Wedding Photography

With just under three weeks left until the deadline of our 2011 Behind The Scenes Contest, our readers are really hitting it into high gear by turning in some awesome videos! Some of the ideas you guys come up with are really clever and a refreshing alternative to the boring "glamorized music videos" we receive daily. Wedding photographer Jaroslav Repta (based out of Bratislave, Slovakia) recently filmed an entire wedding from the perspective of his camera by mounting a GoPro Hero on his DSLR. Having started off as a wedding photographer myself, I found it really interesting to watch some of the conditions Jaroslav had to work in, and how his creative eye made the most of every situation. Weddings are tough with harsh sunlight one second and low light action the next, but Jaroslav shows how he (and tons of other fstoppers) work quick to find an interesting image. Love or hate weddings, I think everyone will get a kick out of seeing the hustle and bustle required at every wedding.

Joe Buissink is one of the most sought-after wedding photographers in the world. The LA-based photographer has shot for Christina Aguilera, Hilary Swank, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Spielberg, and this week he catches up with Fstoppers to tell us about breaking into the industry at the age of 45, shooting Annie Leibovitz’s sister’s wedding - no pressure, right? - what separates the pros from the amateurs, and why wedding photography is an art. Jump To The Full Post to read my exclusive interview.

It's no secret that Lee and I started our photography careers as wedding photographers. Regardless of what anyone says, photographing weddings is an excellent way to sharpen your photography skills since there are so many different types of shots you can plan throughout the day (and make a great living doing it). Usually when you first arrive at a wedding, the first photos your client will probably want you to capture are detail and candid getting ready shots. Superstar wedding photographer Jasmine Star recently released a great video outlining how she approaches these must have shots. If you are a guy then it's probably great advice hearing this from a female perspective so you know what's important to capture. And if Jasmine is reading, what's up with stealing our backgound?

For some reason people still like to send us videos of photographers using the worst possible camera the iphone for their photoshoots. It's been proven time and time again that you actually can produce some really great images with the most simple of cameras. As a wedding photographer myself, I'll admit, I was a bit shocked at just how good some of these images look in this video. Of course there is no super shallow depth of field, tight reaction shots, or reception strobe images but this still put a smile on my face. And I will even go as far as saying that this presentation even looks better than some wedding photographers' work I've come across during my own career. From the looks of it the bride and groom still had a traditional photographer on hand too so I'm sure the event was well covered. What do you guys think: are you confident enough in your photography skills to pull something like this off?

No matter if you are photographing people in a wedding, an advertisement campaign, a fierce fashion spread, family portrait, or just a headshot, chances are you are going to need your subjects to show a real human emotion. Throughout my own photography career, I have realized that only about 1% of people can turn on a fake emotion that comes across as genuine in the final photo. The remaining 99% of the population have to experience an expression real time as it happens spontaneously. Jasmine Star is one of the most successful and trend setting wedding photographers on the scene right now and she has created a great video explaining how she strategically fools her clients into "moving into a pose". This technique can work with everyone from normal people to professional models, but where you will really see this sort of coaching succeed is with people who are self conscious and camera shy. Get them to focus on your funny personality or another human interaction around them and let your shutter roll! Do you have any phrases or techniques you have found successful time and time again? Share them in the comments

A few weeks ago Lee and I went out to Las Vegas to club it up check out WPPI which is the largest wedding convention in the US. While out there we were able to meet quite a few of our readers, check out the new gear at the Photoflex booth, and play with a lot of new photo related toys. One of the photographers we met was Michael Corsentino who teamed up with Photoflex in this behind the scenes video on outdoor bridals. Michael is using the new Photoflex Triton Flash along with an octabank and a stripbox to create some studio style portraits outside.

Behind the Scenes: Unique Bridal Portraits w/ Michael Corsentino and Photoflex from Photoflex on Vimeo.

Lee and I are wrapping up our trip to WPPI in Las Vegas which is basically the largest wedding convention in the US. So today after meeting with tons of wedding professionals we thought it might be fun to showcase an underwater bridal shoot. Jonathan Ryan is a wedding photographer in Canterbury, England and in this video he is using a few strobes, a Nikon D3, and our favorite Ewa-Marine underwater housing to take some unique bridals underwater. It's pretty interesting to see how Jonathan syncs his strobes underwater since radio transmitters are pretty much useless around water.

Wedding videography is no longer the boring handycam crap it was a few years ago. Visual Masterpiece takes us behind the scenes on their latest wedding video and gives us fantastic details into what it really takes to produce a video at this level. Shooting the footage itself is hard, but the editing is really what makes their videos shine. Check out the full post to see the finished product.

Today, it is pretty common for a couple getting married to hire both a wedding photographer and videographer. When I meet a videographer for the first time I usually try to feel him or her out and figure out the best way that we can work together as team. In most cases we can both work to create great memories for our clients, but, if the videographer happens to step into my shot and ruin a picture, I have no choice but to begin to punch him in the face. If he attempts to fight back I am then forced to smash his video camera. This may be a little hard to understand so check out the video below for a great example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLK0TbVY6Ik<

For those of you that don't know, I am a wedding photographer. I have been a wedding photographer for about 6 years now and believe it or not, I actually like it. Wedding photography has given me so much freedom in my life and has allowed me to start new projects like Fstoppers.com. Patrick and I are going to begin creating behind the scenes videos that pertain to wedding photography in the near future and we plan to cover everything from starting a business from scratch to delivering the final product. I didn't create the video below for Fstoppers; I actually created it for potential clients that may not have the opportunity to meet me in person before booking me. I realized that I only get a chance to meet about 50% of my clients before the day of their wedding. That's the downside with booking weddings outside of the state. I hope that you enjoy taking a closer look at what my life is currently like. More wedding videos will be posted soon.

Lee Morris of R.L. Morris Weddings from FStoppers on Vimeo.

Now before you decide that you aren't interested in wedding videography let me say that StillMotion's work is unlike anything you have ever seen before. If you are a fan of flim and story telling then you will be blown away by what this team is capable of creating out of totally candid moments. Watch the informative video below and click on the full post to see their last 2 wedding trailers.

an intro to shooting a ceremony with EOS // canon cinema caravan from stillmotion on Vimeo.

Chase Jarvis has started a really cool idea called Creative Live in which he gives back helpful information to other creative individuals. In this video Chase sits down with Jasmine Star who is one of the top wedding photographers in the business. I first came across Jasmine through David Jay and instantly fell in love with her. I love how they express their frustrations with living a typical 9 to 5 lifestyle and how professional photography allowed them to live the life they wanted to live. Just like them, I too went to school for something compeletely opposite of photography, and it was conversations like this that eventually lead me to change my career path to become the photographer I am today. Chase says it really well when he says, "There is no prescription for how you get to become a photographer." This video is not about fstoppers and shutterspeeds but rather about how to take control of your life and your passions and turn them into a business. I know wedding photography often gets a bad wrap but through wedding photography, I have been able to support myself financially every weekend and still have time to pursue other fields of photography during the week. Jasmine Star's story is about as good as it gets, and it's inspiring to hear her share her success story with everyone so candidly. I hope you guys enjoy this video as much as I have and I'm only half way through it! <

Stillmotion is a group of photographers turned videographers whose work literally knocks me out everytime I see it. Watching their final products is sure to change your view of wedding photographers in general, and for me personally, they make me feel like I have no clue what I'm doing behind a camera. Check out this BTS of them working on a Trash the Dress session and click on the post to see what they can do with a full wedding. It's absolutely amazing!

||StillMotion||BehindTheScenes|| from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

Carsten Fleck teams up with Project Runway finalist Carol Hannah to shoot her very first bridal collection. Click on the post for more details about how he shot this series.

Carol Hannah Bridal Spring/Summer 2011 from Fina TV on Vimeo.