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CLICK HERE TO VIEW AN ARTICLE IN
MODERN BRIDE
MAGAZINE FEATURING MICHAEL'S PHOTOS
From The Wedding Photographer: Official Newsletter of Wedding Photographers International
The following article was included in a wedding trade magazine directed to other
professional photographers. Michael Loeb explains here some of his
photographic techniques, which anyone might be interested in!
Excellence in Portraiture:
Visualize Your Opportunities
Michael Loeb
Are you ready for the challenge when a new client describes her wedding plans? Do you begin to imagine photo opportunities before you've even seen the church or ceremony setting? Visualizing concepts before you shoot is vital to the quality of the finished images. When the next blissful bride spills out details of her dreamy day, soak up some of her enthusiasm and start planning your shoot with her expectations in mind.
When Cindy and Tracy first revealed their wedding plans to me, I eagerly anticipated that the event would present marvelous creative opportunities. I wasn't disappointed.
Cindy comes from British ancestry, so she had planned a storybook wedding at an Old English-style Victorian inn at Muir Beach in Marin County, CA. Muir Woods, a spectacular grove of giant redwood trees, is adjacent to the wedding site, so I planned my bridal portraiture around the forest light, hoping to add a medieval touch to the images. Cindy's veil was beautifully highlighted by the redwood background and the light came streaming down through the trees, perfect for a soft emphasis on her face.
When we drove to the Pelican Inn for the actual wedding, I saw the quaint buildings and knew they would be spectacular when incorporated into some of the images. I took some candids of the couple from the ground looking up as they leaned out of a second story Tudor window which turned out to be some of their favorite pictures.
After the ceremony, we went over to the beach together and I photographed the couple standing on a wooden bridge looking down over a beautiful waterway in the marsh. Then I took a close-up of them on the bridge, using a Vivitar Radio Slave II as a back light with natural light as fill.
On the beach rocks, I alternated between using on-camera flash with the back light and just the back light alone. The flashes used were Vivitar 285 HVs. The results of using this dimensional lighting were quite dramatic -- it was 8:30 p.m. when we did this shot! Because it was June, however, it was still light enough to capture a very nice, natural light in the sky and sand.
Next we did a series on a cliff using black and white Plus-X film. These photos made for an attractive page in the finished album, using both horizontal and vertical oval mats to accentuate the different dimensions of the ocean, rocks and cliffs.
This wedding showed me again that no matter how many events I photograph, each one is delightful and unique in its own special way. Start working up your creativity from that first moment when the bride tells you her plans. The photo opportunities are there -- it's up to you to find them!
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