Featured last year for his "Wedding Day Zombie Apocalypse" composite, Photographer Josiah Moore is up to his old tricks again. This past fall he shot a wedding where both the Bride and Groom were car enthusiasts. He decided to make a fun chase scene out of a photo from the reception, and this video shows his process in Photoshop.
Josiah waited until the formal pictures were done, then took the couple outside and had the bride pretend to drive while the groom panicked on the hood. He told me a little bit about his setup, and here's what he used:
"Canon 5D mkII, Canon 24-105 IS @ 35mm, f4, 1/50.
For flash I used 1 AlienBee 800, and aimed it straight up to bounce off the overhang. Made a nice fill. A happy accident was when a big bus pulled in behind us, it put a bit of a backlight that really helped make it pop! The whole thing took around 5 hours in PScs6."
Below is the original image used, follow by the final.
You can friend and follow Josiah on facebook.
When is this fad going to end?
It's a fad yes, but at least someone is putting some work into it. The end product for the couple is something that is pretty nice.
It looks like what my 14 years old cousin can do with Ps.
Impressive amount of work but the result still isn't wedding worthy IMO...
Appreciate you taking the time to check it out anyways guys!
Isn't wedding worthy? You have weddings where people spend $500 for a photographer all the way up to $15,000 for a photographer.
How do you know how much the client was charged to say this wasn't worthy of what they paid?
Beyond that, I think it's pretty good. Is it the best composite ever? No, but I'd like to see what your 14 year old cousin is doing that is so much better.
reflection on the road is all wrong!
Thanks for checking it out Michal! What would you have done differently with the reflection? Always looking to improve!
everything should reflect in vertical line. you started good, by spliting image in to two pieces in the reflection, but the one with the door of a car and a wheel arch should be skewed bottom edge to the left. Look at the image i`ve sent.
Makes sense! I'll keep that in mind for future projects. Thanks for the tip!
#bloodTears T_T
Nice work Josiah, thats called creativity.
Thanks Stephen! It was a fun project to work on!
hmmmm I can see the creativity in this! Good job!
However, if you pay more attention, you may find that the helicopters may not be that small and the perspectives in this image are also wrong.
You may want to take a few photos with the same sets and poses as references, so that you can do better next time.
@disqus_Dp9npGp4Ds:disqus appreciate the feedback! Always learning, and always aiming to improve. And I do other composite work as well, this was just a couple that knew some of my other work and asked for a fun image. I don't normally do this with every wedding. Thanks for taking the time to write!
at least there wasn't the usual catch word in the topic, like they usually have here. like "amazing", "impressive" or "the best you'll see this week".
Phenomenal!
This I'll agree with. I'm not knocking anyone's work(in fact I'm impressed a lot here) but it's unfair to them to over-hype it for the sake of hits.
So sick of so many photography SNOBS on Fstoppers who can't recognize hard work and other forms of art. This guy's an artist, just like the rest of us here, and there's no reason to diss! These disrespectful, complaining film-holes can go back to their elementary kids' studio portraits and stop all the hate :)
Keep it up, Josiah! I totally understand how much work goes into projects like this.
Thank you for the kind words and encouragement Jeremy!! Appreciate you stopping by and checking it out! Always exciting to get feedback. (both positive and negative.) Always looking to grow!
I'll happily be a snob. When I look at my parents and grandparents' wedding pictures, they are simple and timeless. They have pictures of family members that have long passed dressed in their best clothes and it's a glimpse into a happy day that will never return. Assuming the marriage lasts (and we all know that's a big if), some day, maybe 20 years from now, maybe 60 years from now, people are going to look back at these pictures and have no idea why their parents and grand parents were running away from "zombies". It'd be as silly as beanie babies and garbage pale kids.
We all did embarrassing things while growing up, but it's one thing to do it as kids and quite another as hipsters who will eventually grow up.
I understand what you're saying and would totally agree with you IF this was the only picture they received. But, this was only 1 fun photo for them to enjoy. I still delivered "classic" pictures throughout the entire day. Plenty of the "simple and timeless" ones as well.
I know this type of crazy picture isn't for everyone, but if a Bride and Groom specifically ask for something fun like this, I am always more than happy to do it! Anyways, thanks for checking it out and commenting!
I think you are forgetting that everything we do is for our customers, not our own egos. If his customers wanted a shot like this, why should he say "no" just because some dude on the internet said it wasn't "timeless"?
Thanks for taking the time to share your images and technique here.
I don't think I will ever understand why people are so critical about different techniques. If you like the image or some elements of it, here is someone that is willing to share. Use what you like. If you don't like it or it's not for you, move on to something else.
In my opinion all you are doing is discouraging people from sharing in the future.
Thank you Aaron! It's all good, not everyone needs to love it. The wedding couple were thrilled, and I was excited to share it! That's what it's all about anyways :) I really appreciate the nice feedback!
Very nice! Just missing a driver in the police car! :)
It's a Google car? #excuse :) Haha, thanks for checking it out!!
Police car is not at the correct angle as the scene making it look akward.
@jimmyschaefer:disqus Thanks for the observation man! I'll try to keep angles even tighter for my next project. Always looking to improve!
yeah maybe the new photoshop CC perspective tool will help out a lot now.
@jimmyschaefer:disqusYeah man, I saw that! Excited to work with it. I really think it will help me get there!
Great work! As someone who shoots more "old school" (film) and uses Photoshop sparingly, I admire the vision, patience and care shown here. In a world where everyone with a camera phone is a self-proclaimed photographer, standing out from the crowd is difficult, especially anyone trying to earn a living from photography. Giving a client what they love and pay for is what it's all about!
@disqus_xq74WzLwon:disqus Thank you so much for checking it out and for commenting! I love having feedback from more traditional photographers as well!!
why
@Felipe_Paredes:disqus Because the Bride and Groom asked for it, and I thought it was a fun idea. :)
Of course, I respect that, and is a good job. Coming from a diferent culture where getting married is something much more personal, intimate. This kind of things make seems weddings in the USA, like a big show/parade. Is just dificult to understand, and I'm sure it makes wedding photography more dificult. sorry for my english by the way.
@Felipe_Paredes:disqus Thanks! I totally understand what you are saying. This really was only 1 fun photo for them though. I still shot hundreds throughout the day in a more "classic" wedding style. They just wanted to a have a fun image to be crazy with. :)