How to Take Natural-Looking Wedding PhotosErik Valind uses the Tamron SP 24-70mm VC, SP 70-200mm VC, and SP 90mm Macro lenses to achieve perfect visuals of the big day. |
Article by Jenn Gidman Images by Erik Valind |
Every genre of photography is challenging, but for New York City photographer Erik Valind, wedding photography is both the ultimate professional challenge and ultimate thrill. "The beauty is that this type of photography covers a little of everything," he says. "You're able to take formal portraits, detail shots, and fun party candids all in one day." |
Erik uses a photojournalistic approach when taking his pictures. "What unifies these different styles of photography for me is being able to capture all the wonderful moments naturally," he says. "You have to just let them happen. I like to be unobtrusive and provide the bride and groom with memories of a good time, not memories of how many times I asked them to do a formal, stiffed pose." |
In Erik's wedding photography arsenal: the Tamron SP 24-70mm VC, SP 70-200mm VC, and SP 90mm Macro VC lenses. "The 24-70 is my workhorse," he says. "I'm able to pull back to get wide-angle shots like guests in front of the church, then go to the telephoto end for more intimate moments with the bride and groom or an up-close image of the flower girl. The 24-70 is the lens that's on my camera for most of the event." |
Erik uses the 70-200 lens during the ceremony. "This lens is terrific for a single-person portrait or for a portrait of the bride and groom," he says. "It comes in handy when you need to get back: Many churches don't let photographers into the sanctuary area during the ceremony, and I especially don't like to be distracting during that time. The Vibration Compensation (VC) feature on this lens is particularly useful in low-light venues such as churches. When you're using a telephoto lens at slow shutter speeds, you could get a lot of camera shake, so the VC is a lifesaver." |
As for the detail shots of the day (everything to tabletop settings and flowers to the ring on the bride's finger), Erik taps into the 90mm Macro. "Of course the bride and groom are your main focus of the day, but it's nice to be able to document all of those other parts of the wedding that the vendors worked so hard to put together and that the happy couple might not be able to thoroughly take in because they're so caught up with the day and their guests," he says. "This lens lets me get in really tight, and the VC is invaluable here as well since I'm not using a tripod and doing this run-and-gun style." |
Here are some of Erik's favorite tips for ensuring photographers are able to capture every emotion of this special occasion through their images. |
Make sure everyone in the wedding party is relaxed. |
The same approach applies to taking photos. Some photographers choose to take the event very seriously, because they're capturing a couple's big day. It is their big day, but it's also the happiest day of their lives. Your job is not only to make sure they look like they're having a good time, but that they're actually having a good time. |
I joke around and am on a first-name basis with the bride and groom, the parents of the bride, and the bridal party. I make sure people have a cocktail if they want one so they're not stressed out. And they definitely don't see me rushing around and saying, "Come on, we only have a few more minutes to get this shot." If they're stressed out, they're not themselves. I keep things very low-key, and that translates to the images. |
Place everyone in the right light. |
The reception area is often really pretty in terms of setting the mood with candlelight and other dim lighting, but that's usually not enough light to take pictures. I like to set up strobes ahead of time in the reception area so I can freeze the action if I need to during the party. |
No matter what, though, you want your lighting to be natural, not contrasty light with your backgrounds really dark and all of the light on your wedding party. I'll often put my camera in Aperture Priority mode so I can get the right exposure using available light. Then I'll put my on-camera flash in TTL mode and use a flash exposure compensation of -1 or -2. This simply directs the light to fill in some of the shadows and makes the image more subtle and less like a snapshot. |
Look for clean backgrounds and "headspace." |
This is where my Tamron lens selection comes in handy. All three of those lenses allow me to go to that fast maximum aperture of F/2.8 so I can achieve a very shallow depth-of-field. My subjects stay in focus while any extraneous elements in the background fall out of focus. If you do get stuck shooting with those power lines overhead, they'll look more like painter strokes than power lines. |
Shoot down on the bride and groom, shoot up for the detail shots. |
For detail or tabletop shots, it's the opposite. Let's say you have a table with beautiful flowers in Mason jars. In reality, the flowers might be somewhat small, so I don't want to shoot down on them to make them look even tinier. I'll use the 90mm Macro lens to render them at a 1:1 ratio. When you look at the image, you'll see these gorgeous flowers that are larger than life hanging over the table. |
To see more of Erik Valind's work, go to www.erikvalind.com. |