Wedding photography in Faversham

My website: Wedding Photographers in Kent

I had the pleasure of photographing Candice and Johnathon's wedding today at Ospringe Church and Boughton Golf Club. It started off misty, rather appropriately for Halloween, but brightened up after the ceremony. In fact the light was magnificent - low quantity but high quality which is the way we all want it to be. I'd not been to Ospringe Church before - quite a grand affair for such a small village. It was very, very dark inside - I was getting exposures in the range of 1/50s, f/2, ISO 3200!

Their photos will be online shortly.

My website: Kent wedding photographers

Cooling Castle Kent

A selection of images from Deana and Lee's wedding, photographed on Wednesday at Cooling Castle, are now online. Please check out their wedding gallery.

I'll publish a selection of images on the blog with EXIF data next week.

I like photographing at Cooling Castle but I wish they didn't have so many harsh spotlights indoors - there are lighting hotspots all over the place!

My website: Wedding Photographers in Kent

Cooling Castle

I had the pleasure of photographing Deana and Lee's wedding on Wednesday at Cooling Castle. It was a beautiful autumnal morning in Sandwich but as I drove up the M2 it became overcast and started raining. I spent the first hour with Deana and her entourage and fortunately during this time the weather cleared up. No need to do the group shots indoors - thank goodness!

Their photos will be online shortly.

My website: Kent wedding photographers

Wedding photography at Cooling Castle

A selection of images from Vanessa and Jonathan's wedding, photographed on Sunday at Cooling Castle, with key EXIF data. Please check out their wedding gallery.

1/800, f/1.4, ISO 50, -1 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

The shot features a lot of dark tones so it's time to dial in negative exposure compensation. For beginners this can seem daunting but it really doesn't take long to get the hang of it. It becomes completely instinctive.

1/1250, f/1.2, ISO 50, -4/3 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

The sun was incredibly strong for late October so I took these shots in open shade. The term open shade refers to the fact that there's plenty of soft reflected light available. The area under trees can often provide beautiful light but you may have to deal with a slight green colour cast.

1/60, f/2, ISO 400, -1/3 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/250, f/1.2, ISO 640, +1/3 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

Candids are such good fun. It's a bit like wildlife photography - try not to disturb the quarry, though I do occasionally get rumbled (see two shots above!) I should fashion a wedding photographer's hide to make the job even easier.

1/60, f/2.8, ISO 1600, +2/3 EV, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

You can see how bright it was outside from the windows. I prefer not to use flash during the ceremony so, again, it's down to exposure compensation.

1/200, f/1.4, ISO 1600, 0 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

I dialled down the exposure compensation for this one as the little girl was standing beneath a spotlight. Shooting in RAW has allowed me to diminish the difference in light intensities around the room in post-production.

1/80, f/2.2, ISO 1600, 0 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/200, f/2.8, ISO 800, +1/3 EV, +1/3 FEC, 20 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Out with the flash for this one - softened with my trusty Lastolite Apollo and mounted on a Digital ProM Custom bracket. You could just get the shot with exposure compensation but there's not a lot of direct light falling on their faces so it's better to add some. I added a small amount of flash exposure compensation and added even more to subsequent shots.

1/125, f/2.8, ISO 2000, 0 EV, 0 FEC, 24 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

No FEC required for this one. If the background has been any darker I would have had to dial in negative FEC. The E-TTL II system can be fooled by close subjects and dark backgrounds. It attempts to light all of the scene which can leads to your subjects being over-illuminated (aka 'nuked').

1/2500, f/1.4, ISO 200, -1 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

1/1250, f/2, ISO 200, -1 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

Aunties just can't help themselves...

1/400, f/4, ISO 200, -2/3 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

Groups of this size take a minute or so to set up. I prefer to put people in a single line but there were too many for the nice shady spot I'd found (with Jools Holland's pied-a-terre in the background). Shorties to the front, people on the back row between shoulders - no hiding!

1/3200, f/1.4, ISO 200, -2/3 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

AF systems are very impressive. She ran in, tweaked the brides dress and then ran off. But the 5D Mark II captured her sortie.

1/500, f/2.5, ISO 200, -1/3 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

I actually moved the bride forwards after this particular shot to remove the shadow on the right hand side of her face being cast by her friend. I included this shot on the blog because I love their expressions (after a particularly cheeky comment I made).

1/3200, f/1.2, ISO 200, -2/3 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/3200, f/1.6, ISO 400, -2/3 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/800, f/2.5, ISO 200, -2/3 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/2500, f/1.2, ISO 200, -2/3 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

I love the 85mm f/1.2 L lens. Bit of a learning curve to get the most out of it but well worth the journey.

1/3200, f/1.4, ISO 50, -4/3 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

One of the classic shots at Cooling Castle. They were being illuminated by the setting sun whilst a lot of the image remained in shadow. A good dose of negative exposure compensation prevented their faces being burnt out.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or queries.

My website: Kent wedding photographers

Wedding photography Medway

A selection of images from Clare and Anthony's wedding, photographed on Saturday at St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church in Rainham. Please check out their wedding gallery.

1/5000, f/1.4, ISO 200, -1 EV, 35 mm, EF35mm f/1.4L USM

The day was heavily overcast. This is the lighting equivalent of having a giant softbox over your scene. The light is soft (good), very cool (in terms of colour temperature) but your subjects are top-lit (not so good - check out the resulting shadows on the chaps above, just on the limit of acceptability for me). I did use a flash for some of my external shots to circumvent this. The shot above has been cropped - the area removed was light toned which explains why the negative exposure compensation is not as large as you might expect given the image you see.

1/500, f/2.8, ISO 200, -1 EV, 200 mm, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

1/250, f/1.4, ISO 400, -2/3 EV, 35 mm, EF35mm f/1.4L USM

I had to be very particular about my indoor candids and wait until people were in just the right light. The ceiling had circular holes in, creating hot spots, but there were nice areas of feathered light. A key skill is being able to spot where the good light is.

1/250, f/1.2, ISO 400, 0 EV, 85 mm, EF85mm f/1.2L II USM

The church was huge and I was able to use both my 70-200mm and 85mm lens for candids. A real luxury during a ceremony.

1/125, f/2.8, ISO 1600, 0 EV, 145 mm, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

The exposure settings reveal how low the light levels were. Unfortunately, the quality of light was also low! There were huge tungsten lamps outputting light of different colour temperatures (a very common scenario in churches), mixed in with the cool daylight being made even bluer by blue stained glass - not very agreeable. Hence the B&W conversions!

1/80, f/3.2, ISO 1600, 0 EV, 200 mm, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

1/100, f/3.2, ISO 1600, 0 EV, 16 mm, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

1/160, f/2.8, ISO 2000, 0 EV, 200 mm, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

1/100, f/2.8, ISO 2000, +1/3 EV, 200 mm, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

1/80, f/5, ISO 3200, 0 EV, 35 mm, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

By the time it came to do the group shots it was raining very heavily. Fortunately there was a balcony to allow me to get the shot of everyone.

1/400, f/1.4, ISO 200, -2/3 EV, 35 mm, EF35mm f/1.4L USM

The holes in the ceiling came in useful during the bride and groom portrait session.

1/500, f/1.4, ISO 400, -1 EV, 35 mm, EF35mm f/1.4L USM

1/400, f/1.4, ISO 1000, +1/3 EV, 35 mm, EF35mm f/1.4L USM

It's quite fun to shoot under challenging conditions. I identified the areas of good light and then looked for interesting backgrounds. There weren't many spots that fitted the bill but there were enough.

1/100, f/2.5, ISO 1000, +2/3 EV, 35 mm, EF35mm f/1.4L USM

I was very aware of the iridiscent nature of the bride's dress and was very careful not to lose any detail in the highlights.

1/15, f/8, ISO 50, -1 EV, 16 mm, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

As they exited the church I fancied shooting a longer exposure to blur their movement. ISO 50 and f/8 got me a reasonable shutter speed to do the job.

Feel free to contact me with any queries.

My website: Kent wedding photographers

Cooling Castle Wedding

A selection of images from Vanessa and Jonathan's wedding, photographed on Sunday at Cooling Castle, are now online. It was a very relaxed, fun wedding - hopefully their photos reflect this. Please check out their wedding gallery.

I'll publish a selection with EXIF data shortly.

My website: Wedding Photographers in Kent

Weddings at Cooling Castle

I had the pleasure of photographing Vanessa and Jonathan's wedding yesterday at Cooling Castle. Jonathan is an art teacher and his best man a professional fashion photographer so the pressure was definitely on! The weather and light were fantastic - a perfect autumn day.

Their photos will be online shortly.

My website: Kent wedding photographers

Wedding photography in Rainham

A selection of images from Clare and Anthony's wedding, photographed on Saturday at St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church in Rainham, are now online. Please check out their wedding gallery.

I'll shortly post a selection on the blog with EXIF data and analysis.

My website: Wedding Photographers in Kent

Weddings in Rainham, Medway

My website: Wedding Photographers in Kent

I had the pleasure of photographing Clare and Anthony's wedding yesterday at St Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church in Rainham. It was overcast and rained but we still had a great time. All the group shots and bride and groom portrait session took place in the church - time to think on one's feet and get the creative juices flowing!

Their photos will be online shortly.

Adobe Lightroom 3 beta

Just to let my fellow Lightroom aficionados know that the beta version of Lightroom 3 is available for download. There are some nice new features, of which you'll be able to find plenty of details elsewhere, but I was most interested in performance. On the basis of my scientifically-robust performance-measuring methodology (stopclock in one hand whilst moving between images in Lightroom with the other) I'm pleased to announce that there seems to be a further improvement with this latest version.

My website: Kent wedding photographers

Wedding photography in Petham

A selection of images from Emily and Tom's wedding, photographed on Saturday at All Saints Church and Kenfield Oast, Petham. Please check out their wedding gallery.

HDR (-2, 0, +2), f/6.4, ISO 200, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

A high dynamic range (HDR) image of the lovely Kent oast house where the reception was held. I tend to be rather cavalier and handhold the camera for these - if you suffer delirium tremens then I'd recommend a tripod. The three exposures were combined with Photomatix Pro.

1/200, f/1.4, ISO 400, -2/3 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

A lovely pocket of soft window light illuminated this portrait shot. Negative exposure compensation was required to prevent overexposure of her face.

1/60, f/2.8, ISO 1250, +2/3 EV, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

The groom was being nicely side lit by a window. Positive exposure compensation counteracted the bright background.

1/100, f/2.8, ISO 2000, +1/3 EV, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Look at the exposure settings - churches can be dark places! Being able to shoot at high ISO with low noise is such a boon.

1/200, f/2.8, ISO 2000, +1/3 EV, 70 mm, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

1/125, f/2.8, ISO 800, 0 EV, 0 FEC, 16 mm, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

A splash of flash illuminated their faces nicely. Softened with a Lastolite Apollo.

1/400, f/2.8, ISO 125, -2/3 EV, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

The groom is a farmer, hence the guard of honour!

1/160, f/2.8, ISO 125, -1/3 EV, -2/3 FEC, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Little reflected light reached their faces under the shade of the lychgate so I added a kiss of flash to bring out detail. Negative flash exposure compensation was dialled in to make the use of flash subtle.

1/200, f/2.8, ISO 125, -1 EV, 35 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

The bride was unaware of my presence - a true candid.

1/500, f/4, ISO 125, -1 EV, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Negative exposure compensation kept a bit of detail in the sky which was enhanced in Lightroom with a 'digital' neutral graduated density filter.

1/640, f/2.8, ISO 200, -1 EV, 200 mm, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

1/320, f/1.8, ISO 100, -1 EV, 85 mm, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/800, f/1.2, ISO 100, -1 EV, 85 mm, EF85mm f/1.2L II

Notice the negative exposure compensation in the three shots above due to the dominant dark tones.

HDR (-2, 0, +2), f/5, ISO 400, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

A cheeky HDR shot. It wouldn't bear close scrutiny as many of the people shifted slightly between the exposures but it captures detail in both the shadowy foreground and bright sky.

1/1600, f/1.4, ISO 400, -1 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

1/400, f/2.5, ISO 500, -1 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

East Kent's Bruce Forsyth Appreciation Society.

1/500, f/1.4, ISO 400, -1/3 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

1/640, f/1.4, ISO 400, 0 EV, 35 mm, 35mm f/1.4L

1/640, f/2.8, ISO 400, 0 EV, 16 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

I needed a fast shutter speed here to counter camera shake from my laughing. A bit of digital post-production darkened the sky.

1/200, f/4, ISO 800, -2/3 EV, 35 mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Digital fig-leaves enabled me to show this photo online. Perhaps I should save it as a Photoshop Action?

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

My website: Kent wedding photographers