Digital Photography Courses

One of the most respected and top selling online photography courses in the wedding photography market on the internet today. If you are looking for wedding photography courses you can’t pass this one without serious consideration. Whether you’re thinking of saving costs by photographing your friends wedding or starting your own Wedding Photography Business, this online photography course has all you need. Have a browse…

Expert Wedding Photographer Course is a great deal more than just a tutorial. you’re not going to come away with just a vague idea of how to shoot weddings, but with the full skill set of a highly trained professional wedding photographer! Rest assured that when you sign up to take our course, you’ll be getting thorough, in-depth, step-by-step instruction in all the intricacies of the trade, and learn how to take your ambitions from idea to fruition!

Additionally, you will learn a myriad of technical information surrounding Wedding Photography business that most professionals would never tell you about, such as…

* Setting Up Your Business
* Running Your Photography Business
* Equipment
* Getting the Perfect Shot
* Post Production and Computer Work
* Presenting Your Photos to the Client

These are just the tip of the iceberg with this course. This course will teach you how to become a professional wedding photographer – and more importantly – how to make a decent living from this market.

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Don’t know where to start? Many novice photographers don’t, whatever the market area. The problem with this area of photography though is that you don’t get a second chance. Don’t do this if you don’t have some basic skills. You can’t put on the wedding again (not quite true, it has been done before).

Wedding photography can be very rewarding and it’s an area that does pay well for those that can be creative with this sometimes difficult area. There are the standard shots that you need to absolutely achieve, such as entrance, service, the vows, cutting the cake, the bridal party, bride and groom individual portraits etc. But if you can be creative and provide a little more than just a documentary piece of work, then you will make advances in this field.

The single most difficult issue with this area of photography is that you can’t practice on your clients if you are a novice. Some people practice on friends and relatives but this is a good way to loose friendships if you flop. An reputable online photography course is a method of acquiring the necessary skills.

This is an area I would definitely recommend advice. Look at some online photography courses so you can gain the required practical skills at a professional level before attempting this area of photography on real clients. When you believe you have the skills, have a practice run using friends in a mock service. You must have skills and be confident on the day. You must have a checklist of what you need and how you are going to proceed; you will be directing people. They will be looking to you for direction. You are in control of this day regarding a successful capture of beautiful photographs that should last a lifetime.

Below is a link to the popular Expert Wedding Photographer Course. All wedding photography courses are not of the same quality. The Expert Wedding Photographer Course has everything that is needed to take you to a professional level. Check it out now…

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Crying and Temper Tantrums: As we all know, children, especially babies and toddlers cry and throw tantrums. This can be an unpleasant experience anytime, be especially when the children are suppose to put on happy faces. The key to children’s photography is to plan ahead. Make sure beforehand that the baby or toddler is well rested (don’t schedule children’s pictures during nap time). Make sure they are not hungry (and have a few snacks ready just in case). And make sure they are in clothes that are comfortable. The outfit they are in may look cute, but if it makes them cry, it’s not worth it. An outfit that is “good enough” and produces smiles is the better choice. During the child’s pictures, the photographer should draw their attention and create smiles with a prop such as a feather duster, ball, balloon, or other toy. If nothing works, you sometimes just need to wait for it to be over. It may not seem like it at the time, but most episodes don’t last very long. They’ll get over it and then you can resume the pictures. wedding photography prices

Unfortunately weeding out the experienced photographer from the guy who has no idea what he is doing isn’t that easy anymore. The industry is flooded with people who have gotten the idea that purchasing an inexpensive digital camera is all it takes to become a wedding photographer, and charging $500 seems like a fortune for a “little extra weekend work”. That is, however, until they realize that there is a lot more hours put into a wedding in post production than in the actual shoot and when they discover that they have forgotten critical shots, poorly exposed the ones they did get, and are now faced with hours and hours and hours of trying to salvage what little they do have, the bride is near tears when she receives the end result. But, cheap wedding photography is exactly that – cheap.

Looking at the Camera: Most of the time children don’t mind having their pictures taken. However, it is sometimes a challenge to get them to look at the camera. With babies and toddlers, distract their attention with a toy. The best way to do this is to bring the toy to them and then pull it back directly toward the camera, not off to the side. They will follow the toy with their eyes and you want their eyes looking at the camera. Having a parent stand behind the camera and talk to them or jiggle a toy is also a great way to get them to look at the camera. michigan wedding photographer

Teenagers: Older teenagers can pose a completely different children’s photography challenge. To some (especially teenage boys) getting a picture can be a very “un-cool” experience. They may even rebel at being forced to have their picture taken by not smiling. A good joke or witty comment can work in this case. For some, you could even be bold enough to tease them like they are a toddler again and pretend to tickle them with a toy. They will probably get the message and smile at the silliness of the situation. Always be prepared to snap the picture. Sometimes half smiles and serious faces can turn out to be great pictures. You could also try taking your camera to them after a few not so good pictures and show them the pictures, asking them if they want a picture of them like that hanging on their family’s living room wall.

There are of course other challenges when it comes to children’s photography, and the unpredictably of children makes each situation unique. Children’s photography is about being an entertainer as much as it is about being a photographer.

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When choosing a wedding photographer you will need to think about what wedding pictures you will want taken. During the reception hundreds of pictures could be taken. Of course every photographer has their own shot list of what pictures they normally take but it is always a good idea to add pictures to the list that you will want taken as well. Learn more about Wedding Reception Pictures.

The pictures taken at the wedding need to reflect the entire day, not just the biggest moments. You will want to ensure that every picture or memory you will want to hold and cherish is documented. Just about every wedding photographer out there will get the big shots, like when you cut the cake or your first dance. However, how many photographers are going to be thoughtful enough to get every picture you personally want? Without your input, that is impossibility. I suggest that you let your photographer know exactly what you want step by step. Now all you need to do is figure out what you want. Here are some suggestions I think you should consider before talking to your photographer.

First I would suggest that you document the reception location. I would ask that the photographer be present to take photos of your limo pulling up, you exiting the limo, as well as a posed shot of you in front of your reception site. Once inside it is a good idea to get a picture of the entire room, if there are multiple rooms and a sign in the lobby of which room your reception is in, ask the photographer to get a picture of that as well. Once inside I would ask the photographer to document the wedding cake before it is cut, the flower arrangements and the centerpieces.

Next it is wise to remember that the wedding is not just about the two of you, but also about all of the people who chose to share this day with you. With that being said I would try to get pictures of each table and its occupants, several of immediate family at the tables as well as throughout the night. If your wedding does anything special to celebrate culture, heritage or even the wedding theme it is a good idea to let your photographers know so they can be prepared to take photos of those special moments during the reception.

When you do speak to your photographer remember that you are paying him or her for a service and you should get the most out of it. Of course you should listen to their professional opinion, but if you feel they are not listening to what you want and your ideas it is time to find a new vendor for services. There is nothing wrong with being a little nontraditional as one day you will be looking back at your wedding album filled with memories of your day, and you don’t want to regret the pictures you didn’t think to ask for.

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As a wedding photographer the choices available as to which lenses to attach to their camera during the course of a wedding ultimately impacts the creative ability to document a wedding.

The photographer has a decision to make when storytelling – to shoot a wide angle or close-up. The composition and the message that results can be conveyed completely differently with the simple choice of lenses at key moments during the festivities.
There are obviously advantages and disadvantages, some technical to shooting wide or tight.

Overall, there is a preference among wedding photographers to shoot wide angle. A lens under 24mm will capture a real snapshot of any scene, not only incorporating the main point of interest but much of the immediate atmosphere, reactions, and surroundings. Photographing with a wide angle lens enables the capture of more visual energy. On the technical side, a wide angle lens means you can work in tighter spaces, closer with crowds and using slower shutter speeds without introducing camera shake. However, most wedding photographers will stop short of using a fish-eye lenses during their coverage – such lenses render such super wide angles that they exhibit unflattering distortion of people in particular.

An added benefit of the wide lens remains that when mounted to a high resolution camera, the wide angle lens also offers the photographer the ability to crop-and-zoom in post production, providing an opportunity to experiment with different crops from a single wide shot.

Many wedding photographers continue to carry a telephoto lens despite their use being generally more restricted. Longer focal length lenses need more space to use, but can get you ‘in’ to the action with speed and without distraction – providing access to discreet and intimate photographs. For candid shots and portraits a telephoto lens is hard to beat. Of course, such lenses do a super job of isolating a subject from their background with bokeh, providing attractive backgrounds where none may exist. For many situations a long lens will capture detail and emotion and focus attention when needed.

When it comes to portraits and posed shots, a long focal length is preferable to avoid facial distortion and provide compression to the background (particularly in outdoors scenes). A Long lens creates more obvious bokeh, such images take on a very three dimensional feel to them and work very well for bride and groom portraits.

Ultimately, there is rarely a right or wrong choice in shooting wide or narrow for the majority of typical wedding images. Many wedding photographers successfully opt to use wide and telephoto lenses as this compliments the storytelling ability of any wedding photographer.

Often the difficulties of deciding on lenses can be more mundane, such as finding the right time to change lenses and if you wish to carry a second camera body to enable you to flip between wide and narrow shots without a lens change. Similarly a zoom lens is usually decided on as a compromise of speed over quality and low-light ability.

This article is copyright of Visualsnap.co.uk Kent wedding photography Established and reputable Wedding photography Kent

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The majority of wedding photographers do not work with an assistant. For these people this means the use of flash photography can present real challenges. Why? Because controlling an off-camera flash rig can be cumbersome and time consuming when trying to concentrate on your framing and roaming between guests and locations. The goal of course is to create soft light from your small camera strobe unit – to make the light softer you need to make it bigger.

Without doubt the best quality option is to get small lightweight lightstand and use your speedlite on this with an umbrella. A shoot-thru umbrella is preferable because it can get closer to the subject and so become a bigger light source. When moving about you can also close the umbrella quickly to form a compact unit. If you are taking group shots you can then use the umbrella in reverse for a bounced effect giving a larger spread of light. The disadvantages of the umbrella are that it does naturally waste some lighting power through spillage (compared to a softbox ) and on a windy day, they can prove impossible to use outdoors.

Of course, in tight or crowded indoor locations popping open an umbrella may not be practical and even dangerous, so many photographers without an assistant tend to stick with on camera flash. However, all is not lost because in this configuration you still have the option to bounce your light off walls and ceilings (if available – so no use outdoors). As an alternative you can also use a good diffuser like the Lightsphere2 or the Lastolite Micro ApolloXL – with the later proving more versatile for outdoor use too. What’s important with people photography is to remember to soften your light source to produce flattering photography at a wedding – direct flash is a no no unless in bright sunshine or used from far away.

You will probably also be aware that on camera flash introduces another problem of orientation. If you turn your camera vertically for a portrait shot the flash is now off centre and will produce shadows or red-eyes. The solution is to use a camera bracket which allows you to rotate your camera while leaving the flash in the same overhead middle position for consistency.

Another point to consider is how you are going to trigger your flash. In a fast moving situation like a wedding you don’t particularly have time to calculate the manual flash power or use a light meter. This is why many wedding photographers may prefer to leave the camera and flash to do their automatic flash ETTL metering. Pocket Wizard offer their MiniTT1 radio signal transmitter kit which now allows you to maintain automatic flash metering over hundreds of feet, removing all limitations from where you may wish to place your flash creatively. If you prefer to keep your flash unit mounting on the camera with a diffuser, just make sure the ETTL transmitter of the flash is not blocked by your choice of diffuser or you will not benefit from automatic metering.

In winter months you will find your batteries do not last as long as the cold weather sets in. The solution is to use an external battery pack for your flash. The key benefit apart from increased battery life is that you will also benefit from much shorter recycling times (how long you wait before being able to take another flash picture). Finally, only use NiMH rechargeable batteries by the way – they recycle much faster.

This article is copyright of Visualsnap.co.uk.Kent wedding photography Promoting high quality professional wedding coverage. Established and reputable Wedding photographers Kent

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A wedding photographer should – always- ensure that they have some private allocated time with the couple on their wedding day. No matter what style of wedding photography the couple wants, they will always expect some pretty great shots of just the two of them. You shouldn’t need more than 30mins of their time, but it means you can really compose your shots and lighting with care and attention and have their full attention.

What tends to happen when you start walking off with the happy couple for a private session is that people follow. It really doesn’t work if other people are hanging around and distracting them. Even worse, is that guests assume that because you are taking pictures of the couple it’s a suitable time for them to join in. In this situation the bride and groom will undoubtedly be caught looking at their friends rather than you, the jokes will start flying and the session is ruined.

A good photographer needs good people skills and crowd control. Be firm and polite and explain to disrupting guests this is a private session. If they do not listen, request the bride and groom to tell them.

It’s a good plan to shoot the portrait session right after the ceremony and upon reaching the reception venue. Just ensure the bride and groom have agreed when to do this – there will never be a good time to do this otherwise, particularly at larger weddings where old friends continuously fight for a moment with the bride or groom.

Hopefully, you have some knowledge of the venue in advance in terms of photogenic locations, lighting and so forth. Equally, be prepared with your equipment, particularly your lens choice.

A choice of lenses exist which are often referred to as a ‘portrait’ lens. What defines a portrait lens is primarily the focal length. Anything above 85mm produces a pleasing perspective without distorting facial features. The preference by pros is generally between 135mm and 200mm – this also keeps the photographer at quite some shooting distance to help relax the subjects. Should you be looking at wider apertures than F2.8 then you need to use a prime lens instead and the Canon 135mm F2L is an excellent choice. If shooting Indoors, you might prefer the 85mm focal length for portraits due to working space considerations.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you’re looking to get the sharpest image from your lens, you need to stop it down 2 stops from its widest setting. So for example, a F2.8 lens is crisper at F5.6. Keep this in mind when you move on to group shots later, not only will F8 give you top performance from a lens but it also gives you the depth of field needed to keep everyone in focus .
This article is copyright of Visualsnap.co.uk.Wedding photographers in Kent Promoting high quality professional wedding coverage. Established and reputable Wedding photographers Kent

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As the principle wedding photographer dealing with the ceremony and the customary ‘list’ of required shots – there’s no doubt that these alone can be stressful even for the seasoned professional. However, for larger bookings – there is the more enjoyable side of wedding photographing to come in the form of the reception party.

With the serious part completed, the wedding party is a time for everyone to relax and have fun. Photographic opportunities are more candid, informal and fast paced. Guests are more relaxed and usually co-operate happily. Even so, a good photographer still has to keep agile and have the correct camera settings ready to dial in swiftly.

Lighting will typically be very poor, not just the amount of light but the quality of light. There’s probably going to be mixed light sources too such as candles, coloured spot lights and whatever default lighting is at the venue. You should be sure to photograph in RAW mode as this will give you huge benefits in removing colour casts during post-production.

Given the party atmosphere, photographic subjects are less likely to be still, so a faster shutter (in low light!) is helpful to avoid blur – unless you want that effect of course. (TIP: keep your flash sync on second curtain if you do by the way). Not all venues of course are also going to be attractive, so you might have added difficulties in finding backdrops that are not distracting or plain unattractive.

With so much going on, it’s a convenient time to blend in. The benefits of being able to roam without restriction and use a flash give you creative possibilities for some winning shots. Regardless, it remains important to know the agenda of events, which are most likely running a little late and maybe even rearranged without notice. With noise levels high, events such as the cake cutting can even be easily missed. Some photographers prefer to mock the cake cutting while the couple are fresh at the venue and guests are not so distracting. Remember, it’s up to you to know what is taking place and when to have your camera ready and braced. If you want to use off-camera flash for example you need to calculate set-up time and maybe a little testing time in advance. Make sure your memory card is not about to run out of space too.

As with the traditional cake cutting, the other key moments to follow include the nervous speeches and first dance as husband and wife.

For the speeches a telephoto lens should be your weapon of choice, keeping you discrete while permitting close-ups of faces and wide shots of audience reactions. Look around you for family members (you know who they are right?) and capture their mood – the couple will find it rewarding to later see the reactions of family they may be missing while giving speeches. Using a wide lens aperture with a long focal length to isolate faces is a traditional method used to candid shots during a reception.

Try not to forget to photography the band or entertainment – they are all part of the event and help relive the feelings of the evening. If you’re too focused on the couple you will miss many great shots.

Most likely, your last scheduled event to shoot will be the first dance. As the photographer, you should avoid getting in their faces during what is probably an intimate time , so be mindful of your distance and choose a lens accordingly. With constant moving of your target you are well advised to flip your camera into continuous focus mode and try to ensure you mostly position yourself side-on, not only does this capture both faces but permits easier focusing. Complimenting this, it is also a great time to play with perspective. As with pop-videos, varied camera angles deliver a sense of excitement and solace. Holding the camera above your head or getting down low will provide a dramatically different feel to the dance sequence.

Wedding photography is a job and a celebration, hopefully you’ve captured the best of the proceedings and actually enjoyed yourself too.

This article is copyright of Visualsnap.co.uk.Kent wedding photography Promoting the best in high quality professional wedding coverage. Established and reputable Wedding photography Kent

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Good camera lenses are like buying diamonds – they can cost thousands, stay with you for life – and you get what you pay for. Professional lenses cost a lot for good reasons. You are paying primarily for more precise optics that deliver better resolution and contrast and exhibit less distortion than cheaper models. Such lenses also contain some electronic wizardry to focus smoothly, pass information to the camera and even provide optical stabilisation.

Generally, choosing a lens is about making compromises – there is not one lens perfect for all scenarios. The basic principle of a lens is to gather as much light as possible (there’s no picture without light) and this is measured as an aperture value called an F-Stops, where the smaller the number the more light is let in and your camera can do more wonderful things such as blur the background, speed up the shutter and lower the ISO.

This article will focus on lenses designed for Canon EOS cameras – a very popular choice among wedding photographers.

Canon labels their professional range of lenses with the ‘L’ grade and these are also symbolised by a red ring on the lens body. Certainly you pay a premium for an L lens, but apart from stunning optics you also get the benefit of water proofing and better construction, with improved handling.

There are essentially two classes of lens for all cameras- prime lenses and zoom lenses. Prime lenses are a fixed focal length and offer no zoom ability, but as a result deliver better quality in their optics and will capture more light due to less optimised glass. Zoom lenses have a maximum aperture of F2.8 compared to F1.2 in the Canon primes range – this is a difference of being able to capture 4 times more light from a given scene, making it possible to capture brighter pictures with more reliable focus in much lower lighting conditions than a zoom lens.

A prime lens or two is hence a firm favourite with wedding photographers who typically have to deal with low light environments such as inside Churches and reception venues. Top prime lenses however, remain very expensive. However, Canon also created some very good zoom lenses with fixed apertures at the maximum of F2.8. The main advantage of a zoom lens of course is speed of use and usability in terms of time and space. With a zoom lens you can stay in a fixed position much more easily and take pictures at different levels of zoom almost immediately (no stopping to change lenses) which means you can quickly capture moments as they unfold with different framing – wide or close-up. The decision to go with a prime lens or a zoom lens is predominantly about making compromises based on the location you are photographing in and the subject matter.

So as a wedding photographer, exactly which lenses should sit in the bag of a wedding photographer using a Canon EOS SLR camera? For scenic shots and really wide angles the 16-35mm Mk2 zoom is a must. For telephoto zoom shots, such as candid shots of guests the 70-200IS remains a firm favourite. Next for portrait shots the 85mm F1.2 prime is unbeatable. Finally, sitting somewhere in the middle is the 35mm F1.4 prime – a glorious lens for capturing people in their environment. These four lenses will equip you to handle any wedding of any style and are often the only lenses a pro needs. Unfortunately, you’ll need to invest over £5,000 for the privilege of this set.

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