Behind the Scenes wedding photography tutorial

[boilerjack]

Make more videos like this- It was a great help.

[shutupandshootdp]

@boilerjack I have a lot more movies just not on youtube, I will soon be uploading them. I have also just added a photographers section to my own website at and will be adding them three for free also

[ny1fanta]

whats the thing called you have around your neck everything you look into the camera?

[shutupandshootdp]

@ny1fanta

Its a hoodman loupe and is a must for outside photography imho

[PhilCymro]

@shutupandshootdp - Maybe for wildlife, or in a war zone, but I don't think I'll be wearing one for a wedding. Doesn't quite go with my suit and tie !

[shutupandshootdp]

@PhilCymro horses for courses, I give my clients the choice of what I wear, a suit and tie or something I will climb trees in, lay in the snow in, lay in mud in, walk into the sea in etc etc, last year I wore a tux to a wedding at the Gherkin in London, a suite to a wedding and even morning dress to a wedding.  But my clients choose

[PhilCymro]

@shutupandshootdp - Fair enough. And the mobile strapped to your belt and that attractive earpiece thing? Is that in case you need to call Mountain Rescue or the RNLI ?

[shutupandshootdp]

@PhilCymro Nope wrong again. actually what that is a walkie talkie and my assistant has one also, that way when either of us sees something happening that the other does not, we can take photos of it and dont miss important shots. Since we spend most of the day apart it saves us yelling at each other or having to disturb others.

Anything else you want to pick at ?

[spikyhead180]

I have a quick question, while inside and the ceramony is actually going on, is it ok to use flash? or is it better to just do higher iso to not take away from the moment?

[shutupandshootdp]

@spikyhead180 I NEVER use flash during a ceremony and use higher ISO to make sure I dont. In the UK its frowned upon especially in churches. There is one very well known photographer teaching that you should ignor the vicar and just shoot away and use flash and I find that totally irresponsible

[spikyhead180]

@shutupandshootdp Well, I have seen different people, some say never and other say always. And I figured most people wouldnt want a flash going off every couple of mins. So the ISO sounds good! Thank you very much

[pekalek]

Really enjoyed the vid, and have taken a few tips from it too. Thanks :-)#

[TheEOSDigital]

Did the flash fires on the other camera? Was just wondering because the shutter is well too fast for the flash to sync I guess.

[shutupandshootdp]

@TheEOSDigital Hey, Actually you are wrong, I have my cameras set up to use the High Speed Sync feature of the camera system, this means that the flashes can and do work all the way up to an 8000'th of a second - albeit it at a reduced power. For the inside shots I was not using flash, if you notice you will see my light stick on the bed during a pan in the video - hope this helps

[cell9689]

Excellent video. I would like to know what Picture Style do you shoot in? One of the Gary Fong videos, he said to shoot in Neutral, which has no increase or decrease in anything, which will produce the most natural pictures. Assuming its the same for Nikon, is that what you shoot in?

Also. I didnt see a diffuser on your flash. Was that because you were outside, Do you use Diffusers indoors? For example-I use the Gary Fong Collapsible

[shutupandshootdp]

@cell9689 I dont use a picture style, I shoot in Raw. When i process the images in Light room, I adjust them to eye to what I want.

I generally dont use a diffuser at all - I tend to prefer to bounce my light to make it directional.

thanks for the nice comments

[FirebrandNIRE]

What lenses did you use during the shoot? and also what file format do you normally shoot in?

Great video and thx for sharing.

[shutupandshootdp]

@FirebrandNIRE Thanks for the comments, I shoot in Raw and typically on weddings I only use e lenses - a 24-70mm the 70-200mm and the 10-20 mm

[chrioii]

It's nice to find a photographer who is willing to teach us newbe's how you take such great pictures so fast. I learned a lot from the last post about the lenses you use. I have a canon 50mm 1.4, that I don't use much, it takes great pics and is very clear. I find I use my canon EFS 17-55, but still get a lot of noise. I also have acanon 70-300 1:2.8. I have good equipment but lack in using the time efficiently. I do a lot of post editing in LR & PS. I want to get it right the first time. Help.

[hbrookes]

24 frames just to get the B/G walking out of church? You would have never made any money shooting film..

[shutupandshootdp]

@hbrookes Thanks for taking the time to respond, Actually I did very well in the film days which is where I learned my trade - However I have adapted to the times and am not one of those dinosaurs that says back in the film days....... - some people need to realize the world has moved on and given us tools to do a much better job

[SalDaDrummr]

how many pictures do you usually take at a wedding?

[shutupandshootdp]

@SalDaDrummr normally between 700 - 900 photos taken at the average wedding. In this video this was pretty much all the formals that were shot for the couple and although there were lots of photos taken in an 18 minute spell that was the fastest shooting part of the day.

[MichelleKoebke]

should I choose? How do I know the relationship?

[shutupandshootdp]

@MichelleKoebke - this is a hard question and it comes with practice - generally I set my app and then use my camera meter to work out my shutter speed, shoot and then chimp

[MichelleKoebke]

What shutter speed

[shutupandshootdp]

@MichelleKoebke The shutter speed changes with every setting - I shoot manual and tend to choose an aperture to shoot in and then adust my shutter speed to get me to where I want to be at.

[ro22dri22go]

Thanks so much for your tips..

[ahuertaproject]

the images are so great, you are an awesome photographer! can you do a wedding gear checklist video?

[shutupandshootdp]

@ahuertaproject I will do one in a few weeks time, I am just moving into a new studio so time is limited however once I am fully moved in, there will be lots of new videos - keep watching

[shutupandshootdp]

@ahuertaproject - thanks much for the comments, I actually have a video that I will see if I can upload it on youtube - I have it on the other video service beginning with V but not on here

[Rocyka]

Great Turorial !! Finally a Photographer who wants to share. Although Im a WeddingPhotographer myself I really like to see how others work. It inspires !!

Im wandering how you meter light in outside situations. Spot, matrix or centre weighted?

Thanks so much for sharing

Cynthia (Rocyka Fotografie, Netherlands)

(Using Nikon D3s and D700)

[shutupandshootdp]

@Rocyka thanks much - this comes from shooting lots and lots of weddings and knowing and trusting your camera, i kind of know my meter in my camera inside out - I use center weighted metering and then chimp from there.

[BineDancing]

Hi Mike, i'm just curious about your camera-belt system. Is it a sniper?

[shutupandshootdp]

@BineDancing I use the camera slingers system, I have tried others but love the slingers

[ro22dri22go]

just great pictures!! your videos are amazing I was looking for something like this and now I find it!!!. I'm really new in photography but I love it.. I have a friend who is getting married nothing fancy just a simple wedding and he ask me to take pictures. I have a Nikon D5100 with the 18-55mm lense and tight budget so I want to buy a new lens which one would you recommend? I mean if you have to choose just one lens hehehe I know it sounds silly but it would be really helpfull for me ..

[shutupandshootdp]

@ro22dri22go Generally I only use 3 lenses when shooting weddings. I use a 10-20mm sigma 3.5 on a crop body which gives me a 16-35 or there abouts, I then use the 24 - 70mm and a 70-200mm - If I had to get only 1 new lens I would tend to go for a longer rather than wide, so would try to find something in the 200mm range.

[mikemusica]

I love this video. Thank you very much. It looks as the sun was shining pretty bright that day. Any reason why you shot ISO 400 as opposed to something lower? I'm a beginning wedding photog.

[shutupandshootdp]

@mikemusica

Hi Mike, good question - I shoot a nikon D3 camera so noise is not an issue till you get to about 4000 ISO - I often shoot at 400 - 1000 iso. This was strong and sunny but you will notice that most of the shots I positioned the couple in shade or with their backs to the sun - I use 400 there because I can open up a bit and bring in fill in a way I find really pleasing.

On shots like the confetti where they were in direct sunshine, I would have just forgotten to be honest ! ooops

[davidmorefield]

thank you! ive been searching videos for hours. This is exactly what i needed... a behind the scenes look where he directly gives notes and you can watch him think

[shutupandshootdp]

@davidmorefield

thanks much, will be adding a lot more of these really soon !

[donnarichens]

Hi, wanted to say great video! Have one question that is never much talked about, but really is worrying me...what drive mode do you use for walking down the aisle shots? I helped out on al wedding recently, and i just used normal one shot and although i managed to get a couple in proper focus, by the time the focus set they've moved! I have a wedding for a friend who has railroaded me into doing the photo's and these shots are worrying me most of all! I would really be grateful for any help?

[shutupandshootdp]

@donnarichens Hi, I only use single servo or one shot mode - for walking down the aisle I keep pressing the shutter button repeatedly half way for focusing then when ready to take the shot I press it fully down. I do tell the couples just before they walk down both bride and her dad and bride and groom on recessional to enjoy the walk, take it slow and look at everyone.

dp

[donnarichens]

@shutupandshootdp Hi, thank you so much for your help. Love your video tutorial. Would be great to see some on drive modes and metering modes in real situation photogrpahy. Not something i have found in any tutorials.

Will keep watching out for your great work, thank you again :-)

[donnarichens]

@shutupandshootdp Hi, thank you so much for your help. Love your video tutorial. Would be great to see some on drive modes and metering modes in real situation photography. Not something i have found in any tutorials.

Will keep watching out for your great work, thank you again :-)

[dpurslow]

Someone asked what the eyepiece was I was using during the video to view the screen in the sunlight.

The item is a Hoodman Loupe, just google it and it will pop up - its about the best ever purchase I have made and makes a HUGE difference to my photography.

dp

[TheMickwells]

Hi David can i ask where you got your eye glass from i have alot of issues trying to view my shots with the glare of sun please help

[shutupandshootdp]

@TheMickwells The eye piece is from Hoodman and its called a hoodman loupe - you can find it by using google

[TheMickwells]

@shutupandshootdp found it Dave youre a star!

[Brightspark22]

Really enjoyed this,let me know if you do any more,its so important to work with the bride & groom.

Excellent

[g5farms]

I really enjoyed that you put all the settings. Extremely informative. These are the things that I always wonder about. Thanks. Great Job.

[shutupandshootdp]

@g5farms thanks much

[123GEZZY]

hi great work i must say !!!!!!! how do you know what shutter speed to use for the sunny outside shots? do you select your shutter speed then use the cameras meter to level it out with yhe apature?

[123GEZZY]

Hi and i must say a great video you put together...well done! can you tell me please....i see that you are shooting in manual mode with all your outdoor bride and groom shots..........how do you know what shutter speed will suit the shot??? or is it that you know your apature that you want and then use the camera meter so level out the suited shutter speed? this all confuses me? as when i try and do a portrait outside in the sun the skin etc is sometimes blowing out? please answer.many thx

[shutupandshootdp]

@123GEZZY - hi sorry for delay in answering - I generally apart from groups only ever shoot at 2.8 or f4 for groups its 8 - 11 but most of the time I shoot pretty much wide open and then adjust shutter speed to match. - that being said this weekend I was trying new stuff and was shooting at F22 at 250th sec to overpower the sunlight.

dp

[SHAUNDAYSH]

Great video !! One of the simplest and most effective videos I have watched in ages A+++++++++++ camera settings as well more please !!

[JayDohertyPhoto]

that wee LCD shade viewer you use, pray tell what is this??? would be invaluable on a sunny day

[shutupandshootdp]

@JayDohertyPhoto sorry for my delay in replying - lost my password ! - its a hoodman Loupe

[ACphotography18]

This is a great video! Whats your usual gear u take to a wedding?

[shutupandshootdp]

@ACphotography18 thats a great question - Generally I take 3 cameras 4 lenses, 10-22mm, 24-70mm, 60mm macro and 70-200mm - 5 speedlights, various light modifiers etc, radio poppers and a few other bits and bobs

[TEAFamilee]

I like that you added the print with shutter & f stop. I wish knew which lens you were using with them. I noticed you were sporting to cameras and I assumed that they were different lengths. Thank you It was helpful

[alvar0n]

Love this tutorial, well explain! very cool work!

[shutupandshootdp]

The lens is the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR lens

dp

[ceenuff]

what lens were you using at the begining of the video in the bedroom with the bride to be.