Observational Photojournalistic Wedding Photographer

I like to stand back and observe people

Form
DSLR-Canon, reflector, a longer lens is preferred with the f-stop of f-1.2 and a wide angel lens. If I can't afford my own equipment before I get a wedding photography job, I will rent a lens and a camera before hand. Eventually want my own studio or portable studio.

Content
What is it I like about Photojournalistic wedding photography?
I have always loved taking impromptu shots of people's facial expressions and emotions. For me it is about capturing the special moment for the bride and groom in that moment of time.
Because of my nature, I'm not one for delegating people and staging my photographs, I enjoy being out of sight with people and recording their true feeling and emotions of that time.

What is so significant about this type of wedding photography?
I want to be able to document their wedding day in a storytelling style, so years from now they are able to look at their photos and relive their memory again.
The traditional wedding photography is not significant to me because it doesn't fit my personality. I know there are some wedding photographers that don't mind the delegation of people, where you set up the bride, groom, bridesmaids, and the best-men to look at the camera and getting them to smile, plus not everyone likes looking into a camera. To me,  it changes the whole style of wedding photography into a more rigid approach, no emotions, and no storytelling.  I like a more natural and intimate style of wedding photography, not just on the bride and groom, but also guests that were there to share their special day.

My inspirational Artist

Robert Capa

by Robert Capa

by W. Eugene Smith

by Margaret Bourke-White









My analysis on the artist  photography images are not staged, they were not set up that way. These photographers just took them the way their subjects were. What you see is what you get. They are truthful and honest, which is how I see a couple's wedding on their wedding day.

Figuring out my position
The past 8 weeks I have learnt not just as a wedding photographer, but I have learnt a lot about myself and where exactly I would to go with this. The set of images below I have taken over the past couple of weeks has been an eye opener for me and having to pinpoint exactly what I want to be as a photographer. I'm happy to say it's a Photojournalistic Wedding photographer. I believe this particular genre suits my personality and I want to be able to enjoy what I love to do so passionately.  I have always been one to sit back, be quiet and work around a situation and just watch and observe. I have never enjoyed barking orders at people and telling them what to do, however if I have to do it I will.

Fairfax

Form
DSLR camera-to publish their magazines and a couple of the national newspapers, that covers 85 locations up and down New Zealand. Their main form of media is magazines, local newspapers, and on-line media.

Fairfax have their own photographers that go out to different locational sites and take photographs of the daily lives of what has just happened or what is happening in the community and big events that are to come. They have a huge archive of images  that have occurred from daily events of people.

When we met up with Chris and Laurence, they said "never force your subject (people) on what you want, when it comes to taking photographs, just go with what ever but be fair and humble, and think quick".

Content
The photographer's capture a lot of emotion, and expression in their subjects. Their images can be a mix of impromptu artistic, photo journalistic, sporty and big events that have happened over a weekend. Their images are significant to the stories being told to be able to convey a strong message to the public. The photographers have to think quickly in capturing a moment to allow their subject matter of telling most of their stories. 

by Laurence Smith

by Laurence Smith

Context
Fairfax media in Auckland was established in 2003, they are based in Freemans bay, Auckland. 
Prior to the establishment here in New Zealand, the forefathers of Fairfax media started in Australasia with publications and websites in every state, and eventually leading out to Australia and New Zealand.

Other than just the newspapers and magazines, they also have useful links such as stuff.co.nz, adstuff.co.nz rural press, Fairfax Australia digital Ad, etc. They print and digitally publicise across New Zealand every day.
They provide a service of 76 newspapers, 19 magazines which specialise in Lifestyle, Specialist, Business and Custom Publishing such as NZ Gardener, NZ Horse and Ponies, NZ Fishing news, etc,  and 15 online websites.

Ilan Wittenburg










Form

• Illan  can either work from a studio or outdoors.  His studio lighting I presume he uses a diffuse light to give his lingerie and portraits images a soft perspective.
• He uses a digital SLR. 
• He prefers to use high and eye level vantage points.
• For a lot of his family and wedding portraits he uses textural backgrounds, as an observation, Illan likes to apply the elements of outside such as beach for a rocky or water backgrounds or even the use of green trees. 
• Most of his work, especially the family portraits and weddings have a location setting.

Content
Illan likes to use his own distinctive and unique angles to add his creative flavour to his clients images. He engages more on portraits, weddings, pregnancy, and newborns and babies.  His drive are his clients that help him to his success, he feeds off their energy and gains a connection with his best interest at heart, by providing them with the best quality photographs for them to 'wow' at.


Context
Illan is from Israel, and moved to New Zealand, he has a very bubbly personality and has an abundance of determination and drive to get what he whats in his images. In 2010  he left his career in IT to pursue his passion in photography. His speciality is portrait photography, which is simply obvious by looking at his images.

Illan displays his images in art galleries, photo albums, and composite set of images (diptych, triptych, and quad). His images will be professionally framed if client wants them framed.

How do I present wedding photographs?

I have sourced a wedding album and I will need to go to Gordon Harris to get these items.

Gordon Harris

I will need to get archival double sided tape for my prints.

A4 Album cover-$30













Screws each for Album cover-$1.50








Tissue paper per sheet-20c













Pkt of 10 x A4 Sheets.
250gsm card.
Acid free.






I also need acid free double sided tape to stick my prints to each sheet. 
Scotch tape acid free, then I will carefully place each print on the sheets. 

Overall this method has been a learning curve for me. I have decided to go along with twenty A5 prints in my album. I had gone along with doing test strips and adjusting to suit what I wanted. It was a headache at first but learnt a lot by adjusting the levels, colour and manipulating images to bring the quality of the prints to standard. Thank you to Caralyn and Rebecca with their patience.

Low lighting conditions- evaluation


I was given the opportunity by a class peer to help out with a wedding. I had taking the photos during the ceremony, but my images were coming out to dark. I increased the ISO800 to ISO3200, which I really wasn't happy with, only because I knew the images would come out way to grainy. Also I didn't want the speed light to be a nuisance during this time of the vow's.

I wanted to research this for my own reassurance for next time I take another wedding ceremony inside a dark church.






Taken in church where it had very limited lighting

settings:
f6.3, 1/250, ISO 3200










How to get better photos in really low light conditions without using the flash?


Tips

1. Crank ISO as high as it will go
2. Shoot RAW if possible
3. Use aperature-priority with the lowest f-stop on the fastest lens, have it (f1.8 or lower if you can).
4. If that still cases the shutter speeds to be too low to hand-hold, then  set exposure compensation down a stop, which will increase the speed a little, and then  push the exposure in post (preferablly in RAW).
5. Lastly, use various forms of noise reduction to help on the grain/noise front.

How to adjust the exposure compensation? For canon and nikon users.

Once you have mastered this for low light conditions, hopefully the images should look a little like this. Except I adjusted the exposure on photoshop. (yes I was cheating) but you get the picture on what I was trying to explain.

Photoshop by increasing the exposure

Tanu Gago

Form

• I presume Tanu uses a colour camera, the pacific island models are his family members. 
• The images below have an authentic feel in and outside the home of South Auckland. 
• He uses deep depth of field to see the background of his images. 
• Tanu will use a single frame to convey a story in his images. 

Content 
Tanu's cultural aspect through is art. Analysing Tanu's work has a cultural importance. It's about
accepting him as a male pacific islander and as an individual, and it's about accepting other pacific island individuals for who and what they are. This is for all of us as individuals from all walks of life.

Evaluation: Deep d.o.f, standard lens, and studio lighting.

Context
Tanu Gago was born in Samoa 1983 and raised in a big family with very different cultural backgrounds of Manukau City. He prefers to use a single frame to tell an entire story and by doing this he incorporates his life experiences to create questions of the cultural pacific masculinity and sexuality of society.
While Tanu was growing up, he struggled as an individual on what is the identity of a pacific island male's masculinity, and through this journey of South Auckland has lead him to where he is today as a 'successful artist'.
He believes his pacific audience is the drive force behind the success of his visual art.

One to one studio kit with Rebecca

This came in handy for when I took studio/wedding shots of Tahila. Rebecca showed us how to set up the studio kit.

Form
I only used a key light and a fill with umbrella reflector light in the movie-imaging studio. Props are umbrella and bouquet. Both landscape and portrait.

Content
To produce images with soft lighting on the models face.

Context
I wanted to capture the bride at different vantage points to exaggerate the close ups and focus more on her face.

Digital-Studio

Even though I have missed out on the class at King Studio. I decided to use the studio at M.I.T. To follow up on my vantage point and studio.

I really like Val's style of using low/high vantage point and he has used this in studio, which I thought I will try and achieve for my follow ups.

Form

• I used a studio kit in the movie imaging studio and applying my follow ups from my failures from Maraetai. 
• I had a wedding dress which was lent out to me by announcing it on facebook. 
• It was going to cost me up to $200 dollars to get the models dress to get drycleaned, so I contacted my mum who knows a lot about fabrics and she said to hand wash it in bathtub, drip dry it and iron it on low heat.

Content what is the subject of the matter?
My focus was to take into consideration the low/high vantage point,  hand placement and the models body position.

• By taking the model's picture at a low vantage point I wanted to create a more exaggeration, by doing this I thought it would add interest to what a low vantage point would look like.
• High vantage point I wanted to convey a different angle of a birds eye view. Having the model look up at the camera so her eyes widen. 

Context
My images are studio based, I seem to be drawn to high and low vantage point only because it creates a different feel to an image rather than taking all my pictures just a eye level all the time.

It's about moving out of my comfort zone from just taking plain Jane eye level pictures and finding out a bit more about myself on what I'm capable of.


Different Vantage points for my next photo shoot.
by Val San Diego

by Val San Diego

by Susie Popata

















by Val San Diego

by Susie Popata

by Adolf de Meyer

by Susie Popata

by Val San Diego



















by Susie Popata

Digital 2

Natasha Cantwell










Form
Natasha likes to use medium format camera by using film and then scanning her images to send both file and her films to her clients.

Content
She likes to use geeky nerdy models making them look like they have no make up on, and creating realistic atmosphere and a retro style to her images.

Context
Who is Natasha Cantwell?
She is New Zealand's well known freelance/fashion photographer.

Natasha is a fashion photographer for Frankie magazine, No magazine and Madame Hawk magazine  and she is recognised for her style of taking photo's of nerdy geeky people, which has given her a hallmark of Frankie magazine.

 She is from New Zealand, but travels internationally.
Natasha has graduated with a bachelor of graphic design in 2001at Auckland University of Technology.

Portfolio week 3

Class discussion on Photo

• A strong rule of thirds
• Repetitious with lines, ripples and clouds
• Texture of two earth elements such as water and wood - (juxtaposition).
• White representing purity, virtuous woman, cleanliness, light and innocence.

Portfolio

Pitch

Top wedding Photographer's

Adolf de Meyer
Val San Diego
Lee Morris

I like Adolf de Meyer from 1930's for his portraiture photos, in which I am hoping to achieve.
I also like the Val San Diego and Lee Morris who are contemporary photographer.

Week 2 Tuesday

take shots of a bride on her own

week 4 Tuesday

take shots of bride in studio, and try to apply Adolf de Meyer and Val San Diego style.

Must remember - Hands and body position on 45 degree angle
Val San Diego - Vantage Points - Studio
Adolf de Meyer - Portraiture - Studio

Week 4 Friday

Bride follow-ups of failures from Maraetai

Week 5

Bride and groom.

Week 6

Follow-ups from week 4 and week 5 and organise for fake ceremony.

Week 7

Finishing off presentations.

Digital 2

Shigeyuki Kihara

As a class discussion we came to the conclusion that Shigeyuki Kihara of

Form
Materials/tools that were used

Deep dof
Lines and pattern (backdrop)
Texture (backdrop) weaved mat
Fore, mid and background
Studio but it gives us a perception of it being somewhere else. (Samoa)
Composition is central
Film camera


Content
Cliches of The Dusky Maiden or The South sea belle, but artist is taking the mickey out of what a Dusky Maiden.

• Sex
• Transgender construction
• Samoan Cultural aspect

Context

The self portrait of herself, was to target a certain group of people that had a sexual desire for the dusky maiden. Shigeyuki Kihara wanted to mock this group of people by showing what you see is what you get as a samoan transgender and this is her identity as a samoan fa'afafine. 

Follow up and correction on self-direct for Maraetai photo.


Under/overexposed

I have come to the conclusion that I needed to brighten up Lorryns face by using more power from the flash.

And turn the aperture right down to get more of a theatrical feel in the background of the clouds.









I used a speedlite and used the under/overexpose technique to get a more dramatic background.











Making sure I have model on a 45 degree angle to avoid shoulder shortening.

Placing a reflector on the other side of model helps with a balance lighting

Taking a change with different levels of vantage points

Making sure my models hands are not awkward and no hands or fingers cut off.

Body position, no squatting and distracting background.













mission complete......