Shot of the Day from Nick and Janette’s Kanu Wedding

Dan (my other half) reckons he likes this shot because it’s unorthodox. I guess that’s part of it for me. I also love what the lens is doing (50mm f1.8 – a better lens for the price you’ll be hard pressed to find!) – the incdredible sharpness and then that great drop off in the depth of field is just great for me. There are reviews on the 50mm f1.8 that point out it’s faults, but, what can I say, I’m a fan through and through!! And a number of it’s faults I quite like (like it’s tendency to darken at the edges). The other thing I like about this image is it’s strange sense of intimacy and the feeling of capturing a moment in time. I know that that last statement is a bit of a cliche when it comes to photography – but I genuinely feel it about this one. Because I can’t see Nick and Janette’s faces it really feels for me like the moment before they step into the role of husband and wife – married. They’re not quite there yet; theyr’e almost, almost there, but not quite. It’s a threshold moment. The moment before they step over into another realm, another state of being. But it’s not a scarry moment, there’s a small sense of whimsey in that light billowing of Janette’s veil.

When you’re taking a photograph you’re not just clicking the shutter and hoping for the best: you’re telling a story. I know, I know, this post is abounding in near cliches: a picture’s worth a thousand words. Well, you know what, only a good photo is worth a thousand words. And I dont’ mean to be a d*ck when I say that. If you’re pointing your camera and not really thinking or feeling what you’re shooting then you’re not going to get a good photo.

A good photo involves not just getting your technical aspects right, it involves getting your story telling right. Ask yourself when you take the shot: “What do I want people to think about / to feel when they see this photo?” And then remember, for the most part, as a professional photographer, you’re not going to get to be there to explain your work – it has to speak for itself.

When I took this photo I wanted people to feel a timelessness – or at least a space out of time. I think the shallow depth of field and the lack of contextualisation and faces helps to do that. As does the fact that the shot is in black and white. I also wanted to give the sense of Janette and Nick stepping into the future, the unknown – the fact that the shot cuts off Janette at the arm and that you can’t see what’s in front of them helps to do that. And, because I’ve been asked this type of question before: no, I don’t think everything through in this kind of close detail when I’m actually shooting. It’s more of a thought-sensation, a feeling. Like a brief, “Mmm . . . I want to feel x” and then my lizard brain does the rest. Sometimes I’ll consciously think: “Ok, right, I need this aperture, this shutter etc . . . but when you’re doing mainly weddings it helps to get that fluent that you’re not necessarily even thinking that – you’re just doing it. It’s only when I come to writing out my blog posts that I actually stop and think about what I was doing ; )

When I was shooting this image I took a series of them – my least favourite being the landscape orientated shot. I also quite liked the image at the bottom of the post. It’s a bit more ‘weddingy’ in that it gives a bit more wedding context – the flowers, the hoopa-like structure, the lace details in Janette’s dress.I liked that, but I didn’t get the same sense of mysterious expectation from this shot as I did from the first one.

I’ve included my post processing. I added my basic adjustments, screening the edges on the pull up on my curves, as well as adding a very light vignette. You’ll see the image on the right of that shows the unedited shot.

Here are my in camera shot settings:

Shooting Mode    Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed )    1/3200
Av( Aperture Value )    2.0
Metering Mode    Spot Metering
ISO Speed    100
Lens    EF50mm f/1.8
Focal Length    50.0mm
Image Size    4368×2912
Image Quality    RAW
Flash    Off
White Balance Mode    Auto
AF Mode    One-Shot AF
Picture Style    Monochrome
Sharpness    6
Contrast    1
Filter effect    R :Red

Tags: Shot of the Day