Learning Center Wedding

Biography | Powers Website

Images & text by Stewart Powers

"Reflective Moment "
Tamron lens SP AF28-75mm Di - 1/30 at f/4.0 ISO 200

Created during the preparation stage of a wedding in Clearwater Fl. This bride, April, was doing her makeup and I love mirrors and reflections. I was using a Fuji S2 with a Tamron zoom with available light and a Quantum T2 strobe bounced off the ceiling about 15 feet way. The strobe added a bit of brightness to the incandescent light in the hotel room. Strobe was set at 1/8 th power and metered at F4.0 I had a

Freewire transmitter on the hot shoe of the S2. I had done a custom white balance for the mix of strobe and available light so the skin tone was pretty accurate.

The S2 has a feature that allows you to focus using the button by the eyepiece. (Custom function 9 – option four) I used this to focus on her face in the mirror and then re-compose it so her face was framed on the left. This selective focus technique is cool. The 28-75 lens is great in situations like this because it is fast and sharp even at f2.8. The S2 multiplier effect gives you a 42-107mm lens.

“Happy Day”
Tamron lens SP AF14mm f/2.8

This is a real time exit from the church. I used the 14mm in a zone focus mode so that I did not have to wonder if the camera tracked & focused sharp on the couple’s movement out to the limo. I took about ten images in 12 seconds at 1/90 th at 5.6 with a fill flash. ISO 200. I just backed up and stayed about eight feet away from the couple. This lens is very forgiving because it has so much depth of field. It is a very sharp rectilinear lens with no edge convergence that you can see. To prepare for the exit I focused the S2 and lens at about eight feet on a door edge. Then I turned the focus off. This is more accurate than setting the distance on the lens focus scale. The image has selective guassian blur technique added.

“Too Much Veil!”
Tamron SP AF14mm f/2.8

This is actually a digital file from a film scan – and was captured with 35mm B&W film during the bride’s final preparations. She and her maid of honor were playing with the veil and we saw the mother watching in the background. There was no room – so I was back to the wall – and needed the 14mm to capture this moment. Bounce flash on camera and available light mix.

“The Eyes Have It!”
Tamron SP AF90mm Di 1:1 Macro with a Fuji S2 Pro ISO-100 1/60th at F/6.7

I use the 90mm macro for all the portraits at a wedding. It is just the sharpest lens I have ever used. It will cut you! Plus you can focus from infinity to life-size.

After we take the brides portraits we do a few playful images like this “peek over the flowers” image. I know that I will take it into Photoshop and soften it and perhaps do a selective color technique on it. Can you see that she has green eyes? Brides like this if you do not over use the technique. I usually do one per wedding.

“Beautiful Lady”
Tamron SP AF17-35mm Di F/2.8-4 ISO 100-130th at f/5.6 Fuji S2 Pro

This location is very popular and is surrounded with glass. It is difficult to light anything without a reflection of the light source. I decided to do this fashion style bridal profile pose with the flowers behind the back. Then I could light from the far right and have no reflection. In fact, you can see a reflection of the bride in the window on the right.

I used one Profoto 600 monolight with a Westcott 22 x 34 softbox in the right corner fired by a Quantum Freewire radio slave. The Profoto was set for 1/16th power – a very small amount of flash energy. If the light was too strong it would make a dark shadow behind the subject.

"Eyes of Love"
Tamron SP AF90mm Di 1:1 macro with a Fuji S2 Pro ISO 100 – 1/30th at f/4.0

We had finished the prep photos and were doing some window light images. I used the 90 macro to capture some tight crop images while Susan works with the 28-75 Di zoom to catch different angles and views. I metered with a Sekonic handheld incident meter that is calibrated to a good skin tone. I do not trust the camera meter when the excellence of the color & tone (skin) determines the salability & success of the image. The Sekonic meter is much more accurate than a cameras auto exposure.