Orion Photo Group Success Story Podcast
Orion Photo Group Success Story Podcast
Unveiling the Secrets to Razor-Sharp Wedding Photography: A Comprehensive Guide
Ever wondered what it takes to capture those perfect, razor-sharp wedding photos? I'm your host, Jason Groupp, and I promise to take you on an enlightening journey as we explore the secrets to achieving stunningly clear wedding photos. Let's take a deep dive into the world of photography gear, focusing techniques and calming those nerves when the camera's in your hands. From choosing the ideal camera and lenses, to optimizing ISO and shutter speed, we've got your back.
In the second half, we'll tackle the more technical aspects of photography. We'll talk about calibrating your lenses, getting a grasp on depth of field, and how to make light your best friend. With tips about image stabilization and the magic of pre-focusing, we'll ensure you're well-equipped to capture those unforgettable moments. Tune in, fasten your seat belts, and get ready for an exciting crash course in achieving razor-sharp wedding photos. Whether you're a professional or just starting your journey in photography, I guarantee there's plenty you'll learn.
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 everyone. Hope you're doing well out there. Welcome to another episode of Tips and Tricks with OPG.
Speaker 1:All right, I'm your host, jason Group, and today we're going to embark on a journey towards achieving razor sharp wedding photos. If you've been listening to any of these podcasts or reading any of the blogs, that's always anyone's goal, right. But there's something to be said for really taking on the challenge of getting those razor sharp wedding images, and they're important. And they're important when you're capturing those perfect moments, and we're going to dive into 10 tips for capturing razor sharp wedding pics. All right. So these techniques they're going to help you with a number of Help you reduce the number of disappointing, blurry out of focus shots and ensure that your clients are thrilled with the results. This is an ongoing journey and you can always You're always, we're always looking for new ways to achieve this detail, but I'm going to try and give you 10 tips to get you. Hopefully I'll help you. Maybe one of these tips will be the answer that you've been looking for. All right. Here we go. Starting with tip number one, this is going to seem super duper obvious Choosing the right gear your choice of equipment is crucial and investing in a high quality camera with a full frame sensor Some may disagree with me on that Along with fast lenses boasting wide apertures like 1.8 or 2.8, is definitely a cornerstone for getting sharp wedding pictures.
Speaker 1:Budget is a concern. High quality prime lenses can often be a really cost effective way to do that. So just going over viewing that a little bit. So some may disagree with me that you need a full frame sensor. I'm a full frame sensor guy. I believe in them. I do think that it helps. Generally, crop sensors are lesser cameras, not all of them, but these days full frame sensors kind of the mainstay of what you're looking for. And lenses I can't stress them enough Good lenses.
Speaker 1:And if you can't afford a great zoom lens and I'm a prime guy I switched to primes many, many years ago, whenever possible, unless I'm shooting like a real down and dirty grip and grin event, and I'll use a 24 to 70. If I'm shooting a wedding, I'm shooting a primes and I'm shooting with the fastest primes I can possibly find. But it's a great entrance entry way. To start, there's lots of, let's say, 52.8 out there, or 85 1.8 instead of the 1.2's. And then the aftermark. Some of the aftermarket lenses are really good too. So that would be my best advice and really working to get those sharp images.
Speaker 1:A cheap zoom lenses is going to give you exactly that a cheap image. I don't know how else to to do it, but you're never you're never going to be satisfied with a cheap zoom lens. Also, along those lines, consider buying used equipment from trusted sources to save money without sacrificing quality and reliability. Now, I've been on Facebook quite a bit and there's a lot of scams out there Lately, so you really do need to be careful about where you're buying used gear from. But I'm still shooting with a 5d mark for I bought it used. My second body I bought used recently from a friend of mine. I've always had a lot of success. If you can't buy from a friend, buy from a trusted source like keh or bnh or Adorama or places like that. You're gonna pay a little bit more, but you're gonna save a lot of money too and a lot of a cannon or an icon or, for you know, by refurbished, what you're gonna wind up getting is a camera that's been looked over and and made sure that it's not gonna be a scam or a brick when you get it, if at all. So that's my best advice on that Don't be afraid to buy, use gear. A lot of times you can get a great value for what you're looking for.
Speaker 1:All right on to tip number two Use a tripod. Now. Tripod may not be practical for an entire wedding shoot. However, it can be a game changer for capturing stunning landscapes or preserving the ambiance of a dimly lit ceremony. Investing in a high-quality tripod within your budget can serve you for a lifetime, and along those lines, I have my, my trusty tripod. I have an old get so that I bought 30 years ago, and the only thing I've ever done is changed the head on it. And when you buy from a quality company like that, if there's ever an issue with it, getting it fixed is never an issue too, and my get so has been returned to get so and fixed many times, costing me zero dollars, and I Can't stress that enough.
Speaker 1:Now You're only gonna use a tripod for, let's say, a landscape shot of the of the Reception or the church or someplace late at night, but it is great for establishing shots. It is great for doing detail shots. I can't stress enough. Use a tripod for detail shots. It slows you down a little bit and really make sure that you're focusing on what you're doing. And one tip along those lines a ceremony shot from the back of the room. If you don't have a tripod, I used to do a lot. I would take a wide-angle lens, put my wallet underneath it and take a long exposure. That's. That's one way to get away from not using the tripod, but a tripod is a really great way to make sure you're getting sharp images.
Speaker 1:All right, moving on to number three mastering your focusing technique. I've talked about this a lot, and Modern cameras offer a multitude of focusing modes and it's easy to get confused. However, I Recommend using the single point auto focus mode. It provides a precision and control, especially when you've deliberately to select one single point of focus. Personally, I prefer placing it on the subjects. I a critical point when you're taking portraits, if the eyes not sharp, you got a problem, and that's doesn't matter. If, if everything else is sharp, but if the eye isn't sharp generally, that's not going to be considered, it's not gonna decline, it's not gonna feel like this is a good shot.
Speaker 1:I so, and I know that the single point focus may be the simplest mode, and I've just found that over the years, if I use more than a multi, if I use a multi-point focus method, it misfires and not misfires, it chooses the wrong place and you wind up getting something sharp that you don't want sharp and and the the best advice again, with newer cameras and these, these focusing modes, you got to work to find what works for you, and A lot of people will use back focus buttons on their camera and play around with those things as well. You got to find what works for you, I found over the years. I use a single point focus, single focus, I Focus and then frame focus, frame focus, frame focus, frame, and what that means is I'm choosing my focus spot and then Maybe the eye, and then reframing my image while I'm holding down the button halfway. That may or may not work for you. An AI servo mode Usually is just tantamount to killing your batteries. But again, find what works for you and and, and you know, go with it. But Reading your manual, different focus modes, playing around with the different focus modes during a wedding day this is a great time to play. End of the night Is always a great time to play around with these things and decide what works for you.
Speaker 1:Tip number four Calibrate your lenses. So this is something that I think we forget about a lot and probably, in my opinion, might be the best tip you may have forgotten about Frequently. Calibrating your lenses to your camera body Is the lesser known technique for achieving great images while I usually leave, so I leave this task to the experts. I don't generally play around with the micro adjustment settings in my camera. Some people are really good about it.
Speaker 1:I don't even like cleaning that my sensor on my own. I I just, if my sense is dirty, I bring it over to the local camera dealer and let them clean it. And once a year I bring all of my gear over to Mechanic guy. So I'll bring all my cannon gear over to cannon and I let them calibrate it and and clean everything out. And that's the best way to get the best life out of your camera. They will calibrate your lenses. I will make notes during the year about my gear. Let's say, one lens I feel like it's it's off and you know I'm just not getting the images that I want from it. This is a good time to bring that up to the pros that you're dropping it off with and Maintain that record so that you know when you're, when you're bringing the gear back, if you continue to have those images. But I get you know. If you have a CPS membership, if you're cannon or Nikon professional services also I highly recommend those services and you send your gear in during the slow season, get it cleaned and and and then you know. You know that you're working with the right tools and that's what our cameras are, their tools All right.
Speaker 1:Next tip understand depth of field For portraits. Obviously we're gonna use a wide aperture and create a shallow depth of field. Get, get great bokeh and contrast. Group shots and landscapes benefit from a narrower an hour aperture To keep everything sharp. I think sometimes we forget that, like we're just shooting wide open pretty much all day, not wide open, but maybe we're shooting it at four, four and a half, five, six, and then we go to do a landscape shot and we do the same thing. This is the time when we want to stop down to 811, something like that, so we get super sharp images in those landscapes. And just understanding that depth of field. That's a really simple one, but it's important to mention. And also, you know if you're using a cheaper zoom you're not gonna want to shoot with that lens wide open. You're gonna get sharper images if you come. You use Generally, come at least a half stop down to a stop down and that should just pretend that you're. That's your widest opening. That's gonna get you the sharpest images you pack you can possibly get. Know the limitations of your gear. Okay, number six Optimize ISO and shutter speed.
Speaker 1:Finding again this very simple tip Finding the right balance between your ISO and the shutter speed is essential to maintain image quality and sharpness. Keeping the ISO as low as possible to minimize noise and adjust your shutter speed to prevent motion blur. So whenever I'm working a reception, let's say I'm gonna want to try and find as much ambient light coming into my camera that I can pick up while I'm using my flash. But I need to make sure that my shutter speed is fast enough to stop motion blur. And that's kind of across the Across the runs the gamut and I want to use the lowest ISO I possibly can to get the sharpest images. Higher the ISO, the more noise you're gonna get any images and it's gonna convey less sharp and you know. Rule of thumb for handheld shots use a shutter speed that's equal to or faster than, the reciprocal of your focal length. For example, if you're using a 50 millimeter lens, aim for a minimum shutter speed of 1, 1, 0, 1, 2 or faster. I generally 1, 50 is about, as this bout, as slow as I'm gonna get on a shutter speed, all right.
Speaker 1:Tip number 7 pay attention to your lighting. Obviously, proper lighting is a key key to sharp photos. Natural light often works wonders, so position your subject strategically and when shooting indoors or in challenging lighting situations, consider using flashes, soft boxes, diffusers to control the light, and I've talked about these in my other episodes. Lighting Convays, lighting doesn't. Lighting will make your images sharper, no other way around. That, if you're using available light is generally gonna be softer. When you add a little bit of flash, it's gonna sharpen your images up.
Speaker 1:Next tip image stabilization. Many lenses and camera bodies come with built-in image stabilization, either IS or VR, to obviously take advantage of this feature, especially when shooting handhold and low light situations. It helps you maintain sharpness even a shutter slower shutter speeds. Now. Also, keep in mind that many of our newer zoom lenses will have different Image stabilization. You need to learn which one you want to use in different situations. I'm not gonna get into the nuances of those. Okay, tip number nine Pre-focus and burst mode, and I talked about this a little bit before.
Speaker 1:For candid, pre-focusing your lens and using a burst mode can consist, significantly improve your chances of capturing a perfectly sharp shot, set your focus where the action is likely going to happen and continuously shoot a sense series of images. A lot of times we'll call that shooting through the moment. And again, you can use different focusing modes to do this. You can use a single point ba-ba-ba-ba and then shoot right. Or you can kind of shoot through it using a servo mode where you're shooting your ba-ba-ba-ba-ba and you're letting the camera focus as it goes. It really depends on your camera, the lens that you're shooting with and how fast it is. But this is a good way too, and the best tip on that shooting through the moment, not just getting one or two shots, but bursting through the moment so you see the moment happening, you're shooting before it, you're shooting through the moment and then after the moment. That's the best way to guarantee that you're going to get a shot, and you have to be careful with this, because you can wind up really over shooting. And you can also wind up where you find yourself in a situation where your cameras are buffering and then you miss the next shot. So just keep that in mind. You've got to practice that and you'll get your shots All right.
Speaker 1:Last tip post-processing for sharpness. Obviously, straight out of camera, if you get sharp shots, you're going to be great, but a lot can be done in post-processing. After capturing your photos, the final touch in post-processing is crucial. Using different image editing softwares like Lightroom or Photoshop can go from a subtle sharpness to a lot of sharpness. Be really careful about overdoing it here. You can introduce noise and artifacts and degrade the image quality, and there's lots of tools out there that you can use as well to help with your sharpening, whether it be a Photoshop action or a Lightroom preset. You definitely want to look into these and find your style when it comes to what you want to do for post-processing on the camera. Again, that's a lifelong journey as well, so capturing razor sharp-wetting photos requires technical knowledge, artistic flair and attention to detail.
Speaker 1:I hope these 10 tips provide your roadmap to achieving exceptional results that will delight your clients and create lasting memories. Remember, obviously, like I've said, practice makes perfect. Honing your skills and experimenting, experimenting these different techniques will find what works best for you, and I always like to try something new Every wedding, whether or not it's new focusing mode, lighting modes, play, play. We have so much time at weddings sometimes and there's lots of times to play and that's how you're going to learn, learn, look at your results Super important and then learn from that, try again. All right, that's it for this episode of the Orion Photo Group Tips and Tricks podcast. If you found this episode valuable, please listen to the rest of my episodes. All right, if you have a tip you want to share, I'd love to hear it. Okay, take care everyone. Hey, do you have a tip or trick you want to share with us? Please email me jgroupatorionphotogroupcom. I would love to hear your tips or tricks and we'll even send you a nice little award for doing so. Until then, thank you.
