Janet Klinger’s Photography Blog

For her bridal session, recent bride Lauren showed us her  grandmother’s bridal portrait, and wanted to do her own homage, so Janet photographer her in the studio for a classic vignetted white-on-white bridal portrait.

At her wedding reception, her grandmother’s portrait, along with other important family photos, were displayed on a side table; what a lovely way to weave family history into the wedding celebration!

For this week’s Photo Friday theme, rough, we couldn’t quite decide between showcasing a rough texture or a rough moment. So you get both!

Whether you shoot weddings, mitzvahs, or corporate events, working as a photo team has advantages. Since 1991 I wouldn’t consider working an event without an additional photographer. While the biggest benefit is having a second set of eyes to capture moments I might not see myself, or to cover a second location simultaneously, the advantages are many. However, before asking these more advanced responsibilities of team members, I like to make sure the basics are covered.

Here is my Top Fifteen “What every Photography Assistant and Shooter Knows” list I like all members of the JKP team to know from day one, helping keep not only the event running smoothly, but the post production time to a minimum.

1. Sync your camera Date/Time with the Primary Photographer’s camera before the event.
2. Count all pieces of gear before and after the event, including notating the number of CF cards. Put the numbers list in the “exposed CF cards” bag.
3. Only shoot macro close-ups at an aperture of 4.0 or less if you are on a tripod or are at a shutter speed of 1/125 of faster. (It helps to take off the heavy camera bag.)
4. Unless it is incredibly bright so that you are unable to get your desired aperture, you are usually better off shooting at ISO 400 than 100 (here in the great NW).
5. Unless you are going for a motion effect, or are capturing ambient light in a dark space, please shoot at a shutter speed of 1/45^th of a second or faster. If using a long lens, your shutter should be at least as fast as your longest lens capability until you know you can succeed otherwise. Example: if shooting a 24-70mm use a minimum shutter speed of 1/80. If a 70-200mm use a minimum shutter speed of 1/200.
6. Do not exceed ISO 1000 on Canon 40D and “below”. If you must choose a higher ISO, use the custom function “reduce noise”. Triple check your exposure when shooting in low light to avoid noise.
7. Everybody blinks. Shoot at least the number of subjects plus one, up to a max of eight exposures. 2 people= 3 exposures minimum, 5 people=6 exposure minimum, but 8 people=8 exposures.
8. Group shots (6 or more people, or 2 rows +) require a minimum aperture of 5.6 unless using a 20mm or wider angle lens where 4.0 is fine. (Obviously you can play with small depth of field making one or two people stand out, but don’t let this art shot be the only variation of a group.)
9. If shooting over the main shooters shoulder, use a radically different lens or your image will probably get rejected as a similar.
10. Use manual exposure when shooting against a window, large doorway, bright sky, or other back lit situation. In a pinch, simply stay on auto, set to over expose by 1-2 stops depending on the desired effect and amount of back light present. Work on checking exposure regularly to avoid forgetting to reset exposure.
11. Check your histogram at least once every new lighting situation to be sure you are capturing appropriate highlights and shadows. This is much more trustworthy exposure check than your preview.
12. To capture someone walking towards you, choose a shutter speed of 1/125 or faster, Al Servo mode, “all” focus points, and I prefer one shot mode for regular speed walking to select “the moment”, and a fast motor wind for a hustle walk, run or jump in combo with a shutter 1/250 or faster.
13. Download CF cards to portable drive as soon as full.
14. Keep CF cards/film on your person at ALL times, even when we shoot out of state weddings and hike, dine, or partake in other adventures. (Water related events we choose a third party to entrust with cards until we are safe and dry.)
15. While downloading to a portable drive immediately gives us a second copy of all images created, this is not a fool-proof system and therefore does not replace downloading each and every CF card individually to the main production hard-drive immediately upon arriving at the studio.

Now for the fun part- Let’s go shoot!

We’ve decided to start participating in the Photo Friday photo challenge. This week’s theme, Beauty, is doubling as a sneak peek at last weekend’s wedding, with this lovely natural light portrait of the bride, Meridith, in the dressing room

Janet’s next travel special will be August 16-20th, covering several beautiful and scenic locations in Oregon:

Lake of the Woods (by Klamath Falls) — One of Outside Magazine’s “Perfect 10″ family travel destinations

The unparalleled beauty of Crater Lake (only one Crater Lake session left, 10 AM on Monday the 18th.)

Ashland (home of the Shakespeare Festival)

(photographs courtesy Ashland Chamber of Commerce)

Contact the studio to schedule your session

Tricia won this two hour photo session while modeling gorgeous Luly Yang gowns during our Bridal Fashion in Fusion photo shoot. She invited her four close sisters to share in an opportunity to play together and show off their glamorous sides. One sister just had a baby (you’d never know) and one is about to have a baby. See. Glamour during and after baby IS possible. I feel so lucky to have met each of these five energetic, adorable women. We had so much fun giggling and collaborating on this sunny, warm Northwest wonderful day.

To see Tricia in Modeling action, visit our website, choose “Weddings”, then “Bridal Fashion”.

For all you 2008 and 2009 brides this sounds like a fun opportunity!

I do, I do, I do Want my own Professional Wedding Day Hairstylist. Describe the Wedding Day hairstyle you’ve always dreamed of. If selected, you’ll win your own professional Wedding Day Hairstylist compliments of Biolage, the official sponsor of the summer blockbuster Mamma Mia!

If you are interested, enter to win here! Contest ends October 1, 2008.