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Camera Gear

Lesson 14 from: From Images to Art: Storytelling in Wedding Photography

Jim Garner

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Lesson Info

14. Camera Gear

Lesson Info

Camera Gear

And you going to see a lot of very well used one d x let's, clear the table here. So, guys, probably for the best for the camera would be to have things sitting right there. Right? I want to show you a couple things. First, though, for you two into camera. Okay. You want marketing advice? Okay. So, here's, one of reasons why I love a photo, by the way, um, the quality of the products, of course. And my friends graphics studio. I want to show you what makes working with them. So wonderful for your marketing. I'm a marketing section, but since I'm standing, I want to show you this is a fish bowl that's in our studio. I actually put these fish balls, uh, in venues where I want to photograph as well, and I fill them with books. These they're called minion books. They come with any album that you produce of gadhafi studio, and I call them my marketing soldiers. They're so fuck it. I have that particular book that you're looking at right there. Check out this little guy. Can you imagine how,...

how these khun market? You and there's come with it. Okay? You could get many books or these air called million books that many books are like this. I know what you guys take a handful this is what we do hey when you leaving the studio grab a handful of millions in the fish bowl check him out just grab a clump it's cool so you could take these and sprinkle them all over the tables at the engagement book at the wedding ceremony itself this is what makes a good partners okay the calm the auxiliary products the auxiliary all right let's get get getting the camera now no I want to show you thinner out quick thin raps I talked about metal this is a less expensive version okay I want to turn this world this this camera here I'm gonna turn this sideways see how they're they're thin thinly wrapped around and this one's been around the block of course but they sit off the wall court rich so they float they create a beautiful shadow very cool product this is the metallic paper begin it's all scratched up and stuff because it's been around the block but boy do I like that process and so if you're into the metal look where you like what we're doing here is same thing within wraps okay it looks just the same okay I used the cannon serious I love them notice I'm pretty beat up here it's because that thing gets used and I'm proud of my beat up lenses and I'm proud of my beat up camera all right! I love the cancers all right, the lenses I use are let's start with the most important move backwards. Okay, so if you're just starting out I recommend twenty four seventy to seventy two hundred the big commitments both have two point eight fair those will get you arrange. I believe that this is the most important lens seventy two two hundred two point eight because you can zoom out and use this thing and wide open which is off to a you're gonna zoom all the way out that's its sweet spot you'll get narrow down the field very narrowed up the field and you can isolate your subjects bringing emotion, etcetera um super important but we as wedding talks we need diversity uh this is a seventy two, two hundred could zoom in and out that next one twenty four to seventy two point eight you gotta have it just have to lot of you're going oh, my gosh, she doesn't have caps on him they're saying that their e know you are I know you are. I actually stopped using caps and you're gonna see why during the shoot okay, I take great care of my lenses though I do it's actually I make sure here's the most important part before every shoot I clean my chip I blow it out, I clean the camera itself okay, so this is where you go from there twenty four seven you gotta have it seventy two hundred gotta have it to point it okay you got to go to after that sixteen to thirty five you gotta get your wide angle shots on the subject of wide angle I use the fifteen millimeter fish islands like it's got a cap on it okay so there is your two eight serious now I have the one d x because it's the fastest kind of a sports car I love the five d we have that one d s is serious what we moved out of I love nikon too loved icon I love sony I don't think it has anything to do with the camera body has two of the glass you put on it once you agree by a rebel and get some good glass so you can buy a better camera body the thing that the the one d acts offers his stability to focus in low light and as you're about to see uh I love low light I love to shoot I believe the best light is when there's no light at all just barely pools of light a candle light has the most beautiful emotional light when you imagine wouldn't you agree so we just got through the must haves okay analys moved too low light must house so I use a shooting back in fact I designed this shooting bag it's called used to be called the boat a lens bag and botha and brent haven pulled resource is now they're manufacturing them okay I gave them and designed for them shooting backs for the photography industry and I want to show you what that looks like what those look like because we have to be able to care equipment we have to be able to change our equipment out right briefly demonstrate bx to pro sure it comes with a shoulder strap for waste you'll see me shoot this today but the point is speed right? You're working with a client you're talking to with them you see a moment coming you've got your camera around your neck you you're interacting there's a moment you want to be able to just take your gear drop in a switch click okay super speed that's what the b x two pro shooter does click see why don't have lens caps I just make sure everything's clean before my shoot the nylon in the bx to pro shooting bag it it's negatively charged it grabs onto that dust actually I just make sure before every shoot take blow the dust out of the chip if there's any in there and they're rarely is so that's the bx to pro shooting bag you gotta have a good bag that gives you that flexibility this thing is made for wearing an entire day to either on your waist, your shoulder it's about comfort see that pad there by the way I talk about dust so of course I designed a lens cleaning cloth built in right there's a light in there it's got your organizer hears my media cards and said we're gonna shoot later you'll see all this here my to travel bags the's just came out brett haven dot com actually I probably the link for you this is my sling okay hold your gear right and that is the new backpack yeah, the best backpack you will ever find for wedding photographers all right for any photographer that matter just get you to the side and that that's a shooting bag it's not for storing your equipment it's for shooting with two distinct things got it do I have to be quicker still here we go so oh yeah the bread heaven here's the other line another part of the line they've got is a brand new camera equipment line it's going to take the world by storm and they have here's here's the sling and backpacks images actually shot these for their website yeah let's clean cloth a signature that's back from the boat today I'm so proud of this stuff so I'd go check it out if you want light this is the cool I love this section so I never got into the camera fast lenses though so what I want to show you the bx to bag before I moved to switching lenses out because when I switch from and very light outdoor scene into a low ambient light environment, I want to move to my fast lenses. So I hand those lenses to keira who switches her lenses out with me. Now I've got the fast lenses and she's got the snap. The two point eight siri's lenses. So let me show you the fast lenses, and I'm a given to you in order. Uh, most useful. Fifty millimeter one point two on icon it's. One point four. Okay, eighty five millimeter. One point two nikon that's a one point four. Okay, look at that. Glass is a that is a large aperture. An absolutely beautiful lens. Okay, this puppy I love it so much. It's a twenty four millimeter, one point four. Ok, there's, a couple of great lenses in there for diversity. But, um, this guy, you put the twenty four millimeter one for the neat thing about the wide angle effect, even if I'm a one four and I am let's make this pretend this is my subject. If I'm right here shooting it narrow depth of field, everything goes out of focus. Okay? If I step between here and here, everything becomes sharp that's the wide angle effect so I can use this wide open inside a bar or you know all you today where I've got a whole bridal party there sipping champagne and a dark bar if I stepped back right to hear their old sharpe but if I move in right to hear the glass the champagne glass itself is out of focus in focus everything else is out of focus it's just that simple so indoors I love this and then you swap your lenses out because focal length diversity allows you to show different lands a different type of images you don't want to I have too many or images looking the same otherwise why would you have it in the book so that's why I need to change your lenses out often so would put these aside and show you one last thing that I'll be using today and that is good old macarena inexpensive but I'll take my twenty four to seventy or any lens for that matter allow me to focus even closer we're gonna shoot jewellery today details we'll either shoot him vertically or horizontally and showed him all the same style because we're going to put him together the book tomorrow that that little guy right there and they want me to get right in on that clicker that close okay it's really narrowed up the field really beautiful so light all right lights okay, this is the lowell g l one okay, so the gun light this is a for nail style lens which means it will produce a beam of light sorry got like every man they're here early can we let's do it on the wall here produce a nice round beam of light hot hot light anything about the trigger I could go last or more less or more you know you like this I love this I can't wait to show you the state well let's look at this again I could spread it out a wider zoom in like a beam this is a hot perfect for doo rim light party for this venue oh my gosh so many times I've been here and and the light has been stale I could put this on a tripod shoot across the entire venue and light the bride and the groom and they're like thank you we didn't think you'd consider a light so useful so useful so there's there's my hard light gun light okay and you could diffuse it if you go to their website if you go to their website um they will provide for you the geo one hot light dot com I think I have a uh slide jill one hot light dot com there throw in the uh barn doors and gels with if you like tio there she'll want hot like go check it out go get that product it is a comes with us everywhere you're going to see today how versatile this okay the ice light now this is like carrying window light around with you so wonderful let's find it designed by my friend jerry jonas look at how the tungsten gel on it you just snapping on like this okay and this guy you probably can't see it right now but it seriously it's the softest most beautiful it's perfect for foreground lighting okay you just have it every shoulder so that's the idea I didn't have the little thing holding toronto that's the idea now actually balance with these life so it's so easy to use and if you're bored you can have light saber fights with just told you you gotta have two of them though to do that all right, so I slight um do a search for ice light and uh it's by westcott okay, so those are the basic tools and then I have now there's so many off camera flash systems right now pocket wizard has one um there's there's a lot of great systems we're allowed you to just pop off camera flash I don't carry strobes with me meeting like you know my commercial work we use pro photo but for this hey man, this is like you've got to be able to pop something off and keep moving you're going to see by my slides this afternoon that if you're not like jamming going fast okay, your energy was gonna drop down to the floor okay, so the more we use off camera flash and don't have our settings perfect or have to make adjustments, the less expression we're going to get our images. Once you guys agreed that more repos pop lights off things that aren't natural, the less expression we get our images and from our slide jester, the less expression we get in our images, the less value they find and the less likely they're going to have an emotion experience when they see the art that you produced for them so way simplified everything, and I bought avello forty foot, fifty foot cable. Uh, it works every time, okay, weddings I don't often use off camera flash. I usually go natural, but this is a fun engagement shoot thing or or I always have it. So I like to use off camera flash right before sunset, when the ambient light is low enough that I internet dark and then foreground light or rim light, for that matter with off camera flash notice, I haven't all beat up five eighty it's, not about the light source, they all work. Great. Okay, I put it in manual mode. I when I'm shooting, um, in low light when I'm a shooting in light that I want to control I'm in manual in the camera on a manual the flash if I'm shooting the two eight siri's outdoor where emotion posing I'm to show you what that is today we're on the move we're dead doing things were twirling playing I'm an aperture priority moon I just let the settings grab it I take close attention to my eyes so I set my aperture to between to eight and five I never go to f ate today and my finger just schools left two right two with the aperture and the camera settings do the rest are you spot metering mode okay spot me ring mode I stick that butt dialing it with a custom function that the dots will go right to the face of my client in the composition I want the flash will go out or whatever you're doing it'll meet her you don't need a flash but it'll meter the face and be sharp on the face at the same time it's very important for getting good quality exposures and aperture priority I use um lex or meteor cards in my camera love my lecture experience um and what else I got for you all right the big huh? I don't recommend this is the very last lends you would get there's a two hundred fixed focal length lands after two um I recommend you rent this don't buy it okay but for a a project we need very narrowed up the field uh you want a really sexy look to your images? Um fixed focal length of two is pretty darn beautiful the eyes are tack sharp and then it just it peels off focuses who use and that's just this milky beautiful boca behinds out of focus gorgeous area um I use this for my headshot business when I'm shooting on location we could use it right here right now enough toso eight hundred in a dark room if we turn off all these lights it would be just beautiful s o four hundred even this is a gorgeous gorgeous lands I recommend not buying it very expensive. I wil I recommend renting it and play with it per assignment and on the subject of gear feel free to just rent, okay feel free to rent it's okay read for awhile learned the lenses before you buy them. No, that you need them that's what I did starting out um one thing we have going in our studio it's really nice to work for a studio what's mine is everybody else's that works with us. We have a check out they take him, they play with him. Everyone that works with us gets to use these lenses and back tio keira and that in that pre show I want to just end with equipment because we're on the subject of gear and helping others develop their career and everything for those of you in the audience that that want to start by interning with another studio or working for another studio. You know, I got into the industry by knocking on doors and say, hey, I noticed you have a psych in your studio. Do you mind if I help paint that for you when it gets dirty, it'd be my pleasure. Hey, I noticed you might have a need, you know, picking up lunch, everyone. So what? Can I do that for you? And then I kept calling. I got stayed persistent. We get so many calls to our studio, there might be people out in the audience right now listening right now and here's how we answer. And I know for a fact, a lot of my educated friends do the same way all say this, you know? We're doing okay, right now, check back with us in a month. Do you know what that means? You should check back with them in the month because it's a test? I'm not kidding. It is a test we're seeing if how persistent you are and how much you really want it. All right, and I was to tell you this in all honesty it's only been a handful of people over the years and and usually persistence you know we're not quite ready yet checked back in another month persistent persistent I want to work with people who really want it right and and karen audrey sarah we've and all the people before them there's probably fifteen or so in the end fifteen to twenty years of shooting that have worked with us along the way there all go getters they're all persistent they wanted it and they all left and had wonderful careers ahead of them okay so going with that attitude you could do no wrong. So do I have another couple slides here? Ah, good timing so so I throw it back to you we can uh we can take maybe a question too well, we're getting them ready sure believe we're bringing out tricia and drew a former client of yours that we're going to talk to. We have a quick question from alicia lindsay thp studio running barrier other people for these huge wall portrait's do you have to use a large format our full frame camera do you have to have a huge sensor what's the technical requirements in order to be able to do images like we see on the wall right now that's a great question you know I have an eighty megapixel camera but none of the work that I do for my retail world is theeighty megapixel camera actually, I'm going to teach you that in the post production. A portion of this, the photo shop I'ma teach exactly what you need to do to make a massive enlargement. You're going to interpret late it first and to your treatments. On top of that interpolated file were even at the end of the process, we're gonna add grain. We're gonna recreate great, okay, so layer upon layer upon layer of new things. You've got a whole new image, and they're gonna add green back over the top.

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Foldable Field Guide
10 Steps to Success

Ratings and Reviews

Ester Knowlen Photography
 

LOVE LOVE LOVE all the bits on how to create a wow shot without stressing about getting it/catching it by chance. So SPOT on!! A little bit of planning, a little bit of vision, and great ideas/recipe for amazing "wow" shots that are prompted and genuine (unique just like the people we shoot), rather than stressed over and chased. :) Amazing video!! :) Thanks Jim Garner!!

222 N 43rd Pl
 

This is such an amazing course. It is my first purchase that I have made with Creative Live and I couldn't be more pleased. Jim shared so much information and so many insights. It's great to be able to watch the segments over, picking up something new every time. Taking volumes of notes! I am starting to implement Jim's approach to photography—storytelling. I am just starting out in wedding photography and am so excited to have found this gem tutorial! I would highly recommend this to any photographer who wants to take their work from photographs to art.

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