Florens - Shot In The Dark: Low-Light Techniques For Wedding And Portrait Photography

This book is dedicated to the memory of Bill Hurter, whose guidance, friendship, and influence on my career were immeasurable.

Copyright 2016 by Brett Florens.

All rights reserved.

All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted.

Author photograph by Samantha Lauren.

Published by:

Amherst Media, Inc., P.O. Box 586, Buffalo, N.Y. 14226, Fax: 716-874-4508

www.AmherstMedia.com

Publisher: Craig Alesse

Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins

Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Harvey Goldstein, Beth Alesse

Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth

Editorial Assistance from: Carey A. Miller, Sally Jarzab, John S. Loder

Business Manager: Adam Richards

Warehouse and Fulfillment Manager: Roger Singo

ISBN-13: 978-1-68203-010-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015953687

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher.

Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the authors experience and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Brett Florens launched his career as a photojournalist in 1992, while fulfilling national service obligations in his native South Africa. Since then, his devotion to photography has taken Brett from covering police riot squads to a highly successful career as a wedding, commercial, and fashion photographerwith long-standing clients such as Wonderbra, Playtex, Quiksilver, and Roxy. Recently, he received the distinction of being chosen as the representative Nikon Wedding Photographer, making him one of twelve photographers chosen worldwide as the best in their particular field. Brett is also the author of Brett Florens Guide to Photographing Weddings, Modern Bridal Photography Techniques, and One Wedding (all from Amherst Media). He currently travels extensively, shooting and hosting professional seminars. Visit www.brettflorens.com for more information on Brett or to check out the video companion to this book.

W e arrive at the bridal preparation room and start shooting details. My Nikon is F4 loaded with the 400 Superia. As Im shooting indoors with window light, Ill be able to get a shutter speed of around 1/125 second. Using my Nikon F90, loaded with the 400 ISO black & white film, I shoot the bridesmaids activities, as well as the ladies makeup being applied. The bride is now ready for her portraits. So far, I have shot twenty-two images of the details on the color roll, and now I need to change to the Fuji Reala because the skin tones look better than they do on the Fuji Superia. (The Reala, however, is prohibitively expensivehence the two types of film I am carrying). I dont want to waste the remaining fourteen frames on the Superia roll, though, so I manually rewind the film to just before the tongue is swallowed by the cassette and, before putting the partially used film into my pocket, make a mental note that I have shot twenty-two frames. I shoot around eighteen carefully lit and posed images on the Reala before repeating the process of manually rewinding the film and putting that one into my other pocket.

Oh my wordI get exhausted just remembering the rigmarole I had to go through!

Now its time to head off to the church, where I shoot some more photojournalist-styled images with the Nikon F90 camera and the Ilford black & white film. I have replaced the Reala with the partially used Superia roll. To advance the film to the correct place, I set my camera to manual, put it on the highest shutter speed and smallest aperture, then hold my hand in front of the lens to ensure no stray light enters the frame as I shoot off twenty-three frames (to ensure that I dont have any double exposures). I fire off the remaining thirteen images of the bride getting out of the car and take a portrait with her father. As I rush into the church, I insert a new roll of Superia 400 as I need a high ISO for the low light inside the dark church. The ceremony goes well, with me shooting around thirty color images on the Superia 400 and fifteen black & white on the Ilford film. Done and dusted.

Images I1 and I2. I am fortunate to work with some great brands, including Enzoani gowns. These images are from a campaign I shot for them on the streets of Birmingham, in the UK. I loved combining the existing ambient light with the Lowel GL1. As you can see from the behind-the-scenes image, I had the GL1 mounted on a monopod and elevated to give a very theatrical spotlight feel. This light can be focused, and here I opted to have a narrow beam isolating the model. As a tungsten-balanced light source, it tied in very well with the light bulb that was in the doorway behind her (more on color balance in chapter 4). It wasnt intentional, but I like the shadow of the person inside the room; it adds a narrative to the image and gives us the impression that the bride is taking a moment for herself out of the receptiontime to reflect on the events of the day.