Wedding Photography How To

Yesterday we demonstrated how to make better outdoor portraits by balancing ambient light with flash. Today’s lighting tutorial takes a different approach, explaining how to shoot indoor group portraits with a simple on-camera flash technique.

Photographing couples is an art form that should not be underestimated. Finding the right way to get two people, no matter how wellthey know each other, to pose and stay in a position worth shooting can be extremely difficult. Success requires the right combination of clear communication and dexterous shooting ability. That’s why it is so crucial for portrait and wedding photographers to follow a clear system in order to have time to both shoot classically-posed shots and fun, candid photos.

Sooner or later most photographers will receive the dreaded question: “Would you mind shooting our wedding?” If you’ve never taken on this daylong assignment, you may not realize how important and challenging it is. Be sure to watch this video before saying “yes.”

“My dad won a Nikon FM at a company-sponsored event when I was 12, and, the moment he handed the camera over to me, it was love at first sight,” Nels Akerlund recalls. Six months later, he’d built a darkroom in his basement and that love affair with photography has not abated. It carried him through the Rochester Institute of Technology, an internship with a White House photographer in the Reagan administration, and assignments for the National Geographic Society, The New York Times, and photo shoots worldwide. He shares this passion with his wife Anna, who is also his business partner and fellow shooter. Aside from weddings, Akerlund shoots architecture, food, small products, and of course portraits in his studio and on location. He and his wife operate a spacious, two-story, 2000-square-foot studio behind their home in Rockford, Illinois.

Mention the name Jerry Ghionis to any wedding photographer and you will immediately see respect and admiration in their eyes. Jerry shot to prominence by winning the International Wedding Album of the Year Award at Wedding Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) a record eight times and was also named by WPPI as one of the top five wedding photographers in the world. With a style that combines fashion, portraiture, and spontaneity, his work is instantly recognizable. Sought after by wedding clients from around the world, Jerry has expanded his base to become a wildly popular teacher and lecturer and now even a product developer. I even hear he does a mean karaoke but I’ve yet to witness that!

Lightroom is so jam-packed with features that it's easy to overlook a few powerful capabilities when devising your personal workflow. In the quick tutorial below you'll learn why one accomplished pro says, "The Calibration panel is "the best tool for editing photos quickly and beautifully," and today he demonstrates how easy it is to use.

So while many wedding photographers react to a situation to capture the beauty they might see, Scott Robert, as he’s known in the industry, feels that as a photographer who’s charging $10,000 or more, he’s got to knock it out of the park every single time, no matter what. So he became a director of brides, grooms, and situations.