our field work was done in remodeling custom homes in the Manhattan Beach area. As soon as the work day was over, or often times before it began, you could find spending countless hours surfing sandbars here.
I've been working lately on on my landscape technique. It's an area of photography that doesn't come easily to me. I find I just don't have the patience that it requires. But I have come to realize that these pictures are not for sale or for any clients, they are for me. Suddenly I am learning to slow down and enjoy the process. They are pictures to remind me of my life and who I am. They are pictures that will hang in my house.
Tonight I drove down to Manhattan Beach at sunset to see what the sky would offer up. The ocean was choppy and the sky was dark but it somehow felt right to me. I walked up and down the beach, finding the right lines and angles to match my memories. It was a relaxing experience full of good memories.
This frame here is the standout to me from tonight. Soon enough it will hang on my wall because of what it means to me. Somehow just looking at it makes me think of watching the sun slip past the horizon as I caught just one more before heading in.
Comments
Shannon Berry says:
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
That is a gorgeous picture.
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