BTW if you don’t get the last image, ಠ_ಠ

BTW if you don’t get that it’s a Reddit thing.  I’m blatantly ripping off this genius.

iso50, f1.4, 1/1600s @24mm

I love shooting at iso 50 on prime lenses in bright daylight.  The 24mm I have is the older one, which means I get free vignetting.  Here is the post-processed image:

And just so you can see the original image:

You can see that the vignetting is natural in camera.  I underexposed the couple enough to get the blue sky, only peaking the white surrounding them.  I’m shooting in JPG, so I don’t have much leeway otherwise.  The couple still has enough detail to pull in post, with iso50 giving me almost no noise at all in the shadows.  I just have to mostly watch for the JPG compression to break down my gradations.

This last Sunday I shot with Judy for her very first wedding. We were up in Pasadena and the Station fire was in full swing at the time (I think less than 10% contained at the time). Before we left that night I promised myself I would get an image with the fire in the background, and here it is:

Yeah, this one was a bit difficult to nail. For the photogs out there, I was at:

Canon 5D mk2 w/ 85mm f1.2
iso5000, f1.4, 1/20s handheld

This was all done with natural light.  I choose the high iso because of the lack of tripod of course, but I had little leeway otherwise. I wanted to stop down the aperture, but 1.4 was the furthest I could go before losing the image.

I hope this inspires other people out there to:

1. take advantage of the environment
2. push your equipment outside of your comfort zone

BTW, the noise looks worse than it is.  At 21MP, the noise is smoother as a print.  The interpolation used for resizing added more texture to the sky than you’d normally see.  Happy shooting!

Here is Cristina’s mom putting earrings on her daughter.

They had their wedding ceremony at the St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Catholic Church in Lomita.  Here is Daniel, waiting at the end of the aisle.

We did some couple shots at Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes.  The gazebo at Malaga Cove is beautiful.

After that we hopped over to La Venta Inn for the wedding recpetion.

For some reason, every cake looks great at the La Venta Inn.

Cristina’s brother had a ’67 Dart that was fully restored.  That’s a sweet way to ride around.  There were a few compliments at Malaga Cove while we were there.

This picture is more static, but I love the view from the top of the hill.  You can see the whole bay.

Here is a pic from their first dance.

This picture was actually later on in the night when they were dancing by themselves.

And of course you can see the whole wedding here:

Preparation
Ceremony
Formals
Couple
Reception 1
Reception 2

Locations: Lomita, Palos Verdes, Malaga Cove, La Venta Inn

Judy nailed this super sweet shot while Steph was getting ready

And Stephanie’s grandparents sitting outside her room

Another awesome shot by Judy from the end of the aisle

This was a great after-ceremony moment between the two of them

Stephanie really cared for the couple shots, so she made sure we had plenty of time to wander the grounds.

This tree is the reason that she booked Rancho Capistrano

This was during the first dance

They had a grand sendoff with flower petals.

And you can see the whole entire wedding with the links below:

Preparation
Ceremony
Formals
Couple
Reception 1
Reception 2

Here’s Darryl teasing her right before the first kiss.  The pastor gave him an opening by saying that they would seal the union with a kiss.  Darryl played around with that one…

Some of the bridal party helped me test out my lighting and busted out this pic, rap album status.

This one just moved to Los Angeles and needed a quickie headshot

I don’t know if you understand how cool this is below.  These are mini Eggo waffles with fried chicken doused in syrup.  Wow.

And here are cheesecake squares with lollipop sticks in them.  Really good.

Here’s Darryl going to down on the dance floor.

yeah, really going to town

And you can see all of their wedding photos in the galleries below:

Preparation
Ceremony
Postceremony
Reception 1
Reception 2

iso50, 1/5000s, f1.4 @ 24mm – The natural defects in Canon’s original 24mm f1.4 creates free vignetting for deep blue skies.  Try shooting wide open at times where you aren’t supposed to.

iso400, 1/1000s, f1.2 @ 85mm – Custom White Balancing knocks out the green and blue tones from the shade.

iso400, 1/1600s, f1.4 @24mm – example showing to look for free glow in bright light, especially with white lace and veils.  Just be careful how much you are blowing out though

iso800, 1/250s, f1.4 @ 85mm - just a good moment of Steve Hoffmann getting a great shot (he’s laughing from the bridesmaids being silly)

iso800, 1/800s, f1.2 @ 85mm – EVERY wedding photographer should have this type of image.  I used to do this one with my Canon 10D with the 50 f1.4, so you don’t need an 85mm f1.2 on a full-frame body to get it.   Shoot wide open and wait for flowergirls to look up at their parents or at the bride.  And yes, I do want to add some contrast.  Note that the white balancing is custom to deal with the blue shade and a touch of orange from inside hotel lighting.

The next series of images are harder to pull, since I used Alien Bees (studio strobes) outdoors with my Pocket Wizards and Hypersync jammed to -2500 microseconds.  But note the alternate light source coming for the side opposite of the ocean.

iso50 1/3200s, f1.4 @24mm – The sun is on the right and the AB is on the left firing at full power (about 40 feet away and 15 feet up).  Post would definitely use some fill light for the girls’ faces.  Not as pronounced as the upcoming images.

iso50, 1/3200s, f1.4 @ 24mm – note the light trailing the whole side of her face and body.  It adds dimension, though it doesn’t crop Hoffmann out of the picture .  Notice the rich blue tone of the sky, especially wide open.

iso100, 1/1600s, f2.8 @78mm – this just shows how composition is really important.  Look outside the box, or in this case through the cracks.  All this needs is a quick contrast adjustment to make is moodier.

iso160, 1/8000s, f1.4 @ 24mm - yes, this is a strobed image at 1/8000 of a second.  The crop from the hypersync being so high is actually on the right side of the image, or intentionally placed on the part of the image that doesn’t need it.  You can see the strobe’s light on her face.

iso100, 1/8000s, f1.4 @ 24mm – Not an amazing picture, but an important moment.  Make sure you are ready for that all-important after ceremony “we did it” kiss.  It doesn’t get more genuine than that.

iso200, 1/640s, f2.8 @ 160mm – Pay attention to the moments during formals.  This is where a second photographer or having a second camera on your shoulder pays off.

iso100, 1/1600s, f2.8 @ 70mm – Again, think outside of the box.  Plus it let me crop out the insane number of tourists on Laguna Beach on an April weekend.

iso100, 1/1000s, f2.8 @ 200mm – this image is here to talk about controlling backgrounds.  F2.8 at 200mm will mush out most backgrounds in a nice blur, especially if you are closer to the couple.  I used the ocean as a backdrop, since it looks nicer than hotels and sunbathers (well, some sunbathers).  Exposure is insanely important here, since too much gets you white faces and too little means dark faces (which means more noise when you do post).

iso100, 1/1000s, f2.8 @ 200mm – same as above, though use moments to get natural faces.  Also, any lower on the exposure would make her shaded face unusable.

Now this is where things get kinky.  Again, no post done to these images.

iso800, 1/8000s, f1.4 @ 24mm – Sun coming from right, AB strobe on left.  I get free vignetting from my 24mm.  The glow is from the mixing light sources that took me a few test shots to nail down.  Note that the falloff on the dress and hands is from the second-curtain sync.  I love this image.

iso200, 1/250s, f1.4 @ 24mm – This time I’m using my strobe (all the way up on that ledge) to glow my bride while she gets bustled.

iso500, 1/60s, f1.4 @ 24mm – Yes I know this one is backfocused, which also shows off the unpleasant chromatic abherration from the 24mm (fixed in the mk2).  More important is that this image is very usable with minor post (sharpen, b&w, pull in shadows).

iso500, 1/100s, f1.4 @ 85mm – Again, I’m glowing her.  Whites are totally blown, but the skin tones rock.

iso500, 1/100s, f1.4 @ 85mm – Again, nice rimlight and glow.  I like the slight forward focusing on the bracelet, though I know I shouldn’t have done it.  But I’ll fix that when Canon gives me an AF system that doesn’t par with my 30D.

If you have any questions, leave comments or toss me an email.  You can also call to talk shop, but make sure it’s at night (I’m a night owl).

They had a friend hook them up for the lovely house on Newport Beach.  After the ceremony on the sand we went to the Fun Zone in Newport Beach for photos.  Oh yeah, they have been waiting twenty years for this … it’s a long story.

You can see more of their photos here in an online gallery.

As per Jewish tradition, here is their ketubah signing  during the ceremony.

Russell is the guy on the left and I did his wedding earlier this year.   I always get goofy photos from him.

You can find more pictures of their wedding here