The Phoblographer

Bride and Veil

Natural light photographers have become wildly popular in the past several years. Many photographers actually market themselves purely as natural light photographers. There’s a good reason for this: natural light can create some of the most beautiful images that you’ve ever seen. Using natural light whenever possible is a no-brainer to give your images that beautiful, natural, dreamy quality that is synonymous with Weddings. However, there is more to it than just not using lights. People who have mastered natural light photography did more than just not use lights while shooting. You must really learn and understand how light behaves, reacts, and interacts with your subjects.

Click on through to view some tips to start you off down the right path for shooting weddings using natural light.

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I love film. The Yashica Electro GSN captured my heart a while back and so did the Leica M7. Thankfully, I was recently loaned a Mamiya 7 II medium format film rangefinder with an 80mm f4 lens. Coincidentally, Kodak also was kind enough to hand me rolls of Tri-X 400 and Ektar 100 recently. Even better: a friend of mine recently got hitched. So how does the Mamiya 7 II perform while shooting handheld in extremely dim situations and with slow film?
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Have you ever been to a wedding, looked at the photographer, and thought to yourself, “What the hell is he thinking?” Judge Joe Brown has, and so have some of our readers. Even if you’re forced into shooting the wedding, you should consider a couple of modern upgrades. This post was inspired by my recent trip to a wedding where the photographer used a Nikon D700, 18-200mm lens, and an SB-900 on a flash bracket plus two White Lightning strobes in umbrellas. And the photos? As a former wedding photographer I’m going to come straight out and say that I don’t believe that my friend got her money’s worth.

Here are some major upgrades that won’t break the bank (especially with what you’ll be getting back in monetary return.)

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I’ve encountered a lot of this recently amongst friends, readers, and the like: being asked to shoot a wedding but not having the experience. Everyone in said person’s family and immediate circle says, “Oh, you can shoot the wedding! You’ve got the gear! We won’t have to pay a pro!” Many times, even if you say no, you’re still pushed to do so. The reason for this is because most of said people don’t understand just how much thought, care and work goes int photographing a wedding.

While I recommend that you tell them, “Go find a professional,” here are some tips for the person that’s forced to shoot a wedding.

Editor’s Note: Though we’ve taken a recent turn catering to the street photography crowd, we’ve got loads of resources on shooting weddings. They are listed throughout this piece.

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Every photographer has a go-to lens that helps them to accomplish their daily tasks. What’s yours? Mine was (and in some ways still is) the Canon 24-105mm F/4 L IS. It has been by my side through paparazzo work, weddings, portraits, events, sports, and it has even been my casual walkaround lens. Used on the many cameras that have passed through my hands during reviews, it has been a mainstay on either my Canon 7D or 5D Mk II: always remaining ready to be used in an instant.

This long term review will cover the two years I’ve spent using this lens and will summarize the faults and strengths of this beloved piece of plastic with the heart of glass.

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