I'm really looking forward to photographing a wedding at the Hotel Du Vin this weekend. I'll be taking a new second photographer along with me this time. It will be really handy to have him to carry my kit around as I plan on using some big lights for the formals. Shooting weddings in winter can be a real pain due to the lack of light. I'll be bouncing flashes off the walls and ceiling rather than counting on high ISO wide apertures. The quality of light can be very natural and lighting is what good photography is all about.

Labels: Bristol, Equipment, Gear, Guide, Techniques, Thoughts, Wedding Photography, Wedding Photography Locations

So I recently needed a new bag for my wedding photography and this is what I bought. The Lowepro D400 AW Stealth Reporter. I already own a Lowepro Vertex 200 AW which almost carries the lot. The problem with a rucksack for the wedding photographer is that:

a) A rucksack can be quite bulky and certainly isn't discrete. Sure, I will pack it with everything to travel to the venue but then I'd take what I need and leave it somewhere secure.
b) Changing lenses takes way too long. To have to take the bag off, unzip it, switch lenses, zip it back up, put it back on will mean you miss the moment every time.

So I decided on buying a shoulder bag mainly because I need to change lenses on the go. Sure I use two cameras with two lenses but you still want to switch the wide-angle to the telephoto from time to time. I bought it from Jacobs Photography in Bristol on Whiteladies Road. The staff were really nice and they also had the 550AW and the 600AW. Whilst I had my mind set on the 550AW going in to the shop I quickly decided against it.

Sure it was a lot more capacity for a very small amount of money more however I wasn't prepared for how big it was! It genuinely is a lot bigger than the 400AW. To the point where it becomes the kind of bag you use for carrying a lot of gear from point A to point B rather than the kind of bag you carry around with you on the go. Not to mention that using a shoulder bag to carry gear around puts you under a lot more strain than a rucksack. Still, if you carry your camera(s) in your hand, or on another strap using this as a lens bag makes perfect sense in my mind.

The 400AW carries a 70-200/2.8 attached to the body (a 5DMKII) without any problems. I don't think it would carry a 300mm or a 100-400 though.

Whilst the image shows what I have in it, I would say you could carry another lens if you needed to. In addition there is a lot of space for wedding photography business cards, memory cards, a rocket blower and other small stuff.

Anyway, I hope this has been useful. Let me know what you think.

www.bertpalmer.com
Bristol Wedding Photographer

Labels: Bristol, Equipment, Gear, Thoughts, Wedding Photography

So Adobe have announced the third version of Lightroom, even if it is beta this shows some of the new features. What am I most looking forward to?

Well the watermarking will mean that I no longer have to export to Photoshop which will be a big time saver.
Being able to publish to flickr is really nice. Probably not that much of an importance for the business but its nice to have this feature integrated. I guess Facebook will be next...

Exporting a video slideshow will also be nice. I do hope that they integrate some nice new transitions. I like Ken Burns don't get me wrong, but some funky features like that have in iMovie would be well received.

The printing module looks excellent, hopefully this will save me a lot of time when it comes to making albums in the future.

All in all it looks like a nice update, especially if the speed is improved on. Especially when it comes to rendering the photos for input and output as this is a big bottleneck in my workflow. Unfortunately this could well be due to my ageing Macbook Pro, but I'm currently in denial!

Labels: Bristol, Equipment, Gear, Thoughts, Wedding Photography

When I first moved to Clifton in Bristol (an area I love by the way!) I decided to make myself a gear list. It was a new start, both in location and in full time career and a shiny, new bag full of gear seemed to be in order. It was a wish list of my most wanted gear. My plan was to take as much of my disposable income as possible and buy the gear now, at the beginning. Then in the coming year the profit would be put back in to the business, marketing, hard drives, a new printer and maybe a wedding fair. O... and wages...

I've shot 12 weddings so far this year and I'm turning away clients for 2010 because I'm fairly well booked up. I've also done a fair bit of second shooting and have a pretty good idea what gear I need. So it was a bit of a surprise when I opened my gear 'wish list' and looked through all of my 'must have' items.

It really blew me away that my list had changed considerably in 9 months. Firstly my new list is a lot smaller. A quick estimation shows that I have probably saved around £4,000. Gone are the desires for the 85mm f1.2 L lens, 15mm f/2.8 fisheye and the 50mm f/1.2 L. I don't need a full set of studio lights, nor ETTL compatible triggers for my 4 speed lights.

I'm even considering selling the 16-35mm f2.8 L zoom lens I own, but it does come in useful at times. So how did my needs change? Practically I simply wouldn't want to cart the weight of all this gear around with me. It would have been quite a burden and a bit of a worry to have to leave it around because I couldn't carry it. I also rented a few lenses and borrowed some others to see whether they worked for me before purchasing. Some worked really well and others just didn't suit my style.

My advice to anyone in a similar position would not be to rush out and buy the gear. You might surprise yourself and save yourself some money if you work with what you have and try renting gear.

Labels: Bristol, Equipment, Gear, Guide, Thoughts, Wedding Photography

So I've finally purchased the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens for use on my full frame Canon 5DMKII. I'm really going to try and make sure that is the last lens I buy this year (with the possible exception of the Canon 50mm f/1.4 as an upgrade.) Why is this the best lens for a wedding photographer? Well there is no 'best lens' per se, however there is an obvious gap in my lens lineup and I KNOW with all my heart that this lens will get a lot of use when it comes to the Wedding formals.

Luckily I managed to have a quick play with one a few days ago in the Bristol flickr meetup. One of the members very kindly lent me theirs and whilst I didn't get the opportunity to fully put it through its paces due to the low light I can see why people like it so much.

It's the optimum wideness for group shots, but also very reasonable for zooming in all the way for a few portraits. Perviously I have had to swap lenses here. With the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 L II for the wide shots and the 80-200mm f/2.8 L lens for the portraits. This is really going to save me a lot of time at this part of the wedding.

Whilst I've yet to review my copy I got it at an excellent price on eBay of £724 inc P&P. The reviews I have read from both friends and other forums online have been glowing in their praise.

Well hopefully I'll get a good copy and a review will follow.

Labels: Bristol, Equipment, Gear, Thoughts, Wedding Photography

I thought I would put a quick blog post together to mention the focusing test chart. I recently played with it and was happily surprised to see that all of my lenses (except one) focussed perfectly.

I expected the 80-200/2.8 to not fare so well - as it seems to slightly back focus. I have been planning to upgrade this lens for some time and that day may be coming quicker than I thought! At least this gives me a genuine opportunity to test the micro adjust feature on my Canon 5DMKII.

I use this lens for a lot of my weddings in Bristol and do occasionally see a shot not being 100% when using this lens. It's a shame as the qualities of it are exceptional. This test chart is a great resource and I recommend trying it, if only for piece of mind.

Labels: Bristol, Equipment, Gear, Techniques, Thoughts, Web, Wedding Photography

I have owned my most recent ipod for the last 5 years. Unsurprisingly it is pretty worn out. Typically a 2-3 hour battery life on a good day, it only charges with Firewire and only syncs with USB so I have to use two cables. The unit crashes intermittently, and unless you plug it back in to the computer it won't restart...

So I was browsing Bristol's shopping district the other day and found myself in the Apple store... 30 mins later I walked out the proud owner of an iPhone (32GB, 3GS, Black if you care!) I was tempted to only get the iPod touch as I already have a phone, but having to carry around two devices is a bit of a pain. That and the fact that the rumour sites are saying a new iPod touch will be released in a month or two swung it for me...

Luckily the upgrade cycles for camera lenses aren't as frequent as iPods and when you buy a lens it tends not to deteriorate unless you treat it badly. So the next lens on my shopping list is the Canon 24-70mm L lens. Unfortunately I don't have the stomach to buy it as rumours have been circulating for a long time that a second version of this lens will be released with IS.

Deciding when to purchase new gear is always hard, but having to continually postpone the purchase because you think there may be something better coming out is a real pain Especially when you could he out there making great photos.

The problem is buying a new lens and have it fall in value by almost half because a new version is released. This is a big dilemma! I hate the feeling of buying something new only for a better version to be released within a month, and quite often for a cheaper price.

Personally I'm going to wait until the 24-70/2.8 II L is released and make the most of the gear I have. With a few lenses a good wedding photographer ought to be able to get a good shot out of any wedding situation. That doesn't mean I am happy about it though!

Labels: Bristol, Equipment, Gear, Thoughts, Wedding Photography

I was having a few drinks the other night with some photographer friends of mine in the Alma pub in Bristol. After a few ciders a heated discussion took place about whether wide aperture lenses were essential for wedding photography? Should you buy the 16-35/2.8 over the 17-40/4 when it is twice the price, for essentially a poorer lens in terms of image quality and focal length? This decision tends to come down to a price consideration because lenses with wide apertures almost always cost more. Although getting started in the photography business is probably quite cheap compared to other businesses good lenses probably still cost £600-£1000. When you need three or four of these, a good body, the hardware and software to process and print your photos we are not talking about a 'small' amount of money. So when it comes to making the investment the choice is never easy. So why are wide aperture lenses desirable?

They allow you to get a faster shutter speed in low light situations. In most weddings there is almost always a part of the wedding that is indoors. So a wider aperture lets more light in to the camera which means a faster shutter speed. Pretty essential unless you want blurry shots.

Secondly, wide apertures help create a smaller, more artistic depth of field. To many this can make an image seem more artistic and distinguishes the professional from the amateur point and shoot. A small depth of field is a harder thing to achieve here and is a technical matter due to the sensor size and quality of lens found on most point and shoot cameras.

Can you get by using a wider aperture such as f/4? Sure can can. It really comes down to the personal choice of how much money you are prepared to spend on your equipment. Personally I am of the frame of mind that you may as well buy the best - especially if there is a business need. I know myself well and if I buy something which isn't quite what I need to do the job, I end up spending more money in the long run upgrading.

Labels: Equipment, Gear, Thoughts, Wedding Photography

I never got serious about photography before the digital revolution. Sure, I developed prints in smelly chemicals at school and enjoyed the unpredictability of the prints but being at school I didn't have the personal resources to get truly involved. From what I understand part of the beauty of film was the quality of the resulting image. More recently people with a greater technical knowledge than I are saying that we are coming close in the digital world to what we had with film.

Walking through Bristol yesterday I saw a local photo company advertising their work in the local Sainsburys. There were some beautiful pieces of art, all printed at A3 and mounted on the wall. They truly were eye catching and I stopped for a look.

One of my favourites was an 18 year old girl walking her dog in a studio scene. It really stood out to me, the colours were great, she looked at the camera like a model and her clothes were classically fashionable. It was an all round great image and almost any photographer would rightly put it in their portfolio.

However, it doesn't take much to spot the lack of detail in her face. I'm sure this was taken a few years ago and was probably taken with a camera with a lower pixel count than today's models. This was a real shame as the detail in her face will never be there and in my mind this REALLY let the photograph down. Sadly the grain/lack of detail was most evident in her face as her skin had been softened and someone had gone to work in photoshop to reduce the shadows under her eyes. This got me thinking about how important resolution is. I used to think the number of megapixels in the camera didn't really matter as long as it was over 8MP. In my mind many people were being duped by the manufacturers in to thinking they needed more in order to sell more cameras. After all, everyone knows you can make a good print out of a 8MP camera, right?

Well I'm certainly a believer in being able to make a good sized print out of an 8MP sensor (with a good lens), but since buying the Canon 5DMKII (for the ISO performance) my view has changed rapidly. The main reason I bought it was down the ISO performance. When photographing weddings, shooting in low light is always a problem. After shooting my first wedding I was not prepared to see the amount of detail in the resulting images. Details which weren't there before leapt out at me and the location shoots suddenly took on an extra beauty of their own.

Of course, resolution helps when you need to make a crop too, but it does have its down side. Certainly with the increase in the amount of smaller, compact pixels less light reaches them. This means you have to know the limits of your camera's ISO performance. Through some wizardry from Canon I feel happy shooting at ISO3200, although if I can shoot lower I will! Certainly with the crop sensor cameras the limits are a little lower but still pretty good these days.

This got me thinking about how important our art is to us. How much are we willing to spend to create 'quality' art and is it worth it? I have trouble justifying those £1K lenses and the £2K body but the personal satisfaction of getting the best possible image always excites me and wins over. I think this means a lot in the business of photography and the pride you put in your own work. Having said that the biggest most of the wedding prints are printed at is 8x10 and so a lot of detail goes unseen. That said, who knows what you will do with it in the future.

This isn't a suggestion that we all need to rush out and buy the camera body with the biggest megapixel count. But don't think that megapixels don't count.

Labels: Equipment, Gear, Thoughts, Wedding Photography

Everyone starting out in the business always wants to know 'What is the best lens for wedding photography.' I was the same, and it's an important question to ask. For me the ultimate wedding lens is the 24-70 f/2.8. Whether it is the Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L lens or the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 G ED it's the one you need to have in your bag.

Satisfied?

Let me explain my reasoning.

Firstly let me say that this lens is a safe choice because it is so flexible. There is no perfect lens for every wedding but if you are shooting with a kit lens and you're starting to do paid work consider upgrading to one of the above. If that's too much money then I have read good reviews about Sigma or other third party alternatives in the same range. But make sure it is a f/2.8 lens. I would also add that it is the best choice if you are shooting on full frame OR a crop sensor. This lens is a good all rounder and whilst it certainly can't do it all - it does enough. Being long enough for some nice portraits at a reasonable distance but also wide enough for group shots. Lastly the quality of the images in terms of sharpness, contrast and colour saturation is excellent.

Problems:
This lens will cap your creativity however and I obviously don't suggest you use it alone. You will need something longer to capture good portraits from the sidelines and also something wider for those extreme wide shots.

Plus points:
It will allow you to photograph all of the formals and plenty of other group shots and candids and if you are the main photographer then you will be sticking close to the bride and groom. This is where the 24-70 focal range comes in to play. I know we would all like to use primes but the flexibility of this zoom lens is very useful and as wedding photographers we need to be practical.

This wide aperture will also help for low light situations especially when hand held not to mention create an artistic depth of field. I have used this lens at Ashton Court in Bristol for a few weddings, it's an old hall and quite dark inside so the wide aperture is needed to let more light in but it also creates a really pleasing depth of field.

One point I would make is to scout out the location before hand. If it rains and you have to be inside then consider whether 24mm will be wide enough for large group shots? Maybe it will with full frame - but you may have to switch to a 16, 17 or 18mm lens for a crop sensor.

I would say that if you are more of a candid shooter then the 70-200 range will be a lot more useful, but there is no way you can do group shots with this. If you are the main photographer the 24-70mm range is probably the most useful for getting the 'must have' formal shots.

This lens is a multipurpose lens that will cover 90% of your needs. Obviously a good wide angle and telephoto are essential to spice things up with perspectives, angles and lens distortions. But for the safe shots the 24-70 holds its own.

I know this is a zoom lens, and if you wanted to know the best prime I would personally choose the 50mm on full frame.

Labels: Equipment, Gear, Wedding Photography

Living in Bristol, or the UK for that matter, unpredictable weather or just 'bad' weather is always to be considered. I suspect this is why most people schedule their wedding for the summer months, but all photographers must have a plan when it comes to poor weather. We all know that bright sunlight can be quite hard to work with, but what happens when you can't even step outside?

When you first meet for a couple for a wedding consultation always discuss their contingency plan regarding bad weather. It's not as if it doesn't rain here on earth from time to time. In most cases the contingency will be in the church or the reception under cover. However weddings can be outdoor events - or you may even want to embrace the weather for the feeling it can give to a photograph and the memory of the day.

Contingency
Check the weather forecast up to a week, every day until the day. This will help you plan in advance, including waterproofing to carry your gear in from your car to the wedding venue. Hopefully the venue will be nice enough for indoor photographs by using features such as the church alter, or if you are at the reception then use the buildings best features. This might be an old wooden staircase or a fireplace. If it doesn't have any good features then resort to your two best friends - window light and a plain wall with fresh flowers on either side of the group.

Protection
What happens if it is an outdoor event? The wedding venue is probably the best bet for finding shelter immediately after the ceremony. In honesty I think good local knowledge is essential here and one of the key reasons you should scout the location before the big day. If you have good knowledge of the local area you can find shelter in places such as picnic areas, underneath a porch or building overhang such as the church's entrance.

Gear
Again, this is perhaps another reason why a professional photographer needs professional gear. Basic weather sealing for your body and lenses means you don't have to be too concerned with some light rain or a few drops. Personally I'd be more worried about the bride's dress getting wet or people's hair do's than my gear because I know I am covered. I have seen other photographers use plastic bags with elastic bands around their camera. Whilst this is a legitimate way of protecting your gear I'm not 100% sure what it says for your image as a professional. Individual choice comes in to this but if you're shooting a wedding for £5,000 I'm not sure you can always get away with it. Even if you use a bag from John Lewis! When bad weather strikes I have my assistant hold the umbrella - that's all I'm saying...

If there is light rain and your clients are up for it then suggest shooting outside. I have managed this on one occasion and it worked well. Other times the weather was SO bad it couldn't have been an option but if I thought we could have got away with it I would have suggested it. One technical consideration is using flash in the rain. It can create specular highlights on raindrops in between you and the subject. You might want to do this for a few creative shots - but you probably won't want all of them to look like this.

Use it to your advantage
Now I don't want my clients to get absolutely soaked - unless they are up for it! But shooting in the rain can mean some really memorable, creative, fun photographs.

I would suggest buying some big umbrellas in preparation. Neutral colours work best as they don't distract but really it does come down to your style. Avoid logos at all costs and also be aware of any colour casts that might come from light shining through a coloured umbrella. Plastic see-through umbrellas may be another consideration for your funky brides... Again this is another opportunity to impress your clients with great service and creative thinking. When things don't go to plan I know you can really help make their day special in what might be quite a stressful situation. In some circumstances all you can do is embrace the rain and have fun.

You might be surprised at what you can create in such circumstances as thick clouds can be very atmospheric. Wet or poor weather isn't all that bad from a photographic perspective. Clouds add a lot of drama to a photo and I would prefer to have them in the picture than a plain boring blue sky. Recent rain can sparkle and make colours seem a bit more vibrant and certainly gives a very fresh feel. Bright sunlight just makes things looks washed out and flat.

One last tip is to try and calm the nerves of bride and groom. Having your one special day spoilt by gale force winds and torrential rain is awful, but a smile, joke and a laugh will ease the mood and the knowledge that you can produce good images inside or out should hopefully take some stress away - at least for them! Again, their feelings will probably come across in your photographs so it is very much your concern that they are looked after and treated as they should be!

Labels: Equipment, Gear, Guide, Techniques, Wedding Photography

There are two good reasons to prepare, plan and prepare.

Firstly everyone has heard of 'pre wedding nerves.' This applies to the wedding photographer too. It's good to be on edge, you don't want to be too complacent about how good you are. Equally you don't want your nerves to affect your performance. An effective way to control your nerves is to PREPARE yourself as much as you can. You will need to adjust to the events of the day and if something within your control goes wrong you need to have a backup plan. What happens if your camera dies, you run out of memory or batteries for your flash. What happens if it rains outside where you planned to do the formal shots? What happens if the guests keep looking at their friends taking pictures of them rather than you. What happens if your camera can't get the right white balance between daylight coming through the windows and tungsten?

You need to have answers to these kind of questions. Preparing your gear and researching the location will make you feel more confident about the event and rather than being distracted by your nerves you will be able to 'focus' on the job in hand.

The second reason is that if your plans go wrong then you have a physical backup or a backup plan. This is not psychological but very real! Having a backup for everything may seem like overkill but let me assure you it is not. Weddings only happen once and you can't even think about photographing one without serious preparation.

This is why if you drop your main portrait lens you have an alternative. Obviously you don't need to carry two of every lens, but if you crack your 70-200/2.8 then you can whip out your 100/2.8 macro and shoot with that. In short, do your best to be fully prepared so that if something happens you can rest comfortably in the knowledge that you were as prepared as you could possibly be.

As I mentioned previously things rarely go to plan on the day and you have to expect the unexpected and go with the flow. Whilst you need to memorise your list of formal shots keep a note of them and check them at the end of the wedding. If you forgot to take a shot of the groom and bridesmaids then you can check your list before the end of the wedding and organise an impromptu shoot.

The schedule often changes. Don't be surprised if the bride arrives 15 minutes late for the ceremony. This will impact on your 30 minutes of allocated time for a photoshoot and you will only get 15. Get the important emotional shots during and after the ceremony make sure you explain to the organiser or bride what has happened. They will help you to organise people and explain what has happened and ease the pressure on you so you can do the best job in the circumstances.

Don't get irritable if things don't go to plan. This doesn't help anyone and it is so true that the person in front of the camera mirrors the person behind it. Joke and have fun with them. Provide positive GENUINE feedback, chimp and adjust your subjects as necessary so that they feel good about themselves. Remember the more practice you have the less stressed you will be. The less stressed you are the less mistakes you make.

Labels: Gear, Guide, Techniques, Wedding Photography