Lance Burns Photography

Michael and Emilee

2012-02-09T22:19:00.001-08:00

Hi all,

Well, it's time to revive the blog. I was inspired to do this due to some great people I met tonight - Michael and Emilee (love that spelling). Such nice down to earth people who want a wedding that works well.

It was nice to hear why Michael and Emilee hired me to photograph their wedding. First they found my images on the Fort Edmonton website and then they were told about me by a member of a wedding party I just finished shooting. After interviewing a few photographers they decided that we were a good fit. After meeting them for a few times I would agree. I am really looking forward to shooting their wedding this fall and making their images the best possible.

Well, more to come later. I will take this opportunity to welcome myself back to this blogging thing.

She is growing fast

2010-04-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my daughter. We are so happy to have this little girl in our lives. I can honestly say that life is very, very, very different now....but it is way better. Although it is true that you have less time for yourself, you don't care about that. My wife and I are always happy and when we need to be reminded of what is important we just look at our daughter. I know parents all over the world know what I am talking about.

All my best. I will start blogging again soon.

6023516

5 Months Pregnant.

2009-04-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

I wanted to share with you a special event happening in our lives. Seems we are going to have a child. We are very excited about this big event and have decided to document this big event. Here is an image of our progress. This image was taken with a D700 and an F1.8 85 mm Nikkor lens at 1/60 s @ F2.0. I did quite a bit to the background. I actually shot this in our living room and the top of this image has been cloned from the middle and the sheers have been cloned from the left side to the right side. Sometimes we have to know that we can change our scene before we shoot so we can achieve the final result we are looking for!

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Enjoy!

Jana and Marco

2009-03-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a little video of some of the final images for a great wedding I shot back in October. The couple were amazing and their wedding day was by far one of the "Funnest" shoots I have had in a long time. I am very happy to have been included in their wedding plans, and was overjoyed that we were able to spend as much time taking pictures as we did.

I loved shooting this wedding. Thanks, again, Jana and Marco. You two are great together.

Wedding in the Mountains

2009-03-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

What a perfect day!

Hi Everybody. Here is a video of a great wedding shot out in the beautiful mountains located in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Our good friends got hitched in the picturesque location at the end of January. The people, the weather, the reason - it all came together. Congrat's to Arley and Catherine. You two are great together.

Talk to you all soon!

Lynda.com and Kelbytraining.com

2009-03-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

Well, Like I said yesterday I wanted to share two sites with you and give you the low down on both sites. Ok, here is my thoughts. When I consider that I subscribe to both of these services, I have to say I get a great amount of education for about $60 (Canadian) per month. Both sides have great experts and both sites have amazing tutorials. I appreciate the tutorials found on Lynda.com because they are practical and very timely. This resources is quick to publish new resources when new software comes out. Most they are timely with the Adobe products and Microsoft products. A great deal of effort goes in to making sure that artists feel the love on this site. However, where this site lacks a bite is in its support of fringe programs and 3D program. Of course you will find the usual suspects like Maya in their arsenal, but where are the ZBrush programs, or the open source 3D programs? The lack of support in these areas makes me wish for universal training centre that recognized the value in both 2D and 3D resources. Again, my thoughts.

The best site for budding artists that are looking for help becoming a better photographer or graphic designer should head directly over to kelbytraining.com. This site stays relatively current on adobe products and also provides instruction on photographic techniques from some of the world's best photographers. You will see David Ziser, Joe McNally, and other famous-like persons just waiting to teach you something. The ability of this site to compact information into small bite size portions that are easy to swallow (and digest) is soooooooo awesome. One major drawback to this site, however, is the slow release of new material. Some material gets out there very fast, but the typical supporting materials that you would expect close to software releases seems to trickle out at a snail's pace. Other than that, I would strongly recommend this site to budding professionals who might be falling asleep in their trade school classes. This site might be like the all night cram for an exam approach, but boy is it good.

Well, that is all I have for today. I hope you can all come back soon, and I will try to be a bit more proactive with my blog. All my best,

Lance Burns

Podcasts

2009-03-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

Well today my treat for you is Podcasts that rule. Not podcast rules, but podcasts that leave a strong and lasting impression. Ones that make you want to come back for more....you know, like a thirsty dog.

There are two types of podcasts as far as I am concerned. Good ones and lousy ones. You will know when you have found a lousy one...and likewise you will know when you have found a good one. I am going to tell you about three GREAT ones! The first one is called photoshop killer tips. This site can be found by searching through the itunes store, or from a search engine. This site gives you the skinny on photoshop tools and on quick techniques that will change your work flow. The second podcast that will rock your world is called "The Russell Brown Show." For people out there that like a person who appears to be a little off-balance in his delivery, but interesting and educational all at the same time, then you cannot pass up on this tremendous podcast. From the most basic to the most complex, Russell Brown will guide your photoshop brush from amateur to professional in a matter of minutes (a slight exaggeration). My last recommendation is D-town. This podcast is brand new and is designed to provide tips and tricks to Nikon camera shooters. Way to go Scott Kelby and matt Kloskowski! Your new site is awesome!

Well I hope those podcasts become a part of your weekly personal learning and you enjoy the lessons these able people provide to you. tomorrow, I will talk about two websites that you can pay a subscription for and give you my opinion on their value.

Where have I been?

2009-03-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

You may wonder where I have been for the last little bit. Well, I will tell you, I have been creating copious amounts of new digital material. I am a huge fan of screen capture when it comes to tutorials and such. With that in mind you might wonder what I have been working on. Well, it has been tutorials to teach high school students how to build webpages and how to edit images in cool and interesting ways. The internet if full of cool resources, and for me it is about exploiting these resources to their fullest potential. I wanted to give you a list of great sites to visit and get awesome photoshop tutorials from. My first one is psdtuts.com. This website is chaulk full of cool step by step tutorials. From building people out of aluminium to creating fantasy worlds we would love to live it. Check that one out. The second is picturesocial.com. This site has a number of images from a variety of shooters that make you think. Some are awesome, some are average - again, all from the point of view of the viewer. My third site tonight is from a photographer who is amazing at what he does and resides in my neck of the woods. Check out www.robertbrayphotography.com. A great guy and a great photographer. These sites are sure to provide inspiration for you on a visual level.

Tomorrow's post will focus on podcasts that have had a great impact on me.

A young girl - Before and after

2009-02-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

At a recent wedding, I was working to get images of people at the brides house before the bride arrived. The gal here is a VIP of the wedding and I was lucky enough to have time to create some dramatic shots of her while we waited for the bride to make her appearance. The background here is the curtains in the living room. I moved her as far away from the background as I could, and kept my F-stop rather low (2.0). Combined with camera right off-camera flash we were able to punch in some light and still have a great deal of hair light rimming from the sun coming in through a window that was above the brown curtains.

Hope you all enjoy!

Color Efex Pro 3.0

2008-12-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

Here is an image that I shot this summer while travelling through Chicago. In the weekend that I was in Chicago this amazing 60+ man put on over 70 miles on his bike.

Here are four images. The LAST image is the original and the other three are variations put through a photoshop plug-in called Color Efex Pro 3.0. All images are adjusted within the Color Efex Pro 3.0 dialogue box with no other work in photoshop. These are used to illustrate the power of the plug-in without comment on what you can do with the image once you return to the Photoshop work pallette. The first images is a tonal enhancement, the second is called midnight, and the third is a high key output.

I wanted to tell you a little bit about this cool photoshop plug-in called Color Efex Pro 3.0. This is a Nik product and is absolutely fabulous. Image that you take a photo and are interested in adding an effect to either all or just a part of an image. Within the photoshop filters dropdown menu you would select NIK> Color Efex Pro 3.0 menu choice and a new dialogue box will open. Your image will be presented to you in either side by side view with the original on the left and the image with the applied effect(s) on the right. Once you decide what effect you like, you can click apply and it applies the effect to a new layer in photoshop. This method preserves your original image and allows you to apply other effects to the new layer you have just created. Head over to Niksoftware.com to see this great plug-in, and while you are there, check out the new silver efex pro. If you are serious about black and white, you will enjoy this plug-in as well.

Once you bring your image back into photoshop you can work with it normally. You can apply layer masks, adjust the opacity, apply styles, etc. You can even bring it right back into the Color Efex Pro 3.0 plug-in and add more effects. The possibilities are endless.

I hope you enjoyed this post and encourage you to let me know what you would like to learn a bit more about. I am always looking for new things to share but sometimes when you have worked with an image program for so long you get comfortable with your style and forget that you might be doing something that is considered advanced which might help others out.

All my best and 'til next time,

Lance Burns

BluDomain.com

2008-12-14T22:19:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

Today I wanted to share a bit of information that might make your work flow a bit faster and your presence on the web a bit more flashy and professional. There is a company out there called BluDomain.com. The function of this company is to provide their clients with exceptionally easy to use website templates. If you look at my site, you will notice how easy it is to navigate and that it is relatively free from annoying glitches. This is not an accident. I can tell you that the Content Management System (CMS) that you work with behind the scenes is easy to use, and requires no direct knowledge of website development or any other CMS tools. As we know, updating our site has usually required a phone call to our designer, a check on our site, and usually a follow-up call to check on the progress of the changes we requested but have yet to be made to the site. With BluDomain.com those concerns disappear. Check it out when you get a chance.

Viveza

2008-11-18T11:11:00.001-08:00

Hi All!

I was over on David Ziser blog today at digitalprotalk.blogspot.com and watched his video about using Lightroom 2 versus Viveza. As a user of Aperture for the Mac, I have a slightly differing view on this and thought I would share my experiences with the Viveza software from the Aperture standpoint.

Viveza is an amazing product that works on a very intuitative level. The ability to create complex masks and to edit pieces of a photo make it a necessary addition to my work flow. I like the fact that when I create an edited image within Aperature by using the Viveza plug-in I am able to retain the original NEF file as well as create a 16-bit TIFF that has all the Viveza adjustments. Now, some might argue that the TIFF file reduces the flexibility in the editing processes but I have not seen this affect my processes. The 16-bit TIFF is a very flexible and forgiving file, and if need be I can work on the original NEF in Aperture. From there, I export out another version of the image and put both of these images into the same file, on two separate layers. By using masks in photoshop I can selectively work on each image and create the perfect scene with great tones and mood.

Again, I like the fact that when I open up Aperture I can see the original NEF file and right beside it the adjusted Viveza file. This flexibility works for me. However, I can understand how the workflow of others may not have the Apple computer angle and from that perspective I can see how the Lightroom 2 option can add to the Viveza discussion. Before you say anything, I am aware of the Lightroom 2 option for the Mac, but to this point I have been very happy with Aperture. Some say I should step out of the dark ages on this one, but my workflow is consistent and my outputs are great. Until I see a big reason to switch I think I will remain an Aperture user who likes to use the Viveza plug-in.

All my best!

Clipping Masks

2008-11-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

As I was working on a few images from some past shoots I realized that I have been changing the way I have been approaching my cloning work. I wanted to show you a video tutorial on how to use clipping masks within photoshop to help reduce the fuzziness that is generally associated with the clone tool - a tool that we rely on most to fix stuff in the background that we don't want in the background. This technique, however, is for any element within a photo that requires a deft and accurate touch. The ability to use the clipping mask allows the photographer greater control over the edit and more power to make adjustments to the effect after you have finished clipping AND creating new masks (if that last part doesn't make sense right now it will after you have viewed the video).

I hope this technique is helpful. If so please drop in a comment to tell me how you would use this in your own work!

Enjoy!

Fix what we can

2008-11-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

Sometimes we shoot an image that has great potential but when we do shoot it, the results are somewhat less than we had hoped. This shot here is an example of that. When I shot it I was hoping to create a blurred effect, but after playing with it for a bit I realized that this shot did not warrant that type of effect. I then studied the characters in the image and the setting and decided that the image needed to pop. So what I did was open the image in photoshop. I then duplicated the background layer. To this new layer I added an adjustment layer of black and white. I then merged that adjustment layer and the duplicate layer into one. Then I changed the setting from normal to overlay and adjusted the opacity to 60%. I then merged the images together. I then created a new empty layer above this image and went, filter>render>cloud. I also changed this layer to overlay mode, and reduced its opacity to about 60%. I then added a layer mask to this cloud layer and brushed out the center of the image. Try this effect on an image that is good, but needs a bit more drama.

Enjoy!

What a Beautiful Baby!

2008-10-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

Well, what a great week it has turned out to be. Up here in the North the concern around the middle of October is what is tomorrow going to look like. Are we going to have snow?, or...are we going to have snow? We have been very fortunate in what we have been getting. Warm weather has been here all month. I don't feel like I am jinxing this, as we usually get snow in early November, so I am ready to have people blame me for the snow if it comes.

Anyway, I was shooting the other day. It was a family photoshoot and the weather was great! We got through about 5 locations and we wanted to do some individual shots of their beautiful baby. I was getting concerned about the changing weather and thought that we could use their fabulous living room. I set up three SB-800 flashes. One on a stand, one on the floor reflecting off my gold reflector and one in the hands of one of the proud parents. My main light is the light coming off the reflector (Baby left) and my fill flash was on the stand pretty close to centre. I used the parent to hold a flash head above and behind camera left of the baby to create a bit of separating light. Main light was balanced to my f stop and the fill light was 1 2/3 under, and my highlight light was 1 under.

This baby was awesome to shoot. She loved to look into the camera and always had a great look. After I finished I brought the picture into Viveza through Aperture and darkened the background around the baby and lightened up some of the shadows in the eye sockets. I then brought the image into photoshop and use the distort>lens correction filter and added a vignette on top of my original layer. I backed off on the opacity of this layer to create the above effect.

Specs: Nikon D700, Su-800, three SB-800s, f/3.5 @ 1/60 s, 70-200 mm @ 125.0 mm, ISO equivalent 100.

Enjoy!

Weekend Wedding

2008-10-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.lanceburnsphotography.com/

Hi All! Wow, what a weekend. I shot a great bride a groom on Saturday. Jana and Marco made my weekend. These two people were happy to shoot in so many locations! We had a blast. This past weekend was a bit on the cooler side, about 8 degrees celsius, but the spirits of family I was shooting were very warm. Doesn't Marco look happy back there? He is actually 9 feet tall. I had to put him two wheat fields over to get this perspective.

This was the first wedding in which I was using my new D700. I must say that I was very impressed with its function and the quality of the images. Some things that stood out for me as both a pro and a con would include the autoISO feature. I initially had it on and found that I couldn't create the mood I was looking for in my portrait shots so I turned it off. However, I believe that I should have kept it on for the church and some of the candids. These are shots that I want to get and not have to mess around to much. I was very happy with shooting manual but in reflecting on my work, I would have been happy to switch my autoISO off and on at my will. I will set my camera up for this.

Another thing that was pretty cool was the LiveView feature. I didn't think I would use this, but it was late at night, and I was trying to set up a shot that was over my head...LITERALLY, NOT ARTISTICALLY...lol. The LiveView feature enabled me to frame the shot and then proceed as normal. It is a cool feature for both amateurs and pros. Figure out how you will use it, and use it.

Overall, the change from the D200 to the D700 was an easy one for the features that appear in all cameras. I can shoot in manual mode, where I am most comfortable, and I can control the basics of any menu. To truly appreciate this camera I will be spending some quality time this weekend getting to know the details of its completely redesigned menu and its great low light shooting abilities.

Spec: Nikon D700, F/2.8 @ 1/160, 102 mm with my 70-200 mm. white balance: auto, and ISO, the trusty 100 (or low 1, as it is now called).

upgrade

2008-10-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

well today is a written post. After all the hype has settled down and after reading blog after blog, and review after review, I decided upon a new system to work with. I was a big, big fan of the Nikon D200 when it came out and have been shooting it for the past three years. I must say that the image quality has been great and the functionality has been awesome. However, as with any system I started to see some of the drawbacks to this system, so I bought a new camera. I bought the D700. What was missing from my arsenal was the ability to shoot great images in low light. The D200 was great for low ISO shots as well as slow moving shots in suspect light, but when it came to DARK scenes, such as receptions it was a gamble as to what I would get, and what the image quality would be at high ISOs. This has changed for me. Now, I have a D700 (not its big brother the D3 as I don't need the 9 fps) and a new set of radiopoppers to ensure I get the shot, rather than hope. I started playing with the D700 last night and so far I am very impressed. I got the optional hand-grip with it to give it a bit more mass and volume. Things that might not seem important to the average shooter, but I like a heavy camera and the vertical shooting option. I will be shooting a bit more during the week as I have a wedding shoot on the weekend, so I need to check out the new (and apparently improved, menu) to ensure I am confident in the camera. However, so far I have been VERY impressed with the quality of the shots at high ISOs. At 800 I noticed no grain, at 6400 I was thinking it was my D200s ISO 800 quality. Wow, have times changed. I was impressed with the D70 years ago, and now the D700!!! I do think the D700 should be the D7000. It is easily 100X's better than the D70. Anyway, I will post results of my camera tests and a few wedding shots from the weekend. All my best, and enjoy!

I know that this post doesn't have a great deal of info, but I just wanted everyone to share in my excitement!

Inspiration must start with you.

2008-09-29T13:48:00.001-07:00

www.LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi all! Today I wanted to share with you something that might change the way you think...or at least pause for a brief moment. This summer I made a long trek across the North American continent. My travels took me to Minnisota, Kentucky, Ontario, northern Manitoba and Vancouver Island in British Columbia. During these trips I did my best to think about who has inspired my work and who I would like to meet. One of those people is Marc Hauser. His style and his work are amazing. I have watched many of his video productions and looked at his great website (www.marchauserphoto.com), but I really wanted to meet him in person. Something I had to plan before I went on my trek.

Now I had never talked with Marc, but I thought to myself "self, if you don't make contact you won't meet him." So, I sent an email to Marc through his site and he was pretty quick to respond. I was lucky enough to actually be going through the Chicago region and was LUCKY enough to spend 3 hours with this amazing photographer. As I look back on this now, I can't help but think how important my meeting Marc was. I was able to talk about photography with this great photographer and understand small things that make his work so powerful. We were hanging out in his studio...just the two of us...talking about his working with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, John Mellancamp, and other just as interesting people. We talked about composition, image inspiration, photography shoot budgets and the need to reinvent yourself over and over.

The important point I would like you to take away from this post is that we all have something to share and learn. I took a chance and was given an opportunity that I will never have again in my life. I met one of my photography idols and his influence is gradually making its way into my work. Take a chance, make that phone call and maybe you will get the opportunity to expand your skills by meeting those you respect. They don't have to be 4 area codes over. They can be next door, or in the next town. Search them out. Meet them. Spend time with them learning and communicating. Funny thing, we all take inspiration from different things.

Talk to you soon!

Family portrait in the fall

2008-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

www.LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi All! I have a great tutorial to share with you all today. I was out this weekend with one of my favorite families. After shooting their wedding last fall we thought we would update the family portraits! We had a nice casual walk and when the moment struck we took pictures. Some were posed, but most were not. The image we are looking at was one that was kind of posed. I really, really liked the background and asked the family to slowly walk through the open space. Well, as they were walking a happy accident occurred. The birds just started moving in. Wave after wave in a very short time. I loved it! After getting the images into photoshop and Nik Colour Efexs, I was able to produce this stunning image. I love how private a moment we see. The child is looking back at the birds and the parents are having their own tranquil moment. Amazing in the story that it tells.

Well, I hope you enjoy the tutorial and realize that images are sometimes captured and sometimes created. You can decided for yourself what this one is.

Until next time! All my best and enjoy!

Family shot

2008-09-16T10:05:00.002-07:00

www.LanceBurnsPhotography.com

This weekend I was out shooting a family. Now, I had picked out a nice little spot by some water that was rather serene and tranquile. A spot that I thought the family would like. Well, when we got chatting, the mom indicated that she had a great spot all picked out and the colour of the trees were full of autumn. I asked where it was and she told me it was on the side of a road in the city. No big deal, but this is one of the busiest roads in our city and the traffic was loud and constant and the ability to communicate was almost nil. I took this challenge and luckily had my wife, er, assistant with me. As we set about getting ready to shoot the scene, I noticed that we did have great autumn colours but we couldn't communicate over the noise. I actually had to have my assistant stand halfway between me and the family so we could rely information!

All in all, we captured some fantastic images of this beautiful family. It is worth noting that it is very, very difficult to get a 2 year old to smile on command. The girl was NOT willing to smile this way so I had the kids run around for a bit and captured a candid image of her smiling and plopped that head into this family shot. Not to bad eh? I also started to use the Viveza plug-in for Aperture. What a great plug-in. This allowed me to spark-up the image before I did any work in photoshop. VERY Impressed!

Specs: Nikon D200, 70-200mm @ 200 mm, F/5.0 @ 1/90

Enjoy!

Baby Love

2008-09-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi all! Well, here is an image that was shot on an impromptu photoshoot. My friends just had a baby and were over and we decided to take some shots that they could send out. I pulled out a black velvet background and threw it over my living room couch. I grabbed 3 SB-800s and set the main light camera left 30 degrees off. Fill light was over camera, and one stop under the main light F. In addition there was a highlight flash that was shooting from behind subjects camera right. This highlight flash was designed to separate the image from the background a bit more. Anyway, the shoot was going great and there was this moment, unplanned, where mom put her hand on baby. The scene was PERFECT!!!! All I did was click the button.

Specs: Nikon D200, Three SB-800s, umbrellas on each one. ISO 100, F/4.5 @ 1/60. 17-55 mm @ 17 mm.

Enjoy!

Wedding shoot.

2008-09-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi All. I know that I haven't updated my site in a few weeks. Things have been extra busy for me. Anyhow, I have something to share that I think is pretty cool. I wanted to talk about the Mac program Aperture, and the plug-in Viveza. I am pretty pumped up about how well the two programs work together. Let's start by saying that when you bring your RAW image into Aperture you are able to tweak the colour, the density, and shadow/highlight features of the image - there are more features, but these are the basics. Once you have your image(s) properly balanced you can then right click on your image and edit with your program of choice. My default choice is Capture NX due to the UPoint technology, but there are other options I have, such as photoshop, dodge and burn, and now Viveza. By looking at the before and after image, I wanted to point out that this image has yet to hit photoshop. The intuitive control points that allow you to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and hue, as well as the RGB colours independently, AND a warmth control which functions like the photoshop filter, photo filter.

The third image has some post production work in Photoshop. notice the lack of flag poles in the background, and the colour of the hand bag.

Take a look at the before and after image. I think Aperture is starting to look like a professional program. By allowing use of third party plug-ins we are starting to actually work with images within one environment. How original! In a future post we will look at the very, very useful program called Noise Ninja. Why you don't own this program yet is beyond me.....

Specs: Nikon D200, SB-800 off camera left, SU-800 on camera, ISO 400, F/4 @ 1/1600 s. Exposure Bias = +1.0, 10.5 mm fisheye lens.

Getting it right the first time!

2008-08-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi all! Today I wanted to share an image that I took on my Friday shoot. This was at a local hotel with a great view of the river valley, as well as a wonderful sky view. This image was posed to ensure the bride was on the right side of center, with her face on a node. I have her looking back into the image so you are not wondering what she is looking at. If she was looking the other way, I am quite sure it wouldn't have the same appeal, or impact on the viewer. OK, so I took the original and noticed that I didn't like the way the background was set up. I adjusted the background in photoshop and used a high pass filter for sharpening. Of course I am not going over all the photoshop work, but you get the point.

Specs: Nikon D200, 17-55 mm lens @ 17 mm, F/3.2 @ 1/2000, right side main SB-800 at F/3.2, camera close left SB-800 1-stop under for fill. SU-800 trigger on camera.

Key point - get the image right in camera so the work that you do afterwards is minimized.

Enjoy!

What Gets You Up in the Morning?

2008-08-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi All! I have one more bit of information for you. How do you get ready for a wedding? I don't mean your equipment check or that. I mean how do you get pysched up for the shoot? How do you find inspiration for the day. I wanted to share with you what I do. I usually get up extra early. I am usually up and working by 8 am of the wedding day. Today for example is a wedding day shoot...yes, a Friday wedding. I like to check out websites and collect images that I can think about for the days shoot. Does this work? Absolutely, I have a collection of images from websites, magazines, books, and videos that I have put together so I can review them. As a matter of fact, if I have a second shooter I bring two copies and I explain what shots I would like him/her to focus on. This way we can review the progress as we go. This morning I was reviewing a video I have titled "Masters of Wedding Photography 2." I was watching Marcus Bell this morning and thinking about how he causally poses the shots and then gets to work after the formals are done.....very creative and artistically inspiring.

I also like to google words like "wedding", "portrait", etc., and look through google images. You never know what you will fine.

What goes you up in the morning?

The Details

2008-08-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

LanceBurnsPhotography.com

Hi All! On a recent wedding shoot I was scouting locations to shooting high angles of the ceremony from outside. As I was doing this I had to walk through the reception area. There was a great deal of movement in this area as people were getting the venue ready. One person in particular, a relative of the bride, was getting the center pieces ready. She was really proud of this work and indicated that buying the pieces was a special treat for her and the bride. I remembered this so I could try and capture this item in a unique way during the ceremony.

Technically this shot used a hand held SB-800 to light the candle and glass properly while the blurry background was lite naturally.

Specs: Nikon D200, 17-55mm @ 25 mm, F/3.2 @ 1/60, SB-800 TTL left hand, SU-8-- on Hotshoe.

Enjoy!