Orion Photo Group Success Story Podcast
Orion Photo Group Success Story Podcast
Embracing and Conquering Varying Weather Conditions for Exceptional Photography
Ready to conquer any weather with your camera in hand? I'm Jason Group and in this episode, I'm arming you with my expert tips on how to shine in the face of varying weather conditions, be it rain, snow or sweltering heat. I'll walk you through your much-awaited rainy day wedding shoot, offering advice from packing extra clothing to using a white umbrella to harness light, all while keeping the nervous couple reassured. Discover how to avoid heatstroke during those sizzling summer shoots and how to stay cozy while capturing captivating shots in the snow.
But it's not just about surviving harsh weather, it's about making Mother Nature your creative companion. Let's delve into how a snowy background can add an edge to a headshot and how to keep your spirit high, no matter how challenging the environment. And if you've got some photography hacks of your own, don't hesitate to reach out to me. You might even earn a reward for it! This episode is packed with golden nuggets for both the seasoned shutterbugs and those just starting to explore the intriguing world of photography. Get ready to embrace the weather and let your pictures tell an unforgettable story.
Hey there, welcome to OPG's Tips and Tricks. Here I'm going to share some quick tips and some tricks that I think you'll find very useful. Let's get right to it, hey, welcome back to another episode of Tips and Tricks, the podcast, where we share valuable insights to help you excel in your OPG photography journey. I'm your host, jason Group. If I haven't said that, I'm the talent director here at Orion Photo Group. And today's tip? All right, if you have a wedding coming up where they're forecasting rain, this is the podcast for you. All right, you ready? You should listen to this before you get to the wedding, even a week before would be really good.
Speaker 1:Shooting in different weather conditions weather, rain, snow, heat. I have some expert advice that I want to share with you and hopefully prepare you so that you have a great shoot for your next upcoming wedding. All right, so first up, shooting in the rain, of course, super challenging rain can add a unique touch to your wedding photos. So the first thing you want to do brides, grooms, couples are going to be freaked out about weather. When you talk to them, say, yo, I got you, we're going to embrace it, we're going to have a good time and I promise you. We're going to make memories that you're going to remember forever and put them at ease and maybe get them set it up so that they will do fun stuff with you at the wedding that you would maybe never do before. All right, so, obviously, capturing moments. My first piece of advice bring extra clothing with you so that if you wind up getting wet this should be not something that I have to tell you, but bring is nothing worse than being wet at a wedding wet socks and wet shoes. There's nothing worse. Bring an entire change of clothes so that you can switch it out if you need to.
Speaker 1:If, for some reason, you're going to be shooting inside listen, a great rain jacket you should always have an umbrella with you. That goes without saying. But when you're carrying equipment and shooting pictures, you can't wear an umbrella. You can't hold an umbrella, right. So a good raincoat that's comfortable, that fits in, that has a formal look to it. It's all a black raincoat, black rain jackets if you have one and you buy that once and you never have to buy one again. Invest in some good rain gear. Especially it comes helpful if you wind up needing to use it for, if you need to use it for covering your camera or any gear as you are working down the road and you want to be comfortable.
Speaker 1:The umbrella should only be used to be nice to guests or to your bride and groom, or to use it as a prop during the wedding day, keeping the couple dry. Use it to create a romantic atmosphere and have an assistant hold it. Have them hold it. It adds a touch of elegance and will help with the shares of smiles. I had a couple many, many years ago. I had some big black umbrellas and she said I'm ready for this day, had a big pair of galoshes. We went out in the rain and he held the umbrella over her and she had a giant smile on her face. They are the most wonderful pictures you could ever ask for. I'll add another tip to that later on that I learned If you can find a white umbrella, it lets light through, especially on rainy days, and it's super helpful.
Speaker 1:When I say white umbrella, it makes sure that it actually keeps the rain out. Sometimes they're just shade umbrellas. You have to be careful of that. I found one that was a real white umbrella. Avoid colors because that's going to cast color shadows, but a real, good rain umbrella. Maybe you can find one on Amazon. It's $15, $20. It makes for great shots.
Speaker 1:You can use it for shade too, if you ever need it down the road in heat. Look for reflections in the rain in puddles. Be creative with your shots. You can also use a flash to create a big. Oh my gosh, I'm sorry lots of words. Light up those raindrops and make a big rim. Light A few minutes outside with your flash is not going to kill as long as it's not pouring down rain. Wipe it down when you come inside. It isn't going to kill your flash. Extreme heat this tough one can't get cooler when it's hot outside.
Speaker 1:The most important thing is stay hydrated. Look lots of order before the wedding or event. That's super-duper important. Make sure that you have lots of water with you at all possible. Just bring a big jug with you, keep it in the back of the car, fill it up with ice. You'll thank me later on. I've been at weddings where I got heat exhaustion and I was literally throwing up at the end of the wedding. It's not fun and it just makes for an awful day. Hopefully your caterer is taking care of your couple and, like that, hopefully you shade whenever you can. Reflectors can make on the spot shade too. A big open reflector over the couple, get a couple of groomsmen to hold it over them and shoot underneath it and you have some nice shade. And take breaks whenever you can.
Speaker 1:All right, snow, snow. So Chicago area, new York area, northern people I've shot lots of snow before. It's amazing when it's snowing and you can go outside and you don't have to travel to it, and it does make for big headaches. Just make sure that you dress warmly Again, bring extra clothes with you and be ready to go outside. I've never found a pair of gloves that work for shooting outside, so you just got to suck it up and just warm your hands in between.
Speaker 1:Shooting Reflector works great when you're shooting portraits again and it's very contrasty. So this is my best advice on shooting in the snow you can make very, very, very romantic photos. When you can get them to go outside again, have them embrace it. When you talk to them with a week before and you have that console phone call, tell them it will embrace it. Not everybody gets as lucky as you to shoot on a snowy day. We're going to take the most romantic photographs. It's going to be amazing and everybody will get to your wedding it's not going to be a problem, even if it's not too early to them. And be careful out there traveling to and from your locations. Last thing you want to do is get into an accident.
Speaker 1:But my advice on shooting in the snow so your exposure is really critical here. It's really easy to blow out the highlights. The snow itself will act as a giant reflector. Shadows will become very contrasty. So there will be very little from light to shadow. It's just light and dark shadow, especially when it's sunny outside after it snows. So my best advice is really really really watch your exposure and make sure that you underexpose whenever you possibly can. So good half stop under will make sure that you get those highlights in the dress. You don't want to blow out every single highlight on that dress and just have a giant white dress. I've seen it too often. It's really easy to do.
Speaker 1:Relying on aperture. Priority exposure is going to get you in trouble. You want to lock in your exposure. You want to find your exposure and then lock it in. Shouldn't be changing that much if it's a sunny day, unless the clouds are coming in and out and you want to underexpose. So if you are using aperture priority, you want to underexpose by a third, at least two thirds. I would recommend Shoot raw, without a doubt, and generally that's going to get you a good exposure. It can really wreak havoc on your camera's meter. So you really need to chimp away and make sure that you're getting that exposure and then lock it in because again, it wreaks havoc on your camera's exposure meter. So really be careful with that.
Speaker 1:If it's actually snowing outside, things to be, things to think of, that are really, really important. Obviously, you want to protect your gear. That slushy snow is really going to be a mess. You can also fog up your lens when it gets really cold. So think about these two things.
Speaker 1:When you're going out in the snow or a hot day, make sure that your camera is acclimated to the temperatures you're going to be shooting in. So, for example, when I go out, I'm shooting football pictures. Next week, when I go out and shoot, my camera Gear is going in my garage, as long as it's going to be safe out there. My garage is locked up and I have an alarm in there. I put my camera gear outside so it acclimates to the weather outside a few hours before I leave and Then this way, when I get outside, my camera lenses are not all gonna fog up.
Speaker 1:That's a nightmare. When that happens, it's terrible. It goes from a cold room to to a light route to to a hot room. Same thing goes for the snow. If you're going from a warm room to all of a sudden really cold Outside area, your lenses will fog up and no matter how much you wipe them down, they're gonna keep fogging up until your lens acclimate. So try and acclimate your equipment before you go outside.
Speaker 1:It doesn't mean you there has to be it. You know, if it's 20 degrees outside, your camera gear has to be 20 degrees. It just has to be 40 degrees or something like that, something that's closer to the temperature outside, and you know this way it it'll adapt really, really quickly. And then you know, have fun with it. That's the most important part about weather. If you're a new wedding photographer, an older wedding photographer, these weather events are gonna become more and more, as this is the way it's gonna be. So we need to embrace the suck, as I would say, and go out there and and have fun with it and make images that you would never create before. If you can do that and it'll really set you up for your own portfolio, make you stand out.
Speaker 1:In a previous episode, this is a great time to do a new headshot in the snow. I'll have fun with it. It'll make you really you know personable, make somebody laugh. Don't do it when you're real sweaty and gross, though. All right. That's this episode of tips and tricks. If you have a tip, I love to hear it. J group at Orion photo group calm. Let's get you on an episode of success stories and you'll get a $25 B&H Gave card as a thank you for sharing your story with us. Take care everyone. Hey, do you have a tip or trick you want to share with us? Please email me. J group at Orion photo group calm. I would love to hear your tips or tricks and we'll even send you a nice reward for doing so. Until then, thank you.
