Weddings are all about stories, and wedding photography is one way to capture these fleeting moments. In his quest to freeze these moments, the wedding photographer faces one essential challenge: to make his photographic gear respond as fast as his eyes.
This is where mastery of camera equipment comes in. A photographer needs to work very hard to master his camera and its accessories so they work together smoothly to come up with stunning and meaningful photographs. For the budding photographer, here are a few of the most relevant things about your equipment that you have to master. Always remember that with consistent practise, you will soon take your photography to higher levels.
White Balance: the white balance of your camera will dictate the accuracy of colours' appearance in your photos. Once the whites come out accurately, every other colour follows suit. Using the Auto White Balance setting will usually help, but if you want to know how different lighting conditions influence your photo, customise via Kelvin. The lower the value (around 3,350), the colder the photo looks. If you shoot it up (such as 5,260), the warmer it gets. Play around the numbers until you get the right one.
Sharpness: unless you're aiming for action shots, your photos must always look tack-sharp. Using a tripod helps, but this has the tendency to blur movement as well. If you want to freeze action instead, shoot up your ISO or else lower your aperture.
JPEG or RAW: images taken via the RAW format contain more data, which makes RAW perfect for image post-processing. Since you are most probably printing these wedding pictures, opt out of the JPEG format and shoot using RAW to guarantee maximum versatility.
Flash: more often than not, weddings are held in low-light areas. When boosting the ISO or widening your aperture won't do it, use an external flash unit as an alternative to catch up on the lack of light. Moreover, bounce flash is preferable over direct flash since the latter creates harsh shadows and unbalanced lighting. Purchase a good flash unit and a few reliable rechargeable batteries to make your shooting more efficient. You can also browse through works of seasoned wedding photographers as well as studios to further improve your very own craft.
This is where mastery of camera equipment comes in. A photographer needs to work very hard to master his camera and its accessories so they work together smoothly to come up with stunning and meaningful photographs. For the budding photographer, here are a few of the most relevant things about your equipment that you have to master. Always remember that with consistent practise, you will soon take your photography to higher levels.
White Balance: the white balance of your camera will dictate the accuracy of colours' appearance in your photos. Once the whites come out accurately, every other colour follows suit. Using the Auto White Balance setting will usually help, but if you want to know how different lighting conditions influence your photo, customise via Kelvin. The lower the value (around 3,350), the colder the photo looks. If you shoot it up (such as 5,260), the warmer it gets. Play around the numbers until you get the right one.
Sharpness: unless you're aiming for action shots, your photos must always look tack-sharp. Using a tripod helps, but this has the tendency to blur movement as well. If you want to freeze action instead, shoot up your ISO or else lower your aperture.
JPEG or RAW: images taken via the RAW format contain more data, which makes RAW perfect for image post-processing. Since you are most probably printing these wedding pictures, opt out of the JPEG format and shoot using RAW to guarantee maximum versatility.
Flash: more often than not, weddings are held in low-light areas. When boosting the ISO or widening your aperture won't do it, use an external flash unit as an alternative to catch up on the lack of light. Moreover, bounce flash is preferable over direct flash since the latter creates harsh shadows and unbalanced lighting. Purchase a good flash unit and a few reliable rechargeable batteries to make your shooting more efficient. You can also browse through works of seasoned wedding photographers as well as studios to further improve your very own craft.
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