Lessons

Lesson Info

The Bride Alone Posing

We got the engaged from session we definitely saw that adversity affects us in different ways so one of the best things that happened during that is you saw that I'm going to deal with different things and different scenarios in terms of lighting and conditions but you can never ever let your client know what exactly is going wrong or going on. One of things they're trying to do is one of the biggest things in my collection which obviously I can't really do for you on creative life is all boudoir the boudoir session is so important to me and my clients now I remember being about sixteen years old and coming up with that and saying to my dad I want to do something different I want to do something unique I was a year into shooting his public or seventeen actually and I said to him, I want to do something different these brides where all this exciting on jury and different things like that I think it would be wonderful they go beautiful and I want to make women feel good about themselves.

And he said to me how you're just being a seventeen year old pervert and he may have been right at the time, but what I didn't realize is once I got into it how elegant because it could become how wonderful it made people feel about themselves and more importantly how profitable that could pay it became something that I would say that probably eighty percent of our brides d'oh eighty percent of our brides we that young lady I was telling you about who works in my studio that I trained the photo nazi girl she is filled with food wash he does almost two hundred fifty boudoir as a year in studio besides all the ones we do the day of the wedding because the truth is very simple if you can make a woman feel good about herself, you can get her to buy whatever you want and it's important you should want to do that it's an experience it's the same thing if you're doing maternity session it's where things like that take people on what they feel self conscious about and make him look better so normally I would start my session of the home with that we're going to skip ahead but please know it's something that if you're okay with it and you think it's going to work for you, you should d'oh so I'm gonna start with what minor details I have I don't think I have a bouquet or anything like that correct so I'm going to work with the details I do have which are typically the dress, the shoes, the earings tip okay and different things like that one of the things that I look for is I love doing shots of the dress hanging I love doing it, but I find people growing it all the time it's such an easy photographed heroin, you notice it's always hanging up it's hanging in a window or something like that? The problem is, how do you expose for it? One of the things that happens is people will expose for the outside this creeley isn't the ideal background for it because I have everything outside and I have a big bar going through the middle, I'm going to have to photo shop that out, whether it be through a clone or, you know, a content aware I'm going to get rid of it, but the key here is do I want to see what's outside? Not really I want to get rid of it because I have the cars, I have different things, the distractions this is solely focused on address, but here's the thing it requires little to no adjustments, all I need to do is realize that my dress is in the shadow area, isn't it? It's dark inside, so if I meet her and expose for the dress what's going to happen to the background it's going to blow out and if I do that I'm in pretty good shape, so one of the things that I want to set up this will be my first image again, I'm not in love with the background so I need toe over, expose it and blow it out if I don't get enough exposure to blowing it out, one of the things that I'm going to do is go and adjust according by using exposure compensation I'm going to tell it that I wanted to expose and then I'm going to use a cambodia action in my post production called hd aug on what that's going to do is pull it all the way back with like a high pass filter all right? So going from here to set up, I'm looking on all ideal to be quite honest with you I don't want to get the top I don't need the strings hanging I don't need anything I just want to watch center it to one side, make sure you get the top part of the dress and if I'm right because its shadow, I should blow it right out and you take a look, I have my image now you may say, why do I got the curtain and knows differently? I know I'm going to crop that up I know I'm setting it up to be a five by ten so I could use it on one side of a page keeping it simple the other thing that I want to do is focus on the details of the gown so I want the light toe almost passed right? Although I have nice detail there I want to be able to adjust I always try to keep distractions out of the background so what I'm looking to deal is bring my camera right up just to primarily focus again on the details so it's a very simple shot using the more wide open aperture and I'm just working to get my detainee look it's beautiful, it's soft, it's crisp. Now you may say, what are you going to do with that is nothing. It becomes a background image on your page. One of the things that photographers are we searching for one building albums is background image is keeping them simple understanding the process is I want to again set up my details so I'm looking right in here to use the window light in a reflective light. This stuff here drives me crazy I'm looking toe always avoid seeing the inside of the show and seeing the name of it because it's generally not nothing flattering so again the pearls creating your focus, going right in there just like that and again telling the story now generally I would probably go to an eighty five millimeter one point for but again, I'm realistic that not everybody has that, so if you come work with one lens, if you have to work with one lands it's okay, one of the things the photographers tend to dio is overshoot the details on what I mean by overshooting the details as they focus on getting too many different angles of it. How many images there they're going to buy off this? Not a lot it's going to be one image now, mind you, if there's other details like the invitation like the flowers like the rings are going to get, all of those is part of the story because I want to bring it all together and build a page of stories, but this is what I have, so this is what I deal with, and again I'm setting it up to be quite simple. I'm looking here, I don't really need to do anything big, and I'm focusing right there. I'm looking for the reflections, making sure I got what I want, I'm focused unlocked no, take a look if you notice first, what I did was locking on the hearings, and that allows the shoes to soften up completely, and then I don't worry about anything now notice what makes that image is what the back like kicking off the table because I exposed for the front, the reflective light off the back of the table became beautiful did in it, and you see where the edge of the table and guess what else is going to end there. My crop, I'm going to crop along the top horizontal line, I'm going to make my image so in one image I was able to create a different story, but with everything okay, so it works out, quite simply, to be honest with you. So everything I do again is about the little details focusing on little details. Brides spend months possibly years planning this stuff out, we really need to focus on it, so I'm going to bring my bride and right now now, although she's in a robe, normally, if she wanted, I would bring her into whether should be wearing a lingerie or anything like that. I'd bring her in, but I never want to make her feel exposed. That's the k normally should be wearing white, ok, so how do I do this it's? By making its soft, bringing her in to kind of feel what's going on? I want her to feel the texture of the gown. I want her to see it, you're going to come behind it beautiful and looking in right, and he end up, come behind it a little bit more, and I want you to lean out with your head to make okay, turning your head here and notice from using the veil, going to discuss this in a little while, I'm bringing her if you look right from here you see the light hitting that you hide here so I want to bring her forward and her eyes down again simple I want to keep control of its from creating two different images in terms of texture we're going to use the texture of the gown and take a look right in there looking down beautiful now soft light her eyes aren't up so I don't really need to worry about reflecting light and using what's existing I'm exposing for hardness shadow area notice or cropping between the lamp and all of that and it works out great I have beautiful detail in the gown now look at how her veil is glowing translucent, isn't it so let's take a look what happens when I start to move around and look for a profile image looking down beautiful okay just like that so I'm picking up tilt your head to the dress nope turn your head back to may and I'm tilting in the direction she's looking, which is camera right and ultimately mangling her up and look at the difference between the two okay, you going from here to a profile two thirds to a profile and we didn't come up there did there we go take a look I'm blowing it out on what's happening is you don't even realize it I'm using the dress as a high key set up our night that's pretty nice, isn't it nice and soft beautiful serene I want you to think about it how many doubles have I taken? Is there really a need? She looks stunning so what I'm going to do at this point is I'm going to take the dress down for her. One of the things that have happened over time and slide and lips is I have fallen on multiple occasions. One of the things that happened over time is I start taking images of her getting dressed as we know brides love to run wait on this here is the biggest night mother it you could either let the maid of honor do it the mother do it and be there for forty five minutes will you learn to do these things so she's going to go and get dressed and I'll kind of explain what I mean thank you. Beautiful over time I've become a maid of honor after doing it as long as I have, I'm always volunteering to help them get dressed to help them zip in to help pull it tight. Now you may say you're a man, what are you doing if I'm photographing them in large? Alright, if I'm photographing them and you know it's compromising the position is come bay there's no reason I can't be their friend and kind of guide them through them because remember time is of the essence if I let you sit there and take two hours with the makeup artist and do these things it's not going to work when I walk into a home and the bride doesn't ever make up her hair done, but her mom, we're sisters getting it. I got to move her into that chair immediately because nothing can happen without her that's the control of the day, nothing can happen without her, I say to my brides all the time and I say it laughing, but they understand I mean, and god help you, if you're late when I get there, I expect you to be in europe. I expect you to have all of these things ready and be ready to go do not keep me waiting, ok? I do not want to wait because we don't have time now. Mind you, I know that it's going to happen sometimes, but I build variables into it. Some of you may say, well, he's, arrogant, he's pushy because in the end, when it doesn't work out the right way, who's responsible for it, is she going to remember that she was two hours late? I don't think so, it's my fault, is she going to remember that she was fighting with her mother that day? I don't think so she going to remember that the makeup artist screwed up a hair? I don't think so if the makeup artist screwed up the hair, if the mother's cranky if the times were running lee whose responsibility is it to fix it? It's mine that's our job that's what we've signed up for. So for me to blow through and get that stuff done, I'm always going to ask this question we'll have the mom and mom, would you like me to help? Of course I'm not going to ruin this moment for you if I help them, I I'm not going to run this one. No, no, I'll let you finish up, but if you want me to help get started so it can move along because I know it's most important that we enjoy this day without interruption because the one thing you hear about photography is is that we take every day, every moment there is to do this, we don't have enough time the photographer ruined it. I don't want to be that guy like I told you in the beginning everybody loved my dad, they loved him, but the second the photos weren't going on time, it was always his fault and imagine being eleven years old and seeing people turn on your father it kind of pushed me to the point I said, I'm never going to shoot during the cocktail hour, and I'm never, ever gonna lose control. My dad gave me once a very valuable piece of information. He said, whatever you do, never stopped talking because they will listen to whoever's talking. So in the absence of real leadership, you need to listen to whoever is talking. Guess is always going to be talking it's going to be made yes, helped them come up with the day of schedule. Of course I do. That's part of the planning. I want to understand. I want to know ahead of time when I look at that okay of flowers and there's. A little photo on it. I want to know who it is. I want to use that to set off on emotion. I want to know everything. Every little thing I want to go about time. What time your flowers arriving? I'm going to start two hours before sort like the flowers there. Four hours before what time is your makeup artist arriving? I want to know that I want to know everything. The in all business game plan that we sell has every form. That we've ever produced and it has an entire schedule of the day so that we go over, I know everything from the hairdresser's name to the makeup artist statement, do you think we call these people and go over every detail? We bet you bet and if I think they're going to be late, I'm going to change my times accordingly. Everything is about scheduling it's about time and can I be lead for the bright house now? So why should you be late for may gotta deal with that situation. Everything is about time, yes advance. You do that? Because I've had rights be like, well, I'm not sure I'm waiting for this person to get back in this. Well, I start by asking me questions that the initial setting, when they're filling out contracts who have his phone him out, goes over those details, and then how many times do you think I go over them before? Every single time I meet them every time I meet them, I go over it again and again because if you ever been to a wedding and all of a sudden you're like, all right, I need the boy's grandfather he died, but wait a minutes on my paper, I filled that paper out a year ago, grandpa died two weeks ago. It happens. You need to be detail oriented. The more details you have, the easier the day it is for you. The more details that give, the more they trust you. A bride and groom shouldn't have to think about what they want are going to do that day. You should know. You know why people hire me and pay the money they pay for me because they know that no matter what, I'm going to get it done just like the engagement session, no matter what. I'm going to make them look like what they saw. Yes, you make it sound like you meet with them a lot. I mean, how often do you meet with them? A lot? Because they are my friend. They are my family. Remember, I meet with them as much as possible. I tell my brides and grooms, david, open door policy, your first engagement session is for me to kind of figure out what you want, what I want from you. What I want to see if you want to come back and do an engagement session every week into your wedding. I don't care. Keep doing it. I'll give you a free a portrait every time why am I giving anybody a portrait I'm guaranteed to sale of a frame? And the more they come in the more cooperation bring your mother bring your father bring your sister's bring your brother's bring your grandparents bring everybody. I'll shoot them too because we are the family studio and when they walk in I know who they are. I know when their wedding is I know everything about him it's about personal relationships how many of them do you think come in every week? They don't. I've had I think the most anybody ever did was for engagement sessions and I was fine because she wound up spending thousands of dollars on portrait's and frames just makes us look better personal relationship okay, good. So can I have my beautiful bride now I have her and sequence and I'm ready to go now with everything like I told you there is a whole set of posing that ideo I call it a proposal we know that term so that's a simple way for me to start and really make magic happen now one of the things that photographers are very afraid off is shooting into windows the petrified of it I love windows because it's high key photography it gives me beautiful light it gives me light could do it most people in this room would be shooting which way right towards you guys because it's easier it's simple but easy isn't fun easy is a glamorous now I would do her in the bedroom I would do her in the mirror and all that stuff so what I would do is it probably start in the mirror and what I'm going to dio has come right over here okay because this is the bedroom I'm going to pretend that this is a bride's home I have a mirror right over here one of the things the photographer's love to dio is kind of play with mirrors and say ok look in here this way see this light stand and I see everything behind it I don't look at a mirror that way I know that the main direction of light is coming from here isn't it so I'm gonna bring you back here beautiful now this is hang on to it okay we don't need any bad luck so I want you guys to come back by the window so you can see what I see now let's take a look at this mirror here it's pretty straight now if we would have look at this here I want to bring her as close into that mirrors I can possibly get no let me talk to you a little bit I think my eyes so right now is around sixteen hundred yes I could go higher I could go lower but again it requires good light so the reason I want this mirror here is because I know that I have light coming in this direction so I want a light into her face through the body isn't that the best thing we can do so we're going to come in close here and bringing her in here and turn your face and what you don't mean into the mirror I want her right on top of the mirror but where do you think I'm going to go if I come here do I have a great back when I have all of you so I want to use the mirror because I want to try to highlight what's going on here and show things off a little bit so what I'm gonna do is come is close into the mirrors possible now look at her hand do you see how her hand it looks timid it's the top of the hand remember I want to see the side of the hand okay so everything I do again is about control look at my thumb here and now I want to control it the veil is my best friend and I'm going to explain that in a little while because the veil is my cover can you lean forward to me a little bit beautiful tilt your head to the mirror turn your head to may just a little bit now looking at me and leaning a little bit forward and turn your head slightly to the left no turn case yeah she's tilting now watch turn tilt you see, I'm not even touching her already. You have to be very descriptive you have to know your left from right that's key so look right here you're looking at me beautiful and you're smiling nice and happy turn your head a little bit to the left I love it when you fake it like that smile and excellent excellent don't move. Look at our first image look at the quality of it. Look at the depth to it that's a beautiful soft image, isn't it? We have a lot going on there and that's different from a mirror than you're used to seeing, isn't it? Bring your hand down a little bit beautiful. No, not that much good. Now look down in the mirror and look at where we go turn your head to me a little bit. Are these down now look at her mouth. Some people like this, I'm not a big fan of it, it's kind of some people say it has that erotic look to it. I don't know if I want this and my bride alone photos. All right, I want something soft and central so I wanted to close the mouth turner head to may lean forward more, more head down, eyes down, chin down, turn your head a little bit more, look down with your eyes make sure that we focus on the subject. I'm going to focus right on a raid. I I'm going to lock in on a radar. What may exposure on dh take a look. Look at how simple this comes together going right from there. Pretty nice image, isn't it notice to cut I the bridge of the nose and the notice right in there we go there I have another soft image, so I'm working with east china mix setting it up. Okay, little things that obviously fix her hand. Now come off the mirror for a second and what I'd like you to do is come. You grab your personal belongings over here, so we're going to come back. You guys could take a seat right over here and we're going to talk about how to use that window. Matt, can I ask you just to take that mirror down so it doesn't for again now the one concern I have tohave you could put all of those on beautiful. You don't have to worry about your shoes right now. One of the concerns that I always have is the window I choose toe. I want son flaring through not too much rather just have it bright because if the sun flares through it's not gonna work as well, now you understand the concept, what we're doing with the mirror obviously and you see that has a unique entity especially from breaking it into color black and white and really softening it up so what I'm going to do is I'm going to create my own little posing guide I'm sorry my own little sequence I love the veil but the thing is most people when you look at wedding photographer and you look at vail's did you ever notice the veil looks very great? It looks very boring and playing why is that happening? It's happening because there's nothing behind it there's no light behind it by using this window I'm creating a beautiful soft high key entity because when you walk into someone's home you don't use the window like you use flash which is going to make the room generally, especially on camera very what one dimensional I want to try to avoid that I want to show and my initial images I want to show the beauty of her face I want to show the softness of her hands I want to show the beauty of the veil I want to start to take it into a glamour look so watch how we do it can anybody I did we bring the reflector and from outside if not come we grab one right off my bag there because they're not going to stay in ok no worries we're going to bring you right here beautiful so look this is a regular set up isn't it perfect so I'm gonna bring the shoes over here and everything set just like that now my torture it's probably going to become a little bit help helpful here I'm gonna use because what's our main light here daylight unless you keep these on I have to be careful so if I'm gonna brides home can I control that? I want these lights off then so you're going to take a seat right there you're gonna wear them that long are you going to swing him over? Ok so now we pulled the veil here so why is the bail such an important entity? The bail allows me to cover her arms it becomes almost a beautiful soft gordon blur over her arms which is going to tremendously then are out so here's opposing table now I want you to lean forward to me on it come in nice and close bring your elbows down and now watch how we control her hands we're going to bring them up again. I just want to start with a couple soft beautiful hand shots and now take a look look at how a cracker hands and I look at what the veil does the veil comes over that controls the look and more importantly when you have a high key look what's going to happen to me I was going to flow your channel tilt your head to the right now from here I need toe obviously fill it just a little bit because I have when I look in their eyes what are they the kind of dead aren't they? So we're going to bring this in nice and soft is that too much it's too much? Because if I'm over what's existing what's going to happen it's going to be too powerful so I'm going tio you barely notice it, but what do you know this the catch fight? Because the light should be set under what's existing now if I screw up here on my media ring it's going to be a problem because you're gonna be underexposed could I have just I just need to turn your chair this's very important that the chair is out okay? Why I don't want to see the back of the chair and look at how the hands go relax sides cover and right in there cannot tilt your head to your right into the face turned to me just a little bit no turn your head this way a little bit and you were doing spectacular a little risky what I'm doing right now, isn't it? It may not work because the sun's kind of flaring through a little bit, so I'm going to meet her right in here and I'm exposing under the eyes looking right here beautiful good stay the smiling gorgeous nice and happy eyes up here come on bigger nice and happy don't move notice where her eyes are in relation to the lens and what's happening is I'm starting to get beautiful flaring night you don't know where you are anymore that's a nice high key look, isn't it? And now what else is happening? She is one distraction which everybody does every subject does it's right here the bags under the eyes you don't notice them as well, do you? Well not everybody has a good so don't worry you're stunning but look at how beautiful and look at the hair look at the globe isn't a bride supposed to look angelic? Isn't she supposed to look translucent and I got it going on now watch the hands everything is in the hands relax here and then bring this elbow out here you don't let her and look it, I want you to look at her posture just watch if I do that, she slouching you see the difference or face to the light vaillant cover, not ring till now again, these air just soft chic once he's just beginning of a flow just to get her use to it that not even at the creative point turn your head back to me a little bit and you bring your hand in a little closer and your eyes are up here and you chin up a little bit turn your head back a tad chin down smiling that's fake come on bigger bigot yes there we go don't move take a look simple sequencing one pose leading to a next coming right in here looks pretty nice that's in it hand here here tilting here and now watch what I create around her I remember we talked about mood swings and changes it's amazing what that little I can do it and it gives you a beautiful look eyes out here lean forward to me beautiful chin down I see you smiling yet don't wolf watch this change cameras tilted in the direction she's looking now I'm just going to tilt the other direction look att may serious no smile shindo look at how the mood changed and this is one of the great things about having the grooves in the bracket that's pretty good, isn't it? So I've already accomplished for images not too hard is it now watch what we do know now we start to get a little bit creative I love using the veil bring your hands down hold spread it up hold a bailout and look up towards may and lean forward you gonna come directly to its camera beautiful chin down a little bit chanda and I wanted to smile with your eyes close your mouth soft eyes open, chin down a little bit. Turn your head slightly don't move! Look at the glow that comes from it look at the detail now watch what she does. Chin down, eyes down, chin down, chin down, eyes down now stretch out and lean forward eyes down chanda, kendall, don't move! Take a look look at the mood change look at the swing those air serena surreal issue could get of a bride, isn't it? Now look at this eyes up to may turn your head slightly to your left not till turn till chin down lean forward hold it right there you are doing wonderful stay there, turn your head a little bit and I'm right on top of her and take a look look at how angles change look at how the image changed just put a crop look at the glow on the flowers behind her do we have any questions at home that I might be able to answer? I could I say one thing before you ask his dio how's my temperament right now, it's soft and engaging, isn't it? My personality has changed because do I need to be hyper with her alone, I need to make her feel safe. I need to make her feel secure I need to make her feel like I want to make a look beautiful on one of the things that you start to look is I look at you and I say, oh my god lite is great if I turn ahead to the right perfect if I tilt your head the other way and you have to start looking and seeing these little things and realizing anything could be make someone look good unless we're not least you have to find something glorious and beautiful in every subject I remember being about eighteen and my mother looking at one of my weddings in them it's obvious she didn't like her because she was this so that and the other thing never forgot that always find something you call love is usually in the eyes the mouth what do we got girls people are starting to ask about this is from yen from montreal what is what about time management for you when you're dealing with the bride and the groom, the preparations for both you do first and in what order? Well remember most of my weddings they're not seeing each other before so I'm going to start probably the bride's house about two hours before do the bride's boudoir details on the whole process bride alone bride and her parents bright and girls is generally going to take me maybe half hour, forty minutes what I'm doing right now how long do you think that takes me to shoot well that's questions have come about second out that as what I could do everything I'm showing you now with the bridal on I could do in under five to ten minutes because I have it in my head I see like I know what poses I want to accomplish in a sequence so the next question again is doesn't mean all of his weddings look alike so tell them I said thank you because that's a compliment nobody's ever come to me to put my god I love your work can you make sure my wedding looks nothing like that good point all right so you have my weddings to look alike but that's why they hire men they're flying me to be someone else they're hiring because they like what he did I think it's just a good thing to clarify you know doug is teaching here so he is going slowly through all of these poses but when he when he's on fire the man's on fire as you could imagine if you want I'll blow through them but you're gonna learn absolutely nothing you know I can do all of these in a couple of seconds turn your head to your right you're in a profile turn turn turn turn till the top of your head to make good turn just like that looking right there perfect good and I'll just keep moving or in adjusting, and I wanted to think about it this whole sequence will take seconds, but you're not going to learn anything. We have a video it's called the rial wedding day, where it actually does follow me around on a real wedding if you watch that you'll see when I do bride and groom flow posing there's a clock ticking and I was able to pull up, I think eighty one different completely different images of the bride and groom in four and a half minutes it doesn't serve any purpose to teach that way, you're not going to learn that way, one of the questions we have all right, so we saw this earlier as well, from judy be photography do you use a tripod all the way through the chute? Normally, yes, who says I always end up getting tangled in the tripod? When I tried to do that, you're going to see me use it for ceremony, going to use it in a reception. The main reason I use it is it gives me stability, it allows me to walk around and I've learned to control it over time. Now, mind you, this isn't my tripod, but I could still walk in and do my things move in, make it into a mano pod adjust, do what I need to dio lean back lean forward till and I'm always balanced that's the problem people want to shoot handheld and they don't realize the consistency wise if you would go and try and crop this in a batch crop in light room you probably can't do it because you have no consistency I can all right so I definitely work everything that way okay so moving on so let's take a look here I already showed you this would be the profile image should take a look turning head down she cannot make sure there's nothing in a profile eyes down here's our image now take a look at the difference if I guided her here I'm putting broad like closest to the camera but if I go here I know got perfect profile light I'm in the stand I'm ready to go eyes down just like that I want to make sure my camera heights of low enough where I don't see the vertical horizontal lines in the face and now I got my image just like that so now I set it up my next images in sequence would be the details it would be her hearing it would be her necklace it would be her neck on the things that she doesn't have and then of course I'm gonna have my classic views so take a look right here so we're going to do is turn her body this way slide forward to me to the edge of the chair good keep this hand down keep this hand down turn her head here bring your hand to you like good and take a look keeping it simple fighting into the face just like that but she's too costs can you slide a little bit more to the edge good you're not going to fall off right good and leaning forward there put your hand right on you like good and leaning down this is a traditional boring pose this was the post that made me want to follow monty sucker the very simple chin up turn your head to your right till fell to their own there so this is the way monty shot it I don't really shoot it this way especially in this environment I won't but take a look right there so I'm here eyes here smiling nice and happy take a look the reason I don't shoot it is it is very traditional based but how could I take what I learned from him and make it into my own watch how I crop it looking at me tilt your head a tack to the left a little bit more turn your head to your right good looking at me right here beautiful eyes down just like that looking or eighty smiling nice and happy keep those eyes open remember I said I we should double when I know she close smiling now she looks down take a look. See the blank now look the difference when her eye is completely open you'll say see those little things noticing the details chin down, eyes down just like that stay right there till the top of your head to your left. Good. Just like that. Now look up again. I'm gonna go horizontal and changed the whole direction of the way I'm going smiling nice and happy teeth eyes up here. Excellent. I just created three images. How long did it take? Very simple and easy and look at the crops. Beautiful color, beautiful highlights works out perfect and again when you see what these look like when it's finished, you're gonna be blown away because somebody sitting at home saying, wow, it's really blown out watch the difference yes, with seventy two, two hundred I shoot with the seventy two, two hundred musters I can't. I love the compression I love the beauty in it I love the whole seek once off it. Okay, keeping it simple, soft and easy. Now take a look. She's going to hop up one second, okay? I love details. I love showing details like the back of her gowns been around good, bring your hands on your hips now take a look now she looks like very full backside there's nothing flattering about it. I need to change that. And how I do that is angle of the leg. So what you going to do is take that front leg and push it in and do that. Looking up good. Now, she's given herself a little bit of a j lo backside. All right, not works, but my camera angle is going to be what's important, because this is the detail that matters right there. Those details you're looking at it. It looks really odd to you right now, okay? And it looks odd because I haven't done anything with it yet. So again, it's about creating and shooting up and setting my sequence right? They're focusing on the back of the gown, picking up the detail of the back of a gown, and if I don't get it to blow out like I want, then what I'm going to do is add the exposure compensation, but look at the detail in the gown. Look at the set up beautiful, soft detail of the gown, isn't it? There we go, so we have it here. Watch how this changes I'm gonna bring how left arm up over her head like this, turn your head over your shoulder, you know, turn your head to the shoulder here turning her to may china turn your head a little bit now bring it down just a little bit soft no your chin up good and look at the gap I'm creating and look at how he used the veil the screen right there just like that so what's going to make this work is going to be the cropping so I'm going to go right in here just like that and if you look you see right there and I'm just using the window right now just for fun I have if I should here it's really easy but one of the hardest on the line of the mantle coming to her head I'm going window reflections who wants that when I could just go there look down with your eyes I'm tilting the opposite way that she's looking stay right there you I doing terrific just like that and take a look I'm tilting the opposite way she's looking which is camera right which is ultimately belong out and look at the hot flowing through beautiful, simple and easy that's a bad right so now let's move in and start to really change our angles so let's bring this here we're going to make this a part of the image but not a main you're going to come right over here in this corner okay? So I'm bringing in we're going to take right here I'm going to turn her back to the wall and I'm gonna bring the veil up over her face not gonna bring you back to the war honey good just like that so come right in here on what I want you to do this green against the wall kick that leg in again and push that hip now take a look right there so now I have to make a decision turn your head to the right do I like that? Well right now I have two different images let's take a look what's the main light it's still daylight at this point, isn't it? So look at how we change it up we're coming through here and we're working through and watch how many different things we can do okay right through there just like that stay there on dh now I have I think I missed my focus let's take a look look at our scented at putting her in the right quadrant I'm lighting against her and look to soften herself it beautiful isn't it nice and clean still day like now watch what we do we're going to change everything up based on camera angles turn put your hands behind you for a second both of them good bring them up higher turn your head to me a little bit down with your eyes turn your head to your right no additive in terms of light right on shooting down to create a different angle and look at how we go from him just like that and look at what I did by tilting too hard if she's a plus size bride what am I eliminated? I've sent her out, haven't I now bring your eyes up to me beautiful, turn your head to your right not so much good girl. Stay there soft looking at me, you take a look now horizontal on our set up a completely different look in terms of the image there's not a lot of thought into it is that thief camera? Do you always do it to a certain angle or does a very I'm tilting it in ways to eliminate things I don't want to see to eliminate excess body to eliminate background things that I don't want to find little things and nothing. I'm always looking to find little things, whether it's shooting through a door or finding a sequence inside that's what I'm looking to do use little things that create the story there's not much going on in this room, but I've made it a look a lot bigger and better than it really is having like the piano over there, there's a lot you can do with that piano, so let's move over in that direction over there, okay, beautiful, excellent! Now you're going to come on you could actually come on their side over here this way you guys come around by the window again one of the things that I hear about you learn a lot about yourself when you put videos on youtube because as we know the world is full of haters so one of the things that a commonly hear is oh that's so sickening he calls a beautiful and he calls a gorgeous and all that stuff my fending you're exactly people like that they like zeroing special they like feeling beautiful this you know do they expect okay you look terrible come on over that dress makes you a huge yeah come over here we'll do the best we can you dress up better than I thought you would it doesn't work the idea is keeping it simple now what I'm looking for here is right in here I'm looking for that reflection I'm looking for that connection and so I know that right now I have too much distance come for me I may need to lower her and what that means is I don't want her back to be in a setting where she's bending over so much so what I may need to dio a sitter you come right in there on the veil again is crucial the more skin heaviest she looks keep that mind crusher arms over you're doing great affects all that up now we in forward what you face now what I'm looking for is a reflection this obviously is an old wood piano tilt your head to your right looking at me here turn your head slightly to the left turn tell chin down a little bit you are doing terrific now why don't you guys come over here so you could see what I'm saying ok and again it's about softness the valve softens the arms now looking at this if you look in your background there is so much junk back there it's not even funny so got to try to hide it again looking at me beautiful you stay right there I absolutely love it I couldn't acts for better you're smiling stay right there looking at me here you're faking it smiling teeth how does that look that looks I don't know but I think that looks quite good it works does in it it's about using what's there now take a look this would be a great shot to add her husband looking at me here look at the softness look at the serene look to it now you start to use things I look for things that I could create as a foreground now I'd love to have something to shoot through now I look like a pervert in a bush but I'm going to try to find something through it looking down chin down lean forward a little bit ice down again you try to find something and nothing and obviously I'm having trouble focusing because look down with your eyes when forward not so much don't force it turn your head to your left make sure the nose does in course the cheek I don't know what I'm getting I'd love to have a little one of those things from a chandelier that would work out great and take a look get a beautiful color wrapped around her there don't you keeping it again really, really simple that's the whole idea moving around and creating now watch what we do here you're going to hop up for a second beautiful I'm gonna put this man back and now I'm going to open the piano because photographers really know how to jack thiss piano stuff ok they know how to do it let me they are on top that's cool not since like the seventies ok, so we want to keep it simple so I want to use the interior of the piano so you come around the other side now again, you guys can come with may what I want you to look at. Is there so much information inside this piano? If I have the right lens so his reflections here aren't there but where are they? I want you to take a seat for me real quick yeah, let me see what happens if you sit I'm looking at the top of the piano and the bottom of the piano and now I'm looking and it's too low, so stand up again and I want you to spread your arms wide on the keys up a little toy come down a little bit more little bit more now look down to your left! Does that work? No, it doesn't because where's the light coming from turn your head to your right, see the difference you now have a perfect two thirds or profile I turn you had more beautiful and now look at the difference so I can use the whole interior of the piano to set myself up now it's a seventy two, two hundred the wisest choice here I probably want to go with something a little bit wider. Perhaps I'll go with either my twenty four to seventy or my fourteen to twenty four, so I'll go with the set twenty four to seven because that should give me enough right now. Okay, so I'm going to take this off, almost drop it and go right here to the seventy two, two hundred now you notice I'm only taking the one image it really is about speed, as in it you think she's ever going to stop me, you'll feel, why would I take kind of this it doesn't work so I have to reflect their there and if I want to increase that I could use the torchlight if it's something I have okay so now come right in here I'm going to break down to make it simple turn your head to your right beautiful looking right and you are doing terrific and in order to make this work where I need to expose for the shadow side stare right they're tilting there and let's take a look I hope it comes out good but if I missed my spot she's going to be in a complete and total cell away that looks pretty good doesn't it ok the only thing I don't like is what the bar in the middle of her head works really well and simplistic now watch what happens this time I meet it on the outside watch what happens if that window blows out so I go I change it and I don't go by the face what I do is I go and meet her on the darker skin underneath till the top of your head to maine excellent hold it there and now I hide the bar behind her head let the background blowout which opens up the piano and you have a nice soft image there don't you beautiful and simple now look at me gorgeous now how can I fill this? Could you imagine me trying to put a flash in here what a nightmare would bay so I'm going to take my torch right what's my balance my wife doubts is daylight setting right? So I'm gonna bring it in here and make sure he is where you make your mistake you can't put it right here why? Because of the bar so I gotta bring it in here is that too hot it's too hot so I'm going to soften it down turn your head not so much back to may back to me right there and I make sure I have a two thirds of you looking at mai shame down a little bit excellent stay there right into the shadow area again turn your head back to me a little bit turn your head to your right a little bit so now I think she closed her eyes at the last second there two thirds of you okay, your eyes went down let me get it right notice I hit the window and kept that bar out of her head. Any questions? I want first just a basic one from cost yeah can you tell us again? Do you ever focus manually? Are you always do? Sometimes I sometimes during a reception sometimes I focus manually from in dark situations but people say all the time I focus why did you focus manual you focus man because you have trouble focusing automatically you're having trouble focusing automatically if you're not focusing on shop edges you look for a rim of the known she looked for a piece of jewelry you look for an ear and you look for eyeglasses the reason I don't have that trouble focusing automatically is because I always have a rent what's that rim it's my life I'm so precise with my light and everything else it falls right into place doesn't it okay doug rice had asked do you usually direct the eyes away noticing that in a lot of the shots there looking down or looking at I direct the eyes away because think about it this way can anybody take an image of you looking at the camera but can anybody taken image of you looking away or setting yourself up and getting the eyes in the correct position so that the eyes are rolling out of the side of the head? I'm constantly looking because here's the thing you can't look at my images in one you need to look at them in totality because right now you don't realize that there's a story unfolding and at the end I'm going to put it all together for you in a story I'm thinking of the album I'm not thinking of twenty pitches in an album or thirty or forty I'm thinking of two hundred so I'm always thinking of a story if I have her eyes go to the right I'm envisioning a picture on the other side of the page if I were eyes going to the left or looking down I'm looking and thinking of a picture on the lower part of the page so there's always that thought process I am building the album in my head as I shoot because any great story tell it doesn't see the one page they see the whole story and I see the whole story unfolding with minor variables so are you saving a twenty percent of the story at a certain point to make that eye contact with the camera? I'm saying that other than family pictures other than bridal party pictures on probably six to eight photos of the bride and groom during the bride and groom segment maybe eight pitches during the bride alone segment most of them are in a different direction because how many candid photo journalistic images of looking at the camera next to none so I don't want people to look at my work and see opposed I want them to think it's candid so I'm creating that emotion by having look away look down changing like oh we just captured it oh look she's off to the side laughing you know so that's kind of sequence on building at this point great thank you okay yeah just looking through way so many questions here great yes trina I'm just back to the day of scheduling do the planners or coordinators work with you or ever have issues with you setting up the schedule? No occasionally they question it, but I remind them that I kind of have to because if they set it up and it doesn't work with what I'm doing, they're going to wind up it's going to mess up their schedule. So I understand the importance of wedding planners, but I have and always will believe that in terms of the schedule, the photographer is the most important element we're going to control the variables if the schedule goes off and there's a problem who has to fix it? You do, we always have to fix it it's always awful and we always have to fix it, so if I'm going to take that responsibility, I want to be in charge and when it comes to shooting, like I said, I'm very much a type a personality I am in control because in the end I'm responsible I'm wondering so when you were talking k I heard you comment that you wanted to look photo journalistic is there ever a point when you're not posing when you do let it just let any idea? But here's the thing I notice things like in her case, she's got one eye that's slightly smaller than the other if I wait for how to get to the precise spot, the amount of images I take is going to go down completely and like I said everybody picks up camera thinks I can do this I'm just going to shoot two thousand sing handed, so I'm going to find a good one and they will, but not everybody could tell a story I'm telling the story, I'm drawing the story from beginning to end and letting the natural events occur that's always and it has and always will be my thought process. I believe that I tell the story, I cannot just wait for the moment to occur because in thirty five hundred weddings I can tell you, I've never seen a bride and groom say, hold hands and think that's frolic I've never seen it happened. I've never seen a bride pickup just look at the way the light's hitting me it doesn't happen and how many images could you have of someone going can't get it? They're not going to make an album of that. They're going to make an album that tells a love story everything you do when you watch a movie when you watch a production, this segment by segment by segment and that's what I'm doing can you let her know that we all have one eye that smaller just socially sorry if you look everybody has one eye that's more if you look at may or on main camera here, if you look at me directly, it becomes a lot more obvious when I do this when I take that small I got away but when I go here the small I becomes larger because it's closer to the camera everybody has in my case it's extremely noticeable ah bend over knows you have a bump you turn that bump away you get rid of these things everybody has imperfections everybody there's nobody who doesn't ok other than my wife I hope you're watching you waste sitting going yes he said that you do the boudoir on the day of is there a reason for that? I know a lot of brides want to give it as a gift a groom's cake they do we have a whole sequence of it but not on all of them have they count so even if they do it before I'll usually do it again to try and get a second segment out of him and we can only do so much booed wire in the studio because we have so many other things like I said what captain about two hundred fifty boudoir sessions a year because each one's about an hour and we try to put them with the female photographer at that point because sometimes today off they know that it's gonna happen we've spoken to the groom about it and if it's a male photographer they're okay with it beforehand some of them get a little antsy and if it's a surprise I'd rather be safe and say ok females doing it no questions because some people are insecure and it may bother and I don't ever want to deal with that type of conflict you photographed my wife in this position and nothing's ever at that point but people you know what makes someone go through that should you one more question before okay you were talking to us about the story that you're trying to tell which I find fascinating and treek asked can you tell us how to think about this story for your album it's very simple it's really very simple what makes you happy what's your happy place my happy place is thinking about the moment before the moment matt, can I have the two of you for a second give you an example? We asked them to kiss outside and you're going to see this when we get to friday with the bride and groom posing I just want you to look at this if you think of a love story right here in camera matt give her a kiss give her a nice kiss there's nothing passionate about that there's nothing there's, no story it's two people kissing but if you get your heads close together and I want you to kind of tilt your head to the right man you tilt your head to the right a little bit, get there and just open your mouth just a little bit and I want you to feel each other's breath close your eyes nice and soft moment before the moment pulled a veil up right in here take your hand caressed the back of his head there's a lot more tenderness there, then big are kisser. You see what I mean? It's like there's a different moment. Do you feel the difference that the only bad thing was I was here with you? Thank you. But you get the general point it's about setting up the feeling I love those movies. All those movies like the no book and the bodyguard all those romantic love stories west side story they all had one thing in common. You felt it, you felt it so I feel it. I dream of the love story. I love lionel richie and I loved board by show tunes and I love the love story. If you can do that, you're gonna be in a great place think about what you'd want as a person will be happy and just deliver do the theme song in your head then when you are thinking about particular couples album when I think about which one letter richard a particular couples out with my favorite song would obviously be my my wedding song it was from the mirror has two faces, it was called I finally found someone there's, not a day that goes by that I can't not cry when I feel that song. I love my wife so much, and I try to put that into it, and I know everybody loves, but I really, really love her, okay, you know, I feel like I look at her and I just stare at her and watch the way the light hits her face and that's what I try to bring in to my love story, you know, it's the last fifteen years, and you go through that, you have a lot of emotions you go through, but I could tell you now, without certainty, that I love her more today, then I loved to then and just looking at her and that's. What I want my photos. I just don't want it to be a single moment. I wanted to be a whole love story, and I look at my couple sisto there. May.