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Shoot: Bride and Bridesmaids

Lesson 20 from: From Images to Art: Storytelling in Wedding Photography

Jim Garner

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Lesson Info

20. Shoot: Bride and Bridesmaids

Lesson Info

Shoot: Bride and Bridesmaids

This is exactly what we do. We come in a location, we see an opportunity and we move stuff I want you to see that we have in this scenario before we do I have a reflection shot right off the bat and then I want to get this think out of the way because we're going to photograph the broader but that is going to be my next so guys just just know each other get close, okay? I'm gonna change my exposure beautiful let's do this. Why don't we go? Oh my gosh do you mind sitting right there things I looked for a reflection all the time okay? Reflection is a wonderful thing to play with it it could be a closing image on the right side of our spread after we set up our theme for the group so here's the shop a beautiful guy here it's hug each other live it up live it up I love it that ex champion this is so cute. Beautiful. Okay, so there's something that we definitely can use that are spread now. Um hey, funny cup are you for a second? We're gonna move this vanity outside of my background here. M...

aybe so typical we move things jim, could you talk briefly about with house shade is yeah, I've been talking about that on your white balance you will find a way it's like a little house on the backside there's lines going down that's the house's shade white balance set help that is a most useful most it's the easiest place to take to make adjustments to posts that makes sense okay so I need to photograph my bride in this beautiful dress and I have this wonderful background we've seen this background heidi come with me all right so why don't we start with the sitting position will go to a standing position demonstrate that til the light's coming in it's definitely directional can I talk about the light first? Okay perfection right here you have shadow highlight shadow highlight the lightest coming this direction so I know I need to steer my bride away from the light and then turn her back into life so why don't we use this chair to start and you can have your knees right out here here we go and using a chair what I'd like you to do is always have the person sitting in the chair your subject beyond the edge of the chair usually when they sit down they wanted just plopped there but lean back so you have to do is say just go right to the edge what you're already doing and now we could even bring in we could even bring in flowers or whatever this is kind of a formal portrait type of thing and so look out towards the light lovely so now I'm a switch lands they got the seventy two hundred could be now in the twenty four okay why did the lands I want to move this sofa but this is all I need to quickly grab a shot gorgeous and out of focus one more beautiful so I got the big shot and now I'm yeah okay thank you gorgeous get down really low and I love it smile it up looked right at me for this next door juice not every looking through the camera and to close your shot you needed to switch your lens out I'ma do that real quick this is why the b x to pro shooter so important you're just on your body and ready fantastic look out towards the light one more time I'm going to shoot a vertical and horizontal why don't you get married come on beautiful also awesome awesome easy I'm gonna do another form of the broader porter but first we gotta put on the veil I waited for a broad she doesn't have any jewelry on or anything so we're gonna quickly put jewelry on then we put a veil on and capture that story and the really beautiful bridal portrait so let's do jewelry real quick you guys gonna help that's great let's do that okay let's quickly with we'll start with the jewelry and the jewellery here we could help her get get going then right it'll put the veil on. I'm good you know you could stand up for this one she grabs the chair so notice each bridesmaids has something to put on this could be a wonderful special moment all right I'm gonna have the bridal party do it from this side so you guys are all going put it on her from one side and that'll get her to turn towards the lion right that's just a tactical decision first let's move the chair out of the way here wait one thing so saw a moment gotta grab a real quick and then goodbye chair guys take a couple steps back if you wouldn't mind perfect and so girls that don't have jewellery in hand hey heck with this stuff get together hug each other mind going around that corner you're gonna go right around there surround our bride hugs hugs, hugs beautiful gorgeous and forget about me for a little bit so one at a time once you put on jewelry with her beautiful e so notice now I'm not moving my camera at all phil called film stripping that's a moment right there though going in tight for that one beautiful so the moments just happen naturally if you set it up so putting them there and have each bridesmaid grab holding something it was an active scene setting wasn't it so yeah and it is moments happen naturally I just got to sit here and sniper and consider how will be seen in the spread and I'm going in for the close up of the ring let's do this school for its perfectly yeah, you could yeah that's a gorgeous real let's get a close up picture that we'll have to do is put a mackerel on if I wanted are the twenty four seventy is a form of macro as is let me see that hand and I'm gonna pull it right there you go sideways this way beautiful you're bringing good news he loves you I know you want that one too don't you sucker blue you'd have to step up, you know it's like she's giggling we're laughing we're playfulness and pete back in me beautiful good and I'm gonna match a shot to deal with blue look out the window gorgeous gorgeous! Alright let's, put the veil on. You have a question? The group can you talk about that little bit more in death? And just because you cannot not looking through the viewfinder and shooting at the same time trusting that is hidden export sitting that the focus away incorrectly yes. Okay, how I how I set up my focus so it works on my dial. There is a custom function setting and most cameras have it these days either it's a toggle or I've said it for the dial where I could it rotates in a circle you go cross left and right hey guys let's do this tooth this way switch sides face that way yeah there we go thanks so I'm turned him into the light and then heidi back up just a little bit further right there for me oh my gosh a moment completely kid oh my gosh girl lina itjust happened naturally is love good good good so cute beautiful I d pictures may have a hole that small lovely so here guys love it though bit of uh thank you very much okay so it's a custom function setting that enables you to use the wheel in the back instead of the toggle and that's the way to go because it will have to do is remove my thumb brewed up and it's right on the face right where I wanted and I have it right now set to multiple focal point setting okay look atyou on this this is fun I know it's a markup shoop I'm still just I get my heart gets going to second I see a bride is all ready to go and you have this beautiful veil on let me really feature but first girls hug each other fashions you can't go go go go go so you good you good I'm happy to twist towards me a little bit about the light falling you better write their perfect oh my gosh lovely lovely all right, I don't want to shoot too much of this but I need two versions right vertical and closing shot so cute rotate towards me one more time a little bit more beautiful alright, that happened naturally we're not sure they're pros sure they're pros but the act of having them hug hug was emotional motion moment wasn't it so motion post superfund super easy all right, I want to show you the favorite bridal pose that I do it's just really easy anyone could do it as long you have a window yeah let's see first just so I can have ah spread that matches what we do with the guys law I want to vertical a personality of each of the ladies okay, we've got some great energy who wants to go first? Yes, uh you ready? Everyone's got good energy here so girls, can you stand right there on the right there everybody who's not mean photograph is gonna be right here and I'm putting their again way don't block the light but we want them there so our subject has somebody look at it no, we're gonna do her last time into your portrait yeah so face your feet towards me hands on a working yeah they all right well look tortured girls left haven't cracked around guy's so cute like a tagger are there working each other automatically groups energy in that great my settings haven't had they have not changed for so long I'm still into it two hundredth of a second s o sixty hundred you know, uh, fairly high for a demonstration today, but it's perfectly fine with today's technology. I love green, actually. But anyways, you're so culinary show like a tiger who you do one for me and just write the camera faith this way yeah, right there. Yeah, we get one so much fun. So even though I'm not going to be okay, I'm just warming these let ladies into the next process by turning a little fun fashion shoot she's working the camera so I'm gonna keep playing even though most of these images might not be used except maybe what we're going to put him in the proof book but certainly I might not need them all are most likely want to put an album itself so who's next who is theo now? This is just just too too classic pose again we're gonna have a feet away from the light and then turn her body back into the light. All right, you ready? Cute. You two full of georgia girls girls laugher up so adorable you are done hit that right there, cool sweet on it on it he wants to be next, you are next mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm yeah so we've got these ladies now playing with the camera big time so you're slightly blocking like start to do that to there we go look at this come on ground for me growl for me uh yeah ok, that last shot was the last shot was so perfect you are so cute okay, so I'm gonna end up flipping those okay? We'll flip him tomorrow and photoshopped day now from a beautiful ryder you ready? Okay, so I'm gonna throw on my eighty five millimeter one to my paperwork here I'm gonna throw in out of pocket had my eighty five one two on the bottom level okay underneath the pad I just switch it pulled down the protective pad and saw it then off we go we're going to shoot at one too because got such a narrow, beautiful depth of field yeah, we're gonna try I gotta finish this shot ground ground okay and here we go do you know so bright that last shot it was so good totally differently. Okay, ladies, I'm having come out I'm doing window light shot with her you look great. By the way I want to get this full dress first full dress full dress make beautiful and here there's always hands on hips guys but that's pretty cliche you gotta use it's fine, but sometimes I got to do say put your hands against your thoughts and just lift him up a niche ok look away okay or you could yeah I'm seeing her ring I'm building that gap this is so important who's who's feeling building that gap between here and here just by lifting slightly okay this is okay we're going to not we don't want to add mass to our cup our brides we wanna eliminate mass by toyne arm away from the body it's posing wanna one so we turn away from light separate your arms from her body you can you can almost push push forward and then uh good gorgeous and and the best way of communicating is just showing officially watch this perfect breaking the gallery you're so adorable lovely beautiful I could film strip this turnaround spin that dress that's it we'll get it looked at me and laughed gorgeous hands on hips so okay okay I just made a film strip spontaneous them to come in and close the shot here your eyes on me beautiful look at that crowd out there and here we have a veil here what's this it's now four ground element the beautiful beautiful beautiful gorgeous light every time isaan me and do me a favor close your eyes what happens when you close your eyes smile goes away doesn't it okay shin that way all the way down just a little bit close your eyes on me now beautiful light it up gorgeous and I'm gonna show you my favorite portrait now you have five minutes left all right guys you got to step on relax for a little bit how's that huh wei are you all right here you know what you could sit but here's what I wanna demonstrate let me see your dress perfect it's nice and here we have a veil we need to work with carol bring in okay this is when I pop my shoes off I'm gonna stand I need a stand on something if I uh hey trevor cussed and on your pad area so this is just awesome light right now it's actually too easy to work with for demonstration we got bouncing light outside we have a amateur for the light to come through we can control it by just going it's no warmer oh my gosh I love it all right so this is a shot that's looking up now you don't just get down and look up that does look it has to be sideways it up all right so I'm gonna steer with the feet first get into position a step ladder coming I'll spare this beautiful chair probably on loan now we just kill those lights too we can yeah that is which is probably right there I don't think it's interfering too much but you'll find me standing on window sills and I just try to be polite to take my shoes off and I try teo be respectful that you know of the area but I am often standing on stuff like this okay, my friend here we go so what we're gonna do is karen okay pretend we're in a bridal room and it is busy everywhere we just need to create a beautiful brought apart so we don't have this beautiful draped all we don't have the brick it said we need to find a background well, why not make the background the theme of the story and at a the theme of store being her dress the back of her dress do this almost every wedding we have a big enough dress do you have an address? I think we might be able to make it work. Yeah, okay, so come out this way just a little with because we could always use the veil and what news have you steer your feet dot direction notice I'm telling you where to put her feet and I'm gonna get down real low I could almost down to your knees I'll show you you know you can always like look, yeah, yeah, you were pretty I'd love to get a brain meat in here too yeah let's get a bridesmaid in here, it usually takes two people we don't want to block the shot, so I'm gonna have you stand right here and hold the dress up right there yeah and then kind of scoot around the corner there we go and I'm tethered so let's see if we could work this out okay heidi and we have flowers handy too to my bringing those over yeah okay thank you still a shot got my exposure was too hot so it three clicks to the right bringing exposure down okay, here we go are you ready twist towards me and look right up at me beautiful hands down little bit alberta sit down just a little bit window like beautiful little bit little bit hot little so two clicks to the right on manual beautiful and here close your eyes this for one okay, now I'm gonna just work with the veil a little bit these coming through I'm gonna show you one more here good top your head that way georges absolutely beautiful father sit down just a bit okay so we also have a veil don't wait okay and the lights behind her what's this portrait's from the same image look right that that's right dot direction I can't go on like this beautiful this is a silhouette sidelight we're going to start actually with backlight look towards me beautiful okay, just close your eyes for one moment and look at this shot of the flower absolutely gorgeous. I just made a subtle adjustment going a little brighter and close up of the r's now you notice I've I've had her lose her expression. I'm going man you right now, because I'm out of focus prom, but how did it lose her expression for a reason, I want a shot in the album that represents how she feels before her wedding. Look that way now. Beautiful he's coming through, gorgeous, gorgeous and lick it lick towards me. Big swell candle drop. Good big smile is beautiful, and I'm the one that shot a little higher behind her head. Were there, george, what a beautiful portrait. See, huh?

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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