Your wedding photography consists of more than just the portrait shoot. The little details of your wedding are just as important. You put time and thought into them. Your details should be captured creatively.

Myriam and Gary’s wedding was full of bright colours, which made it fun to shoot they’re details. Here’s a sample.

Close ups of the different areas of the brides dress are taken to capture detail.

Myriam had very nice shoes for her wedding. We positioned them in several different ways to capture the details

In some variations we'll include other items from the wedding such a the invitations here

We shoot the wedding rings a lot during the day.

The wedding rings with the Invitations

Here we included the Stetson hat from Gary's Red Serge and the wedding rings in Myriams flowers

Unity candles at the church

We shot the details at the tables during the reception, held at Fort Gibralter.

These glasses were at the head table at the reception

Instead of a wedding cake, Myriam and Gary had cup cakes for there guests

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There wedding was amazing. Myriams dress was beautiful and Gary was in his Red Serge.

Myriam and Gary are a great couple and we had a great time working with them.

Here’s a quick sample from the portrait shoot at the Basilica.

Myriam and Gary at the St. Boniface Basilica

A simple variation of the above image. We keep posing loose for formals portraits and shoot variations.

We shot this brighter than normal. In post, we blew out the highlights for this high-key (ish) portrait of Myriam.

Myriam the front of the St. Boniface Basilica

Simple grouping with the family

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Duane and Eileen have an old cabin out here in Lac du Bonnet. We were asked to document the cottage and scan some old images of the cottage and the owners.

Here are some of the images from the shoots.

Duane and Eileen in front of their cabin near Lac du Bonnet Manitoba

Shot of the upstairs. You get a good look at the old wood floors and fireplace in the bedroom.

Image of the upstaris bedroom.

Neat details in this Lac du Bonnet cabin, such as the old fashioned door handle.

Image of the living room. Notice the ceiling. These are the original beams. Only had been replaced in the life of the cabin. Shot in Lac du Bonnet Manitoba for the Cottager Magazine.

Outside image of the cabin.

Front entrance of the cottage of the cottage.

Side view of the cottage

Nice outside image down the side of the cabin

We scanned old images of the cabin as it was originally.

Scanned image of original cabin.

Another scanned image of the cabin.

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Photojournalist images are basically unposed and unscripted or candid photos. We document events as they happen. Rules of composition are followed and we get to experiment a little too. As with every other part of your body of work, we capture creative and compelling images.

This is an area where experience helps. As the photographer you need to be in the right place at the right time. There are many instances where we just miss the shot. Every photographer has those moments.

The key is to follow the scene in front of you. During the day we take note of the types of interactions the main people at the wedding have with each other. We take note of those we should keep an eye on at the reception. Photojournalist photography is about anticipation. If you react – your too late.

Here are a few photojournalist images from Tammy and Jeffs wedding.

A cute shot of the reflection of the flower girl getting her hair done.

Important moments such as the bride having her tiara placed are important images to get in the morning.

We captured serveral images as Tammy's makeup was applied.

It`s fun to capture important family members as they arrive and get ready.

Somple ceremony image. Ceremonies can be a challenge. It`s important for the photographer to remember that the ceremony is an event to be documented and not interupted. We alway speak with whom ever is conducting the ceremony to find out any restrictions on photography during the service and a brief outline of the ceremony.

Closeup shot of the ring exchange.

The first dance.

We were having fun played with the shutter speed and got this image of people dancing.

We take several images during the cake cutting. We pose the hands and get an image just as the knife cuts the cake.

The other `must`image is of the bride and groom share the cake.

Bouquet and garter can be challenging. The photographer needs to have good timing. The low light conditions of most receptions can make capturing a proper exposure difficult.

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What Is A Histogram?

The histogram is one of the most useful tools in digital photography yet it is one of the least understood and utilized.  The histogram is one indication if you have a properly exposed image with good tonal representation.

A histogram, in terms of digital photography, is simply a graph that allows you to judge the brightness of an image.  It depicts the tonal range of an image.  You can think of the area under the graph as comprising all the pixels in your captured digital image.

The far left side represents 100% black pixels, how many “dark” pixels you have captured.  The right side, how many “bright” pixels you have captured, 100% white pixels, with all other tones spread in between.  Most scanning software, photo editing software, and digital cameras allow you to view an image’s histogram.  The example above shows a well-balanced histogram.  All of the tones are well represented.

What Should It Look Like

There is no perfect histogram.  If you take a shot with a lot of bright sky in it or a high key shot, your graph will be heavily weighted to the right side.  If your shot has a lot of shadow or low key shot, such as a night shot, then the graph will be weighted to the left.

See what’s in your frame and judge if the histogram looks in the ballpark.  If you shoot a white flag on a flag pole and the background is all bright sky and your graph does not go almost all the way to the right side, then there’s a good chance the shot is under exposed.  If you take a night shot and the graph is weighted to the left side then your histogram is one indication that your on the right track.  A heavily edited image can have a histogram with a lot of skinny spikes or lines going from top to bottom.

You can see the histogram in Adobe Elements.  Look under ‘Window’ and you will see ‘Histogram’ as an option and Adobe will open a panel with the histogram.  You can also see it in the ‘Levels’ adjustments.  Take note of what these look like for images you feel are properly exposed or that you have adjusted to look proper.  You will get a good idea what to look for when shooting if your camera will show you a histogram.

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Capturing the small details of your wedding is essential to your body of work. You’ve invested time and effort into choosing them and they should be captured creatively.

Tammy and Jeff’s portrait shoot was at Camp Morton just outside Gimli, MB and their wedding reception was held at the Riverton Community Hall in Riverton, MB. It’s a nice location.

Here are some of their details images from their wedding.

Simple wedding reception details are things you'll want to remember. While they may not images you'll need to print and enlarge or include in your book, they are nice simple images people like sharing online.

The colour and and patterns made this shot of jelly beans in the glasses at their wedding reception.

Tammy and Jeff's program at their wedding reception.

Shooting just a stack of napkins is, well, boring. Filling the frame and coming down beside the napkins, I was able to get the lines and the colour.

Here we included several items of their sign in table from their wedding reception.

Capturing images of the details at a wedding reception can take from 5 to 20 minutes depending on the amount of details are available to capture. Wedding photography is enjoyable as a photographer because we get to shoot different types of photography in one day - Portraits, things and candids of people having fun.

A nice close up of flowers. It's nice to fill the frame with flowers and catch the detail.

We capture various images of the wedding cake to get all the detail. The tractor decoration was cute and I had to get an image of it.

Most guests will just take a quick shot of the whole cake. There was a lot of detail to their cake and were able to capture it all.

Capture important personal details such as a remembrance table for those no longer here to celebrate.

We capture multiple ring shots. We do some with the rings on the fingers and some using items from the wedding such as the brides flowers.

And I'll still ask you to smile

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The portrait shoot was at Camp Morton near Gimli, MB. Gimli and the Interlake has some amazing spots for portraits. We get to shoot in the area often and have great times.

Here’s a few images from their portrait session.

A cute portrait of Tammy and her son.

Bride and groom walking at Camp Morton.

bride and groom at Camp Morton

Large group portrait

Cute shot of the kids.

Tammy and her daughter

A cute posterized image of Tammy on a motor cycle

Props and vehicles are fun to use in our wedding photos.

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It’s a nice park near the Forks on Waterfront DR near Bannatyne. If you looking for good portrait location you can’t go wrong. The area offers park and urban locations.

Here are few images from that portrait session.

Portrait at Stephen Juba Park in Winnipeg, MB

You can get some urban and park portraits in this location.

We did a few variations with Tara and Collin.

They are a cute couple.

We had started at the Basilica in St.Boniface. I like this image of Christine, Sheena and Tara on the steps of the Basilica.

Family portrait on the lawn of the St.Boniface Basilica in Winnipeg, MB

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It’s a shoot we do after your wedding. This gives us an opportunity to visit places the wedding day schedule won’t allow. We can do some things that might get your dress a little dirty, which the wedding day won’t allow either.

One of the biggest advantages is we shoot after your wedding. You don’t have the pressures of the day – it’s over. You’ve already worked with us under the gun of the wedding day and we’ll have a good relationship. This lends itself to a relaxed session and great images added to your body of work.

We include a Trash the Dress Session Free in our wedding package so we get an opportunity have the shoot in your body of work.

Below is some images from Carolines Trash the Dress session in Beausejour manitoba.

We started with the red barn at her home in Beausejour Manitoba.

Portraits against this barn give the feel of rural Manitoba and makes for nice looking negative space.

We use similar techniques of building a shot slowly and capturing variations of poses and different angles.

Shooting on-location offer environmental objects to use. Anything that offers height or lines is great to use in the photography.

Only when you're fortunate enough to shoot a rural wedding or trash the dress, can the bride go shooting for the shoot.

A nice portrait by a window in an old shed.

A simple variation at the window. I like the many different looks from one location in the Trash the Dress session.

Trash the Dress is bride focused. We usually have the groom involved and dressed more casual. This session featured just Caroline.

Just having a little fun behind the camera. I like the control of the shallow depth of field and throwing the bride out of focus in the background.

We start to get into some shots that would not possible on the wedding day as it might get the brides wedding dress a little dirty.

I love the stream that runs threw her back yard.

I like the partial frame with the branch and leaves on the left side.

I like the hand pose in this profile portrait.

I like how her arms and hands are posed and the angle of her body, face and eyes.

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You have many editors you can pay for such and Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop, Apple Aperture, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and many others. These are powerful tools that can range from $100 to $400.

If you don’t want to shell out that kind of coin you can still get your hands on a great photo editor – FREE. Let’s look at 5 free photo editors.

Photoscape

http://www.photoscape.org –  Photoscape is packed with features. It includes a viewer, editor, and can create animated GIF’s, Batch edit, RAW conversion, stitch (combine) function and more.

The viewer is nothing fancy. You have a thumbnail view with a folder list plus a larger preview window and some basic image information such as the EXIF data. The viewer isn’t as nice to use as Googles Picasa, but it’ll get the job done and is simple and straight forward.

The editor is feature rich. You can apply many adjustments including auto adjustments, colour curves, levels and a range of filters from sharpening to noise reduction to some fun and creative filters. It has a full palette of brushes and tools.

The Batch Editor allows you to apply many of the functions available in the editor to multiple files at once. This includes frames, objects, text, color and tone adjustments, sharpening, resizing, and many of the effects.

Photoscape also includes a useful feature to batch rename files. This is a solid editor for most everyday users.

GIMP 2

http://www.gimp.org/.  Is an open source program and maybe the most powerful free image editing software out there. It is regularly compared to Adobe Photoshop and has the learning curve to match.

Being open source allows developers to improve it. GIMP has a large following of developers and users which means there are lots of useful plugins and tutorials to get the most out of it. You can find plugins the community creates at http://registry.gimp.org/. Installation of the plugins is simple; just down load the file and move it to C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\scripts.

GIMP has basic and advanced image editing and retouching tools including paint, drawing and selection tools, layers and channel support, selection masks, color adjustments, paths, etc. And it is compatible with tilt and pressure sensitive graphic editing tablets.

It does have some weakness. It lacks adjustment layers, actions, CMYK, HDR and 16-bit per channel color support and custom shapes. And unlike Adobe Photoshop there is no quality assurance and can be a little buggy. The interface is archaic looking and has floating panels which cannot be pinned.

GIMP, even with its flaws, is a very powerful editor which is playing in the same league as Adobe Photoshop. For a free open source piece of software is saying a lot.

Paint.NET

http://www.getpaint.net/ – but downloads from a mirrored host at http://www.dotpdn.com/downloads/pdn.html click the down load now on the right hand side.

Paint.NET started as a senior design college project aimed at producing a free alternative to Microsoft Paint in Windows and has developed into a feature-packed pixel-based image editor that has been compared to Corel Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Photoshop and GIMP. Plugins are available at http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/forum/7-plugins-publishing-only/.

It’s interface has a distinctive Photoshop look about it. Everything is laid out nicely and and first time users should have no problem finding their way around; and Paint.Net may be preferable to users who want a free editor that is expandable with plugins but are put off by GIMP’s clunky interface and it’s floating panels.

Like GIMP it has a lot of tools, features and filters for basic and creative editing. Oddly it is lacking a burn and dodge tool. Unlike Adobe, it does not have adjustment layers. You can apply your adjustments on duplicate layers but this is definitely not as powerful as Adobe Photoshop.

PhotoPlus SE

photoplus.en.softonic.com – PhotoPlus SE is the free version of Serif’s image editor.

It has a clean interface that looks like Photoshop. It’s feature rich and has a steep learning curve. Though it does have a nifty little feature – a ‘How To’ slide out panel on the left hand side of the editor.

While it is well designed and packed with features, unfortunately it is a free version of a pay software and some of the most useful tools are blocked – such as curves, levels and colour balance.

Just a heads up; when your finished editing an image, don’t ‘Save’ it – ‘Export’ it. You can Export into many different file formats but ‘Save’ only in their proprietary format.

Photo POS Pros

http://www.photopos.com/ – This is a powerful photo editor and its features work well. With a full range of tools and features you can do most basic and creative editing. Plus it has a community online at its website and some useful plugins.

However, its interface is a cluster. With as much as it can do, the clunky interface may increase the learning curve of new users. Photographers who are used to powerful editors such as Adobe Photoshop will find their way around fine but will be frustrated with the incoherent layout.

Overall a good editor that is worth checking out.

It’ll be useful to try out a few of these to find the photo editing software that’s right for you. These programs don’t quite live up to the paid programs. They don’t do layers and non-destructive editing as the paid for programs are campible. They do a good job but you are making small compromises to get a free editor.

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Below are few images from a quick wedding engagement session. I threw in a few wedding images to a show few more spot at the Manitoba Legislature. We will do a Legislature blog entry later on.

The steps outside the front doors of the Manitoba Legislature is a nice location.

The stone walls make for a nice background.

We stayed outside for this eSession.

A fun pose

Winnipeg wedding portrait inside the Manitoba Legislature building. This image is on the main floor behind the Grand Staircase.

A composite from a wedding at the Manitoba Legislature Building behind the Grand Staircase. This is made up from four separate images.

Wedding portrait in one of the hallways in the Manitoba Legislature building.

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As wedding photographers we have the opportunity to shoot portrait, photojournalism and things – all in the same day. The “things” I mentioned are the details and decorations of the wedding.

The details of your wedding is far from a trivial part of your body of work. A lot of thought and preparation went into them. Not only should we capture images of them, like everything else we shoot on your wedding day, they should be captured creatively.

In this image we captured a close up of the details in the dress

Here we arranged some of the accessories

Some more wedding accessories

Details shot of the guest book

Flower girl's flowers in a metal bucket.

Details of the tables at the reception are important. I love the old style boxes at the tables.

I love the boxes at the wedding reception. It added to the country feel of the reception.

Wedding cakes can have a lot of detail in them. We like to get in close and take several images of the detail.

Keeping with the rural feel of this their wedding reception, Caroline and Erik had a mock old fashioned bar set up. Their is a few portraits taken here in the previous post about their portraits

We like to use multiple elements from the wedding in single shots. Here we commonly use the flowers with the rings

More of an abstract - close up of shapes and patterns.

This image was taken to show the details of the wedding reception and the country theme

Instead of serving tradition cake at the reception they served pie! After most wedding receptions you'll find half eaten cake on the tables. I've yet to see any pie remain when it's served.

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When we shoot on location we get to work with the elements in the environment at the location. The following is from a family session a little while back at Old Pinawa Dam near Lac du Bonnet.

Old Pinawa Dam is a beautiful location and allowed us to place the family in a scene and include the wonderful surroundings.

Nice close up of the girls

Cute sepia tone portrait. It's a slight variation of the one above.

Here we included the rushing water at Old Pinawa Dam in this family portrait.

Family portrait on a trl at Old Pinawa Dam

A simple family portrait grouping st Old Pinawa Dam near Lac du Bonnet, MB

Mother and daughter at Old Pinawa Dam near Lac du Bonnet, MB

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As we’ve mentioned here before, the photojournalist images are an important part of the body of work for a clients wedding. Shooting  rural weddings give us an opportunity to get some very different photojournalist photography. In this case the wedding reception was in a large tent and the bride and groom had an old wooden bar set up.

Don't just take images straight on of what is happening. Your wedding photojournalist images must be creative. Here we have some fun with the composition and have the bride in the background applying her makeup.

Instead of taking an average side shot of the bride applying her makeup, the focus of this image is on her reflection in the mirror.

Details such as the brides dress being done up are important images to capture.

Here we have another important detail, the veil being attached.

When we shoot in a church sometimes the photographer will have some restrictions. Even if you don't - be respectful. Remember this isn't a photo session for the people involved, it's a formal event. We try to blend into the background and we don't move around a lot. Last thing we want is to have been a distraction for anyone.

During the portrait shoot, we will continue to shoot between setups while the wedding party interacts with each other. You can get emotional expressions you can't setup and pose. Here we have the groomsmen having some fun between shots.

One in a series of the bride and groom cutting the cake.

Fun dancing shot of the bride and a guest at her wedding.

They had an old fashion bar at their wedding. We sepia toned and added noise and blur in post.

A fun night photo of the tent. Use a tripod and bracket your shots.

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Hey Lac du Bonnet submitted a video for the HOT103 Manitobaville contest. If we win the $25 000 prize will be used for needed repairs on the arena. Please ‘Like’ it Youtube Here.

Lac du Bonnet is a great place to live, work and raise a family. It’s a four season playground and offers a lot fun for visitors.

We are proud to be part of this wonderful community

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Recently we had two experiences with data loss from computers that failed. One was one of our computers the other was a friend. The power supply unit (PSU) on one of our editing computers failed. No problem I thought – a $50 PSU and Bobs your uncle. Unfortunately it shorted the motherboard and took out the hard drive too. It was done. Really, really done. Our data loss was minimal; just a few designs I carelessly didn’t backup and had to re-create. We have backup and archive procedures in place.

Our friend, a photo enthusiast, didn’t have such an in-depth system and lost a lot of images. Not all but a lot.

Any digital information you want to keep should be backed up. What if your hard drive fails and you lose all your personal photos or personal documents and emails? If you’re a photographer, what if you lose all your images? Backup and archive is not expensive and you don’t need to be a tech expert.

Make a plan and stick to it. When you develop a plan to backup and archive your data you’re creating a system with redundancy. You want your data in a safe place, and particularly when you have a lot of data to store, preferably in multiple places.

You’ll want to consider the steps of your backup and storage plan. Consider what you’ll need to do to save and retrieve your data and how often the data needs to be retrieved, used or altered.

Let’s look at some basic personal and professional solutions.

Optical Backup

Optical backup is saving you data to disks – CD, DVD or Blue Ray. This has the advantage of being easy and cheap. All modern desktops or laptops come with a CD/DVD burner and software out of the box. If your storage requirements are minimal and you data is more long term archive that doesn’t need to be retrieved often this might work well for you.

The down side is you have multiple disks you have to store and catalog. Plus disk formats change and you could be in a position of having to save your data to a new media later. Think of data stored on 3.5″ floppies. If you store these in your home, your data is still vulnerable to anything that happens there – such as fire or children. This is not a good solution for photographers who save a lot of data. Retrieval will be too time consuming.

The Cloud

Cloud storage can be a better solution for most people. This is where you upload your files to an online company to store. This works well if you use a large reputable company. Windows Live with their Sky Drive and Google are two companies who offer free space. This works well if you are going to save emails, personal documents and a limited amount of photos. This has the added advantage of not being vulnerable to damage in your home.

You can also look at services such as Carbonite.com or AVG’s LiveKive included in their antivirus program which are pay for service. Carbonate specializes in data management and AVG offer security suites and a pretty good little, free, antivirus program.

You get a more storage space than the free options and unlike the free services which you have to manually upload; Carbonite runs in the background on your computer and automatically upload files as you work on your computer. This also allows to download files you need and transfer them to other computers.

The down side to cloud storage is the loss of control of your files. What if the company goes out of business? It’s happened before. I really have to discourage photographers from this solution for saving your photos for this reason. Plus the storage requirements and bandwidth to move a lot of image and/or video can increase cost.

External Drives

External hard drives are cheap and easy to use. They plug in via USB and run about $100-ish for a terabit (TB) of storage (about 1000 GB). You have choices here too. You can buy drives or software for drives that will automatically back up your hard drive and create a mirror of your hard drive. If your computer goes south you can load your files onto your new computer. External drives are small and portable too. And if you are a photographer, you can use these for long term storage of your images and store the drive somewhere safe.

Your Own Server

This is a good solution for photographers who store a lot of data and require frequent retrieval. You can organize your photo and video with more detail, information and control; which makes retrieval of specific images or types of images easier. The control and organization you get can improve you work flow.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is renting server space for hosting a website. You’ll need a domain (ie www.justforyouphotography.ca) which you register when you sign up. Hostpapa is a host provider that offers hosting and a free domain name for about $3.95 per month. The service has management software on the server to easily manage you files on the server and little technical knowledge is required. You don’t necessarily need to set up website, your just using it as your own cloud storage.

The downside is you still have some bandwidth and storage limits. An FTP client makes upload and downloading files faster and easier.

The solution you should use is different for everyone. You can use one type of storage such as burning to DVD or a combination. It’s not a question of if a drive will fail but when a drive will fail, so take steps to minimize data loss. Losing personal photos and documents is terrible and preventable. And there are many ways your data can be lost or damaged besides a computer failure.

Photographers who have a work flow should always have images they need stored in at least two places at all times; and this should be part of your work flow. It’s costly for your business to recover from a major data loss, and many don’t recover.

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First you will have awesome engagement photos to share with your friends and family. You can include these in a photo slideshow if you are displaying one at your wedding.

Second it gives you and us some time to get to know each other before the wedding day. You get see how we run a portrait session and when your happy with the results of your eSession you’ll be more confidant on your wedding day.

It’s useful to us to shoot you before the wedding day. We will have a better understanding of your abilities in front of the camera and which are your preferred angles and style.

We can also turn this into an Our Love Story eSession.

We recently had the opportunity to shoot an eSession with Jennifer and Daniel at Stephen Juba Park in Winnipeg, MB. They are a great couple and I had a lot of fun shooting their eSession.

We run our sessions pretty loose and fun.

Cute sepia toned image.

A nice simple pose with the family pet.

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A while back we had the pleasure of shooting Caroline and Erik’s wedding in Beausejour, MB. We’ll do several posts to detail their wedding (this is in additon to our normal Photo Tips).

A nice simple portrait. The red barn in the background was a nice addition to the portraits.

This image was taken during the portrait shoot in between setups. It's a nice shot of the groom and groomsmen, relaxed and just chatting. We used this aged look edited on several images in the portraits and the photojournalist work.

Some fun dancing images

This is more abstract with the multiple intersecting lines, including her right arm through her eyes.

I like in this image how the hands are nicely posed and her eyes and face follow the angle of his arm. The sepia tone took away distracting green grass and leaves in the distance behind them.

An intimate wedding portrait. Where she is looking leads the eye to the kiss on her shoulder.

Nice simple portrait

An example of a simple group set up.

Ring shots are fun. Here we did a simple hand pose with his hand under hers and about 90 degrees to each other. We have more ring shots in the upcoming "Details" entry on Caroline and Eriks Wedding. I put this one with the portraits as the rings are on them.

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Grand prizes is a $100 Visa Gift Card. The image with the most “likes” wins a $150 Portrait Package.

The theme for this contest is Negative Space.

We are looking for great examples of negative space. See our Photo Tips Blog on Negative Space for and explanation of negative space in photography.

It’s FREE and open to all. Have Fun!!!

How To Enter

• “Like” our Facebook Fan Page if you you’re not already a fan.
• Email us your negative space photo that you shot (jfyphoto@gmail.com) by August 18, 2011.
• Please include “Photo Contest” to the subject line of email submission.
• Get your Facebook friends to ‘Like‘ us and your photo.
• Our judge will choose their favourite image. That image wins a $100 Visa Gift Card.
• The image with the most “likes” wins a $150 Portrait Pckage.

Details

• Just For You Photography will not keep, sell, trade, ect your email or contact info
• Just For You Photography will only use the email address your photo was sent to contact the winner. We hate spam too!
• Your photos will only be used for this contest. Just For You Photography will not keep a copy or use your image for any reason but for this contest
• All images will be taken off our Facebook Page at the end of the contest
• Winner will be contacted via the email address the photo was submitted
• Visa Gift Card is in Canadian funds
• One entry per person
• Photo must in jpeg format
• Photo must be smaller than 1MB
• Photo must be received by or on August 18, 2011
• All images will be uploaded to our Facebook page on August 20, 2011
• Voting ends on August 27, 2011 and images will be removed
• No water mark with company names. Images can be water marked with personal name.
• Photos will be named with a number and your first name

Tips On How to Promote Your Image

• Update your status once in a while (share a link http://www.facebook.com/winnipeg.wedding.photography) that you have an image in a photo contest with instructions to like our page and your photo in the “Contest” album. Add the name of your photo. Don’t do this more than once a day. People don’t like to be bugged on facebook.
• Tag your photo with your name.
• Like your own photo
• Status update suggestion to promote your photo. Share As A Link our Facebook Page address and your image name.

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Even though the bride and groom are in silhouette in this wedding portrait, they're not the negative space - they're the subject. With the silhouette it's easy to see the shape and balance between the positive and negative space.

Let’s look at an aspect of photography that is fun to shoot – negative space.

The name can be deceiving, implying that there is something wrong with it or it should be kept to a minimum. Some of the most compelling images are made with creative use of negative space.

Positive space is your subject. Negative space is the space surrounding your subject.

Negative space can be used to enhance your subject or bring balance to an image. Look at your images and see the shape your subjects make and the shape of the negative space. You’ll start to see lines and shapes that will make you images more compelling.

Keep in mind both positive and negative exist in most images. Once you understand positive and negative space, you can manipulate your negative space to compliment your subject and add balance to your image.

Here in this newborn composite portrait, the negative space draws attention and compliments the subject - no other element exists in the image.

Here my daughters hands is the subject. The blue sky is the negative space. I like the shapes and lines in this image.

Similar image as the one above except this time her hands, in silhouette, is the negative space and the sunset is the subject. I like the similarities in each image - her hands predominantly featured in the foreground framing part of the image and the shapes and lines. The similar elements play a different role in each image.

This image at the beach in Lac du Bonnet, MB is what photographers most commonly associate with negative space, wide open and not much besides the subject. My little twist with this image is, placing the kids ride extremely close to the edge in the corner. All the open negative space leads you to it, then the subject is crowded by the physical corner of the image - adding some tension to what would normally be a peaceful image

Here the intersecting lines in this ally is the subject. The sky in the background is the negative space. Notice the lines and shapes the negative space make.

Here the negative space of the sky adds balance to this image. Both the positive and negative space exist in this image and each make interlocking shapes. Did you notice the arrow in the upper left hand corner?

In this abstract the sky acts as the negative space and the lines the power lines and light make is the subject. I placed the light almost half way up the image and broke the rule of thirds to add some tension in the image.

A cute shot of my son with his balloon.

Here my daughter is sitting on the dock in Lac du Bonnet, MB. Nice black and white image of her looking out at the water, which is the negative space. Made into B&W and added some digital noise in Adobe Lightroom.

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Shooting toddler portraits is fun. Toddlers can take little direction. You interact with them playfully to get them where you need them. They are expressive. They are safe to shoot as they’re cute subjects.

If you take them in studio and try some basic formal posing you’ll have limited time with children this age. Take them to a park or supply them some toys and capture the action. Grab their attention once in a while and you’ll get some great expressions and shots.

We shot their family portrait session in their yard in Riverton, MB. We let Jake play and looked for some basic portraits such as this head and shoulder portrait.

Children's faces are very expressive so capture them.

He's having a great time outside. We are capturing Jake in his natural environment and concentrating on exposure and composition.

I like the curiosity in this image and his face is framed nicely with the leaves.

A cute shot of Jake and his mom walking.

Here Jake and his dad are playing. Images such as this bring out expressions in both children and adults that's hard to recreate any other way. It's a nice portrait in their body of work.

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We shoot babies and newborns on either white or black. We used some simple props on this one and shot some great images.

Something that sets professional portraits apart from amateur or enthusiast images are the catch-lights in the eyes. Catch-lights are the studio lights reflection in the eyes. They should be off the black pupil.

Catch-lights can be of various sizes and shapes depending on the light shaper you use. And you’re not limited to just one catch-light in each eye. We’ll do a full article on this soon.

An example of an All My Parts display. This is intended to be a large wall display. Notice how the catch lights make the eyes pop.

Some simple flowers and a white background make for a nice newborn portrait.

A nice portrait of Lexi and a teddy bear. We originally shot on a white background but switched it in post.

A nice close up image the two of them. A long session for a newborn. I like the catch lights in Lexi's eyes and how they lead you across the frame.

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One simple tip for posing a larger group is to think of them in smaller groups. Photography is all about shapes and lines. Pose your group into smaller triangles and then do some minor tweaking to make your smaller groups into one larger group.

Here we broke the larger group into two smaller triangles. On the left and the right

Here still have them in two triangles. One small cluster on the right and then the ones on the branch and the girl hold the baby.

Near the end of the session we got this image. The could be tighter but they were great for a lot longer than we thought they would. We're still breaking them down into interlocking triangles.

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Instead of shooting the entire car in one shot, isolate individual parts. You'll appreciate the details of the car.

Oh, Henry Ford what would we have done without you. Well a lot as he didn’t invent the automobile;  Karl Benz is credited with inventing the modern automobile with an internal combustion engine. Henry Ford made mass large scale production really fast, efficient and successful by expanding on the assembly line idea in 1914. So fast that the production bottle necked at the paint and only Japan Black would dry fast enough.

“Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.” – Henry Ford.

This has nothing at all to do with photography. But cars have been significant in shaping our culture. We all enjoy cars and images of cars are hot! Photograph them when you can. People will check them out.

Shooting large objects, such as automobiles, can be a challenge.

An automobile has many parts. Start by isolating each detail. Fill your frame with different parts of the vehicle. This includes the inside too. You will appreciate the details and the curves. This will also help with the lighting as the shiny surfaces reflect a lot of light and might make it hard to get a proper exposure with the less reflective areas surrounding the vehicle.

Here I shot the right headlight and bumper of a new Ford Mustang. I positioned myself at the corner of the car.

Try to avoid just shooting the car straight on. Get yourself at an angle at one of the corners of the car. This will provide much more pleasing lines. You will also be showing two of the four side of the vehicle.

Using a car as a prop in portraits is fun. Getting your subjects interacting with their surrounding make for better portraits. You can use the vehicle in the background, foreground or have them interacting with the vehicle.

Change your camera angles. Try to get down low. Then take some images standing upright and shooting down slightly. See which ones you like better.

Nice detail of the headlight. With the owner detailing it in the image the viewer knows it's a well maintained vehicle. Tell a story with your images.

Set your camera to manual exposure and have the camera meter in spot.

Bracket your shots. With the reflective surface, hotspots might be unavoidable and with a series of shots you can combine them if necessary to get a good looking image.

Manually set your white balance. This will help you get accurate colour in your images. This will be of particular interest for people who have cars with custom paint jobs.

Watch your depth of field. Use blur to lead the viewer to the important part of the image.

I took this shot for the lines and colour. I was able to get some of the dash and steering wheel.

Think abstract. You have an object that has a lot of natural lines, patterns and colours. Take images that show off the lines, patterns and colours.

Big objects aren’t challenging to shoot. They can be shot on their own or used in portraits. People enjoy automobiles and vehicles are subjects people want to see.

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Here I isolated the mirror of a 1915 Case. This is a wedding image from a Winnipeg wedding with one of the bridesmaids decorating the car in the background.

An image from the same wedding as the bridal party leaves for the ceremony in the brides fathers' 1915 Case. In post I converted to black and white, added some noise and applied a slight blur.

A nice wedding engagement session image with their Dodge Charger.

From the same eSession - here, if you noticed the car at all, the car is a nice addition to the background.

A nice wedding image at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg Manitoba. While I'm not a big fan of spot colour - it works here.

A wedding composite portrait of the bride and groom in a hubcap from an old Mercury.

This concept is from a, from what I remember a Ford, commercial. Nice wedding image the clients really enjoyed.

A nice wedding portrait of the Grooms side an old muscle car. I should know this, and I want to say a Challenger but I think the Challenger has two lights each side. Email me if you know.

The flower girl and ring barer on an old Ford truck.

Remember that 1915 Case. Here the bride and groom are reflected in the back of the headlamp.

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Our Love Story Video is a fun interview, conducted before your wedding, where you can tell your story; how you met, how he proposed, communicate each other strengths and say how you feel. Preserve this moment in time – for all time.

We can include your engagement photos and your personal photos and video with each other.

Share it online or at your wedding with your friends and family. Includes one copy on DVD with customized jewel case.

We can include a slide show with your engagement images or insert them throughout the video production. Show your Our Love Story Video at your wedding!

Come to us for your engagement and wedding done with style.

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