Tips On Creating Great Light – Part 1

Natalie and Win in the rain

• For this photo I had my assistant cover the flash in a clear plastic bag and put it about 30 feet away in the rain. I try to carry a large Ziploc bag in my camera bag just in case, for occasions like this. Without putting a gel on the flash at night and setting my camera to 3200K (or tungsten) white balance it turns the flash into that blue color I was looking for. To have the couple color corrected though, I had a video light in the front held by my assistant camera left. The couple were underneath an awning – as were my assistant and I. By putting them under there we all managed to stay dry, but have that outdoors look.
• As far as posing, I told them to just hold each other facing one another. I normally start with that and most people go for the correct position: his hands around her waist, her hands on his shoulders. The only correction I usually have to watch out for is when a bride brings her elbow straight up. I always remind her to bring them down so she doesn’t cover her face.  Every wedding I try to do a night shot to wrap everything up. Most couples love this extra touch. Usually including the venue or something about the location is good too since they chose the place for a reason.
• Gear: Nikon D800, 70-200mm vr, yongnuo 568, newer 160 LED panel

Melissa and Etienne’s afternoon session

• For this photo we were exploring Arkansas. On the way to their engagement session we spotted this really nice open field. At that time I knew the light was too harsh but on our way back it would be perfect. So after about an hour and a half of shooting at the location we had picked I told them to follow me and we would make a stop. By this point they trusted me (I always show my couples the back of my camera when I feel like we have winners) so I pulled over and we walked into the field. We brought one of our blankets from home knowing this could be a possible shot.
• The perspective I wanted was directly from above so to achieve that I had to basically hover the camera over, use liveview and trust my camera that it would focus properly. One of the hardest parts was having them laying down and not looking like they were straining themselves. The problem is if they lay down completely flat, it looks sloppy so we had to find a way of making them look natural while propping them up. I think Melissa and Etienne did a fantastic job!
• Gear: D800, Tokina 16-28mm (I THINK) in crop mode to not distort, natural light

Bride and Goom under the stars

• This is one of my favorite night photos I’ve done. I had spoken with the owner of the venue (Darrell) when I got there, just general chit-chat because I love getting to know people, but it worked to all our favor later. When I was setting the shot up, I knew we had too much light from the venue so there was no way we would be able to get the stars in the sky. So I asked Darrell if we could turn off a few lights. Not only did he shut off a few lights; he pretty much shut off every light there minus the reception room. It was such a nice gesture and it helped the bride and groom get stars for their wedding!
• As far as how it was shot, I set my camera on a tripod, set a flash behind them with a CTO gel at a very low power. I set the camera on a timer since I was alone and I had to use the video light (gelled as well) to light them up. It was about a 4 second exposure but after showing them a test shot they got really excited and held very still (teamwork!).  Even at f/2.8 and 3200 ISO it was still a very long exposure but they did a great job and got a sweet photo because of it!
• Gear: D800, Tokina 16-28mm 2.8, Nikon SB-80 behind, Neewer 160 LED light panel in the front

Tucson Wedding

There are times where the bride has put in so much attention to detail that photographing it is so much easier. I love this photo and many photos from this wedding, not only because the couple and all of their friends were such a delight to be around, but also because it shows how much work the bride put into her special day. From the headpieces, to the bouquets, to the touches of gold, everything was very well put together.

• Shooting it was simple: put the 85mm on and shot fairly shallow (f/2.2 or so). I wanted some compression so by shooting wider aperture I knew I would get more of that. I tried to keep them in a straight line as much as possible so one bridesmaid wouldn’t go out of focus.
• Gear: Nikon D800, Sigma 85mm 1.4, Natural Light

Through the trees in Newport

• While we were walking to a new location in Newport Beach, CA I spotted this frame in the middle of a few trees. The spot I was looking at was still about 80-100 feet away so the couple wasn’t completely sure what I was seeing but I knew it was going to be a solid shot if I could frame them between the trees. I had my assistant set up two flashes. One behind the couple, and one in the front, both with CTO gels to exaggerate the pink and blues in the sky.
• We had been shooting for about an hour and change already so when I told them to face each other they already knew: his hands around her waist and her hands on his shoulders with elbows low so as not to cover her face. Since I was going to be so far away I knew they probably wouldn’t hear me so I set up the shot before walking away and going for a good hike. Beyond that it was just a matter of praying that the flashes would fire. Since switching systems to the Yongnuo, from pocket wizards, it’s been such a joy being able to change power from my camera instead of the old-school way of running up to the flashes or telling my assistant to change the power. But with distance and trees I didn’t know if it would send and receive. To my surprise, every single shot fired and I only took about 5 frames, changing the composition a bit until I liked it.
• Gear: Nikon D750, Nikon 70-200mm VR, Two Yongnuo 560 IV

Tips on Creating Great Light – Part 2

Escobar Photography of Long Beach, California specializes in Destination Weddings.

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