Gracepoint Resources » Photography

Event Photography: Wedding

benkim — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:57:00 +0000

I shot my first wedding a couple weeks ago. Not for fun, but for real. Not “for real,” like I was the principal photographer (no way, that’s too much stress), but as a second photographer for candids.

I learned a lot doing this, and made a ton of mistakes too. Wanted to share some lessons learned, and also picked out a couple shots that made it into my final set and why I chose them.

Get a fast lens, preferably one with a substantial zoom. I used my 50mm f/1.4 and borrowed a 70-200mm f/2.8 for this event. Glad I did that. Lighting conditions in churches are often fantastically bad, and to get the shot I wanted, I needed a lens that could do event/indoor shots in sub-optimal lighting conditions.
I opted for no flash. Partially because I haven’t experimented with it and don’t feel so good about it. But also because I didn’t want to distract those who were attending nor the main players (bride, groom, officiant, etc.). I figured, I would be taking shots of the critical moments. The last thing they want is to see a flash bulb and blue light filling the moment.
Think through the shots you want before the event. It’ll help you get to the right places so you’re not scrambling and tripping over stuff during that important moment. I kicked myself after the actual event because there were a couple good shots that I didn’t think through, and consequently didn’t get. Total bummer. Jenny reminded me that a picture of the hands (especially as the older people are praying a prayer of blessing and protection for the bride) can communicate really powerfully.

Couple as part of the larger context, but in the background.

Laughter is one of those things that when you catch it, people simply understand it. It’s a different quality than saying, “Everyone look here: 1, 2, 3…”

It’s just funny seeing how happy the bride is here, in this symbolic gesture of binding the other person to herself. My one regret is not getting closer and framing the shot tighter.

I like it that Pastor Ed Kang is there in the background, clearly smiling, very happy for the new couple, taking their first steps together.

Flash inverse law…what?

benkim — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:57:00 +0000

This might make your head hurt a little bit but an interesting read and start on flash photography from Dustin Diaz. Although being able to use our 2.8 lenses is nice, I think it’s important to understand and learn how to use flash to create shots and do more. Here’s a pic I created with some off camera flash lighting and a small softbox.

How to shoot an event: MYT class 4

benkim — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:14:00 +0000

Here’s the final slides from class 4 from MYT in Photography. The 3 mini-topics were:
1) how to shoot an event
2) how to shoot a classroom setting
3) how to shoot with obstructions

Exposure slides from class 2 and 3

benkim — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Alrighty, slides posted! (thank you kev for covering class 2 for me). I added content re: relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture (see slides 22-27), the different metering modes from a Nikon screen (see slide 3). Please email with any questions, as well as further topics that I didn’t cover that you would like to see!

[Further Reading]

A Basic Look at the Basics of Exposure

DIY Bounce “Card” and Barn Door

benkim — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:38:00 +0000

This is a tutorial that a friend of mine made about how to make your own bounce card/barn door for your flash. He’s a canon shooter and did this for his 580EXII. pretty slick. it only cost him $2. And he gave me one for free! Of course, I bought him a hot chocolate at Starbucks to thank him. =)

You can find the original link here if you’d like:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22692750-Stofen-upgrade

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Composition slides from MYT class 1

benkim — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:06:00 +0000

I got the slides posted, finally, from our first class. Take a look to refresh your memory about what we went over. For those who couldn’t make class 1, please look it over before class 2.

Which picture(s) did you like, and why did you like them?

[Further Reading]

A Basic Look at the Basics of Exposure

Welcome! Gracepoint MYT Photography, Session 2

benkim — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:14:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

We’re going to spend 4 Fridays together learning the craft of photography! I hope you’re excited. I’m excited and a little nervous and humbled to be able teach you all, to tell you the truth.

I got started with photography in 1997 when I was still in college. I had a paid summer internship and so in the Fall of 1997, I bought my first SLR (single-lens-reflex) camera through the mail, bought a box of film at the student store, and shot like crazy, at really anything that moved. What I wanted to accomplish with a camera was document what my eyes saw. My favorite subject then was people within their context (more photo journalistic rather than portrait), their expressions, and their emotions. Taking pictures of people is still the most interesting subject for me.

Now I shoot with a little digital Canon P&S (point and shoot) and a couple of larger digital Nikon SLR for larger events such as G-Live or retreats or mission trips.

Please share with me what camera (and lens if it applies) you will be using, and 1 thing you want to learn to do after our 4 weeks together. Also please feel free to ask me any questions that you might have, and I’ll try to answer it for you. I’ll be mainly corresponding through this blog.

For the first class you don’t have to bring your cameras.

Thanks and I’m looking forward to hearing from you all.

Dennis.

Polarized Filters

benkim — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:30:00 +0000

I was at Lake Chabot this past weekend with my friends Jim and Kevan so I thought i would try out a polarized filter that i borrowed from a friend. I’m posting the same photo taken with the exact same parameters but only adjusting the ring of the polarized filter less than a 1/4 turn. Take a look. Pay close attention to the color of the sky and the definition of the clouds.

Lastly, here’s the pic of the one who got away. It was a behemoth of a fish. Large striped bass. Here are some pics from far away. The filter allowed me to take shots directly through the water, nearly impossible without it. I was about 100 feet away on the top of a hill peering straight down.

ND Filter

benkim — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:19:00 +0000

During my last trip to Yosemite I decided to try using an ND Filter throughout my trip. At the suggestion of Ken Rockwell, I went for the Tiffen 77mm ND .6 filter – pretty cheap off of amazon. I guess you could describe it as sunglasses for your lens. It helped to bring down the shutter/aperture to a more “normal” range for one so that I didn’t have to have crazy shutter speeds to compensate for the brightness of the scene.

But I think the best usage for me was capturing some of the incredible waters of Yosemite. The ND filter allowed me to really dial down my shutter to something like 1/8 or 1/5 so that I could capture some great pics of water flowing and looking slightly surreal and ghostly. Of course, this would have been ideal with a tripod but I made the best of it I could.

Flickr Slideshow

benkim — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:03:00 +0000

Here’s a quick post of how I do a collection of pics. To be honest I know I overuse this but it’s a quick/fast way for me to show off the pics from a trip without having to tell much of a story. I wish I had the time to do what Kairos did with their journey through their trip with pics, which I love. Also, at the end of their photo journal they have a cool array of pics which they did with a Wordpress Plug-in called Flickr Gallery.

Anyway, one website I use to generate slideshows like the one below, is Flickrslidr. You go to the website and fill out the simple form, which basically takes your flickr photo set and generates this nifty little slideshow with iframes.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.