Orion Photo Group Success Story Podcast
Orion Photo Group Success Story Podcast
Unveiling the Power of the Right Focal Length in Wedding Photography
Ready to elevate your wedding photography game? Together, we'll uncover how the right focal length can dramatically enhance the emotional depth in your photos. We'll dig into the nuts and bolts of wide angle and telephoto lenses, and the magic they can bring to your portraits, from capturing the broader context with environmental shots to zooming into the intimate moments with close-ups. Trust us, realizing the power of the right lens can have a profound influence on your images, transforming routine shots into cherished memories.
But we don't stop there! We also explore how various focal lengths can impact your photo composition and perspective. It's an essential aspect to master if you want your photos to evoke a certain feeling or tell a captivating story. Plus, we're eager to hear from you. Share your photography techniques and experiences with us via email, and let's create a vibrant community of passionate photographers. Keep shooting, and look forward to our upcoming episodes, packed with inspiration, and know-how to take your skills to the next level.
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, fellow photographers, welcome back to another episode of Tips and Tricks. I'm your host, jason Grubb, and today we're taking another journey through the fascinating world of wedding photography. God, that sounds so cheesy. All right, just being honest with you, but it is a fascinating world of wedding photography, right. All right, I do write scripts for myself so that I stay on track, but sometimes those scripts can be. I should read them out loud. As I'm writing these scripts, I'm embarrassing myself. I'm just going to keep going here.
Speaker 1:All right, our focus is on the art of shooting today with different focal lengths. I know that I've done a lot of things on lighting, compositions, stuff like that. Focal lengths kind of an interesting topic as well. Again, most of these are meant to be easy listening, but maybe there's a tip or trick in there that you guys will enjoy as you're on your way to a wedding. Give you some inspiration. Sometimes it just takes a little of spark to take you from point A to point B and boy, I've been there. Hopefully these are helpful. They all kind of not repeat each other, but there's definitely overlapping themes in a lot of these. But today our focus is going to be the is.
Speaker 1:There's an art to choosing your focal lengths, and I think a very skilled tactician or technician in our industry knows exactly what lens they want to shoot with before they actually frame a shot. It's weird when you get to that point. You just know, when you're looking at something and you want to shoot something, and you have an idea in your head or it doesn't matter what it is, maybe it's just a standard shot of a portrait of a bride or a groom or a couple, whatever that may be you will just instantly say, all right, this is the 85. You know what I think? I'm going to try doing this with my 100 macro today to give me something a little bit different. That's what the art of choosing different focal lengths is all about. As we know, the lens we choose can significantly impact the visual narrative we create, as I just described, and we're going to dive into the realm of different focal lengths to discover how they can elevate the depth and dynamism. There's that word again I did in the last episode. I have to take that word out of I can't say that word out of your wedding photography.
Speaker 1:All right, so understanding focal length basics. Before we dive into the specifics, let's revisit the basics of focal length. Understanding this key factor is crucial for determining the magnification and the perspective of your shots. There are two main types to consider and forgive me for being so basic here wide angle and telephoto. And just going through that, wide angle lenses they're perfect for capturing expensive scenes, typically ranging from 14 to 35 millimeter. They're ideal for group shots, venue details, setting the stage for an entire wedding story, whereas telephoto lenses generally range from 50 to 200 millimeters and beyond. I don't can't imagine anyone shooting a wedding with anything longer than a 200. That would be super interesting.
Speaker 1:And these lenses bring distant subjects closer. They excel at capturing intimate moments without intruding, making them perfect for candid shots during a ceremony or capturing emotions from a discrete distance. And then moving on to the next part, where you can create impact with perspective. That's what this episode's all about. So let's explore different focal lengths that offer unique perspectives and that help you add drama and emotion to your wedding shots. Okay, so, wide angle, drama.
Speaker 1:Love the wide angle lens, there's nothing more. It's a fun lens. It's fun. There's nothing more fun about it. Wide angle lenses are fun and the wider you get, the more fun they get, but you have to be careful with what you're doing. You can overdo it and again, you generally don't want to get too campy with this stuff, but unless that's what you're looking for, wide angle is the perfect thing to create something campy. So wide angle drama, utilizing a wide angle lens for dramatic shots that emphasize the grandeur of the wedding venue, capturing best landscapes, architecture, details and the entire bridal party in a single frame, whereas a telephoto will give you more intimacy. Switch to a telephoto lens when you want to create a sense of intimacy. Candid moments during the ceremony when you can't get too close. Exchange of vows first dance to become more personal and emotional when a shot from a distance with a telephoto lens is the perfect lens to choose from. And again, figuring out which ones you want to do and then breaking the rules for them is what you ideally learn. When I said what lens do I want to use to do a shot? That's where you learn how to break the rules on those things.
Speaker 1:Choosing the right focal length for portraits and moving on to portrait shots. Choosing the right focal length for portraits is a crucial in highlighting beauty and personality of the couple. Using a wide angle lens for portraits while I don't generally recommend it, again depending on the couple, you can experiment with wide angle lenses for environmental portraits that showcase the couple within their surroundings, so placing them someplace that is more of an environmental portrait and using that wide angle lens to capture that expanse. Using a big wedding venue, too, is a great way to do that, to create something that's totally different and it'll add context to a broader story about their day. No portrait that tells them it's a picture of them but tells a broader story at the same time. That's great for a wide angle lens, where a telephoto lens is more for traditional close up portraits and the compression effect helps isolate the subjects from the background, creating a beautifully blurred backdrop that emphasizes the couple's connections. So when you use a telephoto lens, it's just about them, right, and you're blurring out that background. Get that nice bouquet and whether it be a fall day or a beautiful summer day where there's flowers in the background, or nice greenery, that's where telephoto becomes that elegant lens choice for what you're trying to do.
Speaker 1:But, as we know, weddings are dynamic events and ever changing scenes, so knowing when to switch focal lengths can make all the difference. So if you're shooting with, let's say, a prime lens, whether it be telephoto or a wide angle lens, choosing your lens for those moments super duper important. It's definitely more of an expert thing to learn how to do, whereas a telephoto lens or zoom lens, I should say, whether it be a wide angle zoom or a longer zoom, a telephoto zoom knowing which ones, you have a lot more flexibility there, where you're not going to get stuck with the wrong lens on your camera. Generally, you can save yourself so important detail as far as that's concerned. So, ceremony moments During the ceremony, telephoto lens allows you to discreetly capture emotional moments without disrupting the proceedings.
Speaker 1:85, 135, 70 to 200. We'll do that as well, whereas in the lively atmosphere of receptions you might want to switch to a wider lens to capture group shots, dance floor actions and overall festive mood. And the versatility of focal lengths ensures that you're prepared for every scene. So you could go to a 24 to 70 or a 35 or 24 millimeter prime. Those are things that you would probably use during receptions, right, and then experimenting with these lens combinations, which is what I was talking about before.
Speaker 1:Don't limit yourself to a single lens. Combining different focal lengths yield dynamic, visually interesting results. So switching it up and shooting some intimate moments with the telephoto lens and then switching to a wide angle lens and getting real close, giving you two different perspectives Using prime lens pairing that's what I was kind of talking about before Using a prime lens for a portrait shot and pair it with a wide angle zoom lens for versatility. This combination allows you to seamlessly transition between intimate and expansive scenes For a telephoto and a wide angle tandem. Capture a variety of shots by having both a telephoto and a wide angle lens on hand, and this will ensure you're ready to adapt to any situation, from emotional close-ups to capturing an entire wedding party in a single frame. And learning this juggle is really, really critical in what you do as creating your style and what you're doing, what you're just more comfortable with.
Speaker 1:Many times during weddings I was mainly a prime shooter. 24, 50, 85 would be the main lenses that I would use all day. But if I was shooting an event, just a standard event man 24 to 70, that would be the way to go. I wouldn't even think about it. I wouldn't even they're capturing super-duper fast moments Not going to happen at a business luncheon or some talking head, like a 70 to 200 and my 24 to 70, those are my go-tos for stuff like that, whereas a wedding I might just stick with my primes, or if I find myself it's just a crazy day and I just don't have time to change lenses 70 to 200 all any day of the week and I keep a wide angle closer if I can and just go with that. I'm not up to those situations and that's what makes us pros. Again, I just touch on that too.
Speaker 1:Understanding autofocus capabilities is essential. Working with different focal lanes Obviously, prime lenses fast lenses work for low light, low light situations, so you would want to go with those. Lots of weddings that I shot were very, very dark evening weddings, so those prime lenses were critical and crucial for what I needed. Using continuous autofocus for action Again, I talked about that in a different episode, so I'm not going to get too much into that. And then thinking about what you're going to do for those things. So you need to learn about autofocus. That's a whole other episode or another podcast. You can listen to that as well. So, in conclusion, wedding photography and the ability to wheel different focal lanes with precision opens up a world of creative possibilities, from capturing grand landscapes to intimate moments.
Speaker 1:Each focal length serves as a unique purpose in telling the couple's story. As you continue to explore an experiment and I truly believe in the experiment process, and a lot of this has to do with how much money you have to spend on a lens I cannot emphasize the importance I would prefer you bought a more expensive lens and a lesser body than going for a cheaper lens, because, at the end of the day, I have lenses that I still use, that are 15 years old, 20 years old. They're the best lenses that I could have bought at the time and they still work just as good today. Sure, there's fancier, maybe slightly fancier ones and faster ones, I should say, but they still work just as good as any of the other ones. Where the cameras keep changing, I would go for a lesser lens. It really depends on the money, a lesser body, I should say. It really depends on the money that you have and that will affect your decisions on all of this.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I hope you enjoyed that exploration of focal lengths and we will see you on the next episode and if you have any ideas for what you'd like to hear in a podcast, I'd love to hear from you, jay Group at OrionPhotoGroupcom. Be safe out there and we'll see you on the next episode. Thanks everyone, take care. 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.
