Mastering Digital Wedding Photography is a new book which is coming out next month that myself, Mark Ridout (he rules) and a one other photographer from Ireland has been chosen to be a part of.
More about this book can be found on my BLOG if your interested. I get nothing out of this book in the way of money so I am not plugging my business just thought someone might learn from it so I wanted to share.
Below is a little section of one of the chapters which I have been forwarded by the Author which I found interesting so I wanted to share with the board since it is a forum I enjoy posting and meeting new people on.
Again I am not trying to brag more I am so humbled by this honor I am not sure what to say, but from what I have seen of the book it looks to be one very good book to learn from.
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Defining the "Perfect" Exposure
It’s easy today to totally rely on a meter, and get ‘acceptable" results. The ones in most professional cameras use sophisticated logic to measure the scene and offer a solution. But the meter has limitations and can fail. It can’t choose the most important part of the scene, factor in difficult lighting conditions, or calculate the precise shutter speed needed to stop motion.
Don’t get me wrong, the meter is a powerful tool. Both the in-camera and external incident/flash units are constant advisors as I over a wedding. Truth be told, my settings almost always vary from the readings. Most of the time there is usually at least a plus 1/3 stop compensation to the matrix meter. Sometimes the camera is set to manual. Then a combination of intuition is coupled with a regular check of the display and histogram.
That’s because the "proper" exposure won’t always serve our needs. A somewhat darker image will hold more detail in the highlights, and suits the way we process and retouch images for printing. The real "perfect" exposure is the one that let’s the photographer get exactly the finial result envisioned as the shutter was pressed. Most of the time that is a well balanced range of tones. There are exceptions.
It’s easy today to totally rely on a meter, and get ‘acceptable" results. The ones in most professional cameras use sophisticated logic to measure the scene and offer a solution. But the meter has limitations and can fail. It can’t choose the most important part of the scene, factor in difficult lighting conditions, or calculate the precise shutter speed needed to stop motion.
Don’t get me wrong, the meter is a powerful tool. Both the in-camera and external incident/flash units are constant advisors as I over a wedding. Truth be told, my settings almost always vary from the readings. Most of the time there is usually at least a plus 1/3 stop compensation to the matrix meter. Sometimes the camera is set to manual. Then a combination of intuition is coupled with a regular check of the display and histogram.
That’s because the "proper" exposure won’t always serve our needs. A somewhat darker image will hold more detail in the highlights, and suits the way we process and retouch images for printing. The real "perfect" exposure is the one that let’s the photographer get exactly the finial result envisioned as the shutter was pressed. Most of the time that is a well balanced range of tones. There are exceptions.
Mike Fulton has provided us with examples of exposure and lighting drawn from the TriCoast workshop and DVD tutorial series. (Information on them is found in the Resource Guide). The picture in Figures 8.2 shows the appearance of an original image and 8.3 shows the result after RAW processing and enhancement in PhotoShop. It shows how even when the meter reading is "right", another exposure is needed to obtain the desired final image and preserve detail in important areas that the meter reading does not allow for.
Figure 8.2
This image looks underexposed, and it certainly wasn’t taken with the values offered by the camera’s metering system. The photographer carefully chose the settings to hold highlight details for later processing.
Deliberate over and underexposure are creative tools, and not just when we want a high-key or low-key effect. Figure 8.2 looks dark, examined in the camera’s LED display, it probably looked almost unusable. But the photographer was visualizing how the final picture would look after processing.He chose to let the fabric on the ceiling go almost totally dark, to be able bring out as much detail in the highlights as possible after processing. The exposure still shows skin tone and the flowers, gown, and wall have texture. The area just under the recessed lights on the left are slightly washed out.
Figure 8.3
After processing and enhancement, the dramatic results are very pleasing. The exposure is the starting point of the photographic process. The meter can only work with known values and the limits of its programmed logic to evaluate a scene. The photographer must consider the final use and determine the exposure settings needed to obtain the desired results. (Both images by TriCoast Photography.)
Let’s look closely at what the "underexposure" allowed the photographer to do, and how it was done. Compare the flowers and the open sky through the windows in both figures. Both have tone in Figure 8.2, but are close to washing out in Figure 8.3. The bride’s skin tone in the processed version is right on the mark after processing, as are the walls and pillars.
Now consider the decorative fabric on the ceiling. The rich blue color was enhanced with a PhotoShop action. Mike and Cody have developed scores of actions used to speed up their work, and many are based on techniques that require adjusting exposure to create a RAW image that can stand up to the level of adjustment required to produce the picture the photographer visualized at the moment of exposure. This level of skill requires an understanding of both exposure and processing techniques.
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