The Documentary Photographer » Wedding Photojournalism

Lapland Wedding – Day 4: The 3200

Roger Overall — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 10:28:06 +0000

Yesterday I was in uncharted waters, far outside my comfort zone.

Lapland is a dim place this time of year. It is even dimmer when it’s overcast. And that dimness only lasts for six hours or so. Otherwise it is dark.

Inside, things are only marginally better. Lights are mostly of the low-power tungsten variety. They are intended to glow rather than illuminate.

For an ambient light photographer, that makes things tricky.

I was in a world of 1/20th at f/1.8.

And that at ISO3200 or 6400.

If you’re a photographer, you’ll know that those are numbers to make you go unstable at the knees. If you’re not a photographer, curl up in a ball on the floor and roll around for ten minutes whimpering, “Mummy, Mummy, Mummy.” That’ll give you an idea of the horror those numbers represent.

The angels on my shoulder

A decade ago, I would have had to bite the bullet and photograph the wedding using flash.

I hate flash for documentary work. It produces photographs that bear no resemblance to what things looked like.

This was a dark wedding. The photographs had to show that.

Digital camera technology has progressed dramatically, though. While I can’t say the three cameras I had available to me are entirely comfortable at ISO3200, they did their job. In one instance, beyond what I felt was possible. That’s a post for another day. For now, it is enough to say that as yesterday’s murkiness enveloped me I was in good company.

Here is a quick selection of files that I worked on last night while backing up all of the files on to two separate drives. They are rough cuts and there is an imbalance in the coverage of the day. I’ll post a more complete set when I get back to Ireland. For now, these will give you a flavour of the day.

There weren

The groom and his son getting their ties on © Roger Overall 2011

The two stars of the day. That

Talk about practical. A torch mounted in a lipstick applicator to help overcome the murkiness in the cabin © Roger Overall 2011

When this happened, my mind just went,

Natural grace and poise. I couldn

When luck meets the prepared, special things happen. I

Flash would have ruined this © Roger Overall 2011

The final act of the day was the release of about 30 of these lanterns © Roger Overall 2011

Mirror Image

Roger Overall — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:18:38 +0000

Here’s a confession. Motorized machines don’t really interest me. When men huddle together to talk about cars at parties, I’m lost. I watch Top Gear and can distinguish correctly the front end of a car from the back at least nine times out of ten, but that’s as far as it goes.*

Motorcycles leave me even colder. This is good news, as it means my mid-life crisis is unlikely to morph into a desire to dress up like a Rolling Stones roadie and straddle a chrome-encrusted noise factory so low slung that my rear end is barely four inches off the tarmac.

Not all men are so lucky. Earlier this year a crowd of bike enthusiasts gathered outside the Brehon hotel in Killarney for some kind of bikefest. Regrettably, it coincided with the reception of the wedding I was photographing. My eyes are still hurting at the sight of so much middle-aged blubber oozing out from under tight T-shirts and over the waists of even tighter leather slacks. And everyone walking about as if they’d scalp you if you glanced at them the wrong way. That’s a hard look to pull off when you are so clearly a purchasing clerk, or an accountant, or an insurance broker, or whatever office-imprisoned dullard in real life. Do honest-to-God warriors of the road really have Gold Member credit cards and rooms in four-star hotels?

As for the noise – it was like being punched in the ear. What is the point of riding something so loud it makes the flower girls cry?

The only redeeming feature of the bikes parked outside the hotel (if you discount the release of dopamine and adrenalin from laughing so much at the sight of a ‘Goldwing’, surely the most comedic bicycle ever built) was the fact that the occasional mirror allowed me to produce an interesting take on the wedding reception.**

This photograph was harder to take than it looks as I had to contort my body to get the right angle. In the end, I had to crop a little of the mirror (and myself) out of the frame. (c) Roger Overall 2011

*That said, I did enjoy touring the surrounds of Arles in July in a classic Porsche 911. Though this was likely more to do with the friendly and engaging company, the endless talk about photography, and the availability of good food and wine at the end of each ride than with the car itself.

**Don’t even think about suggesting what a great photograph it would have made to get the bride and groom to go on a bike.

Stepping Back

Roger Overall — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:23:24 +0000

This year has been a very important one for me in terms of my style. I’ve found myself stepping back a lot more.

Often, as photographers we tend to concentrate on a detail. We like to isolate particular things, actions or people. In this instance, I could have stepped in and filled the frame with the groom editing his speech. I could have gone even further and just photographed the pen in his hand writing on the paper. That would have been a very limited story, though. By stepping back, and I mean way back and including the environment, the story expands. To me, this says something of the separation of bride and groom on the morning of their wedding.

Editing (c) Roger Overall 2011

Airborne Flower Girl

Roger Overall — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:49:10 +0000

My reflection on this year’s main wedding season continues with this photograph taken just before the bride and groom were announced into the dining room at a wedding celebration in Co Waterford.

Airborne Flower Girl (c) Roger Overall 2011

Tight Fit

Roger Overall — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:16:52 +0000

While weddings take place year round, they do tend to be clustered between the months of April to September – a period that I would consider ‘the season’. This year, the wedding season ended a little earlier than normal for me. Last Friday, in fact. It was a bit of a landmark, as it was likely the last full wedding season I’ll photograph. I will be taking wedding assignments next year, but I won’t be booking a full season. From 2013 onwards, I will photograph only a very limited number of weddings each year. I’m thinking possibly five or six.

In the meantime, there is this year’s season to reflect on. To mark it, I’ll be posting a wedding picture a day for all of this week.

Here’s today’s offering:

Page Boy And Hat (c) Roger Overall 2011

Not Quite Wide Enough

Roger Overall — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:16:21 +0000

My two favourite focal lengths on my 35mm cameras are 50mm and 24mm. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to choose a single one to live out my days with, I would likely choose the 24mm. At the moment, anyhow. Ask me again next week and you might get a different answer.

I would choose the 24mm because I like to show context in my photographs. Rather than zoom in on a detail, I prefer to step back and show the surrounding story. It also allows me to show multiple worlds in a single frame, something that is much harder with a 50mm lens.

Sometimes, though, 24mm isn’t quite wide enough. For the picture below, I would have loved a little more, pressed up against the corridor wall as I was. Almost a great photograph.

Anatomy Of A Wedding Day #13 – Kristel & Bernard

Roger Overall — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 22:03:46 +0000

I photographed six weddings between 10th December and 10th January. My busiest Christmas period ever. Exhausting, but very satisfying as well.

One thing I would like to do here is give a big, public thank you to Mike Hutt of Aquarius Photography and Con Scanlon of Anvil Studios, both of whom loaned me cameras last month when my second body had to go for urgent repair.

Mike also loaned me his Canon 50mm f/1.2 lens. This lens generally gets a bad press.

Let me give you a mini-review based on my own experience:

O. M. G.

If I decide to stay with Canon as my main camera system I shall buy one.

Meanwhile, the busy Christmas period means lots of photographs to show and discuss.

I like a reflection, as regular readers already know. I also like to capture my subject in a splash of light. If I can get both: happy days! I set the exposure for the pool of light and waited for the groom to appear. Then it was down to luck. The groom appeared fixing his collar, which adds story to the photograph. Only afterwards did I really notice all the triangles and sharp corners in the frame, which I think really enhance it. I also like the shadow on the wall on the right. It adds a quirkiness. (c) Roger Overall 2010

For the bride and her entourage, wedding day clothes are a big deal. Much less so for the guys. In fact, I went out and bought a new pair of shoes on the morning of my own wedding. So it's not uncommon for the lads to be putting on their suits on the day and only then notice various tags that need attention. Teeth, bread knives, scissors - anything will do, really. In addition, the clock gives us a time check that adds some a chronological anchor. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Women are amazing. They know everything about clothes. Even men's clothes. More impressive still is that this is the bride. To me, this picture tells an awful lot about Kristel. She is calm, authoritative and has the respect of others. The kind of person you go to with a problem you need help with. She is cool when others might feel pressure and accommodating when others might not be (this is the morning of her wedding, don't forget). (c) Roger Overall 2010

What can I say? Flower girls just melt your heart every time. From a documentary photographer's point of view, they are the best invention ever. (c) Roger Overall 2010

A fluke. He looks as if he is holding the door open. Yet if he were, he'd be about eight feet tall, or have arms of similar length. There is something Escheresque about this picture that appeals to me, though at the time I was merely concentrating on his gesture. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Wedding guests often go off into their own little microcosms that are worth keeping an eye on. The father and his child are in a bubble of their own. A lovely moment amidst the bustle. I saw the interaction and decided to stand face-on to them, placing them at the edge of the frame, where your eye comes to rest. Then it was a case of waiting for the right moment. (c) Roger Overall 2010

The most story is often in the smallest gestures. (c) Roger Overall 2010

You don't need to be standing right on top of the bride and groom to tell the best story. By stepping back, you give context and something for your eye to dwell on. (c) Roger Overall 2010

I find getting a good shot on the receiving line is either dead easy or absurdly hard. Ideally, I look for interaction between both the bride and groom and their guests. Sometimes, it just isn't working for me and I can't seem to get it. A cluttered line of sight is most often the problem. Here, though, there was plenty of space in which to move and free up my view. (c) Roger Overall 2010

A light shining above a group of talking people is always a promising situation. Especially if they are enjoying themselves. One of them is bound to throw their head back in laughter, illuminating their face. (c) Roger Overall 2010

It is comparatively rare to see the groom discussing his ring with his friends. For a shot like this, in a crowded room, I like to get close. Often you blend in better by standing nearby, particularly in small spaces with lots of people. Groups talking amongst themselves rarely pay much heed to anything outside their circle. (c) Roger Overall 2010

It's a long day for children. (c) Roger Overall 2010

This is a very special photograph for me. Not only does it show a terrific moment, but it shows two brides whose weddings I've photographed embracing. (c) Roger Overall 2010

The area around seating plans is always a rich hunting ground for documentary photographers. I was able to get an elevated view on some stairs and then simply waited to see what happened. (c) Roger Overall 2010

I spent a lot of the time over the Christmas holiday period shooting at slow speeds at high ISO. Here, I was able to rest the camera on a railing, allowing a slowish shutter speed to get a hint of motion blur. The Canon 5DII autofocus is truly miserable so there was no hope of the camera locking on and holding focus as people walked towards me. Instead, I pre-focused and popped the shutter when someone walked into range. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Taken before the couple went into dinner, three things come together here: the reflection, the groom fiddling with his newly acquired ring and the bride's expression. It often happens on wedding days that the short time before the bride and groom go in to dinner is one of the few chances they have to chat to each other. I often hang back for a few minutes as these moments are usually full of photographs. I don't linger too long though. I don't want to intrude on this precious time together. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Anatomy Of A Wedding Day #12 – Carina & Julian

Roger Overall — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 23:11:03 +0000

The weather this year in Ireland has been exceptionally good. Even the autumn days have often been crisp and dry, with lots of sun. Usually it just rains.

I’m often asked about the best light for photography at weddings. There is no right answer really, just preferences.

On the one hand, overcast days provide nice, even light. No harsh shadows and for the most part easy exposures. Simply watch for the moments and you’re in business.

On the other hand, bright sunny days give you hard light, with very little in the way of transition between light and shadow areas. This is more difficult light, but it is much more exciting to work with as a documentary photographer. It gives you pools of light, it gives you back light, it gives you light reflecting off surfaces – plenty to play with.

Carina and Julian’s wedding day in Co. Kerry was one of those superb autumnal days with lots of magic light. Magic people too.

Here are some faves, with the occasional anecdote or caption.

Scene-setting photographs are important for wedding coverage. This is all about the autumnal colours of the reflective leaves. In addition, the rocks are integral to the location, as you'll see below. (c) Roger Overall 2010

White tie - you can't get classier. And hand-tied too. (c) Roger Overall 2010

The reaction from the guest on the far right is great and adds immensely to the photograph. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Two worlds. My favourite kind of photograph. (c) Roger Overall 2010

There is something heroic about the groom in this photograph. I was too close to include the top of his head and all of his hands, but that only adds to giving him a sense of being a man of substance - someone bigger than the frame. (c) Roger Overall 2010

An almost perfect photograph, foiled by the sloth of my 5DII. I anticipated the kiss, saw it coming, fired the shutter in advance to make up for its ridiculous shutter lag - but got there a nanosecond too early. Nevertheless, it still works as a photograph. Terrific light, story and cute flower girls. What more do you want? (c) Roger Overall 2010

This is my favourite photograph of the year so far. It has everything for me. The bride caught in the light as she walks down the aisle. Her husband-to-be watching her. The radiant smile on her face. This is why sunny days can be so thrilling for documentary wedding photographers. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Wedding ceremonies are still predominantly religious affairs in Ireland. The story here is in the gesture of the Christ figure, blessing and watching over the couple. Leaving the photograph in colour accentuates the statue as your eye is drawn to the red robe. (c) Roger Overall 2010

This kiss I did get. And it's the important one. And a reflection into the bargain. Lordy, I'm predictable. (c) Roger Overall 2010

If you’d like to hear what goes through a wedding photographer’s mind on a wedding day, I recorded a series of AudioBoos throughout the day. If you do listen to them, you’ll hear how Butter-Fingers had a scare early on in the day.

Listen!

Anatomy Of A Wedding Day #11 – Katie & Kevin

Roger Overall — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:42:47 +0000

I’ve been shooting a long-term documentary project behind the scenes at Fota Island Resort in Co. Cork – a great project to be doing. In the process, I’ve photographed three weddings from the hotel’s point of view.

A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to photograph a wedding from the bride and groom’s perspective at the resort.

Wonderful couple with a great group of guests. Lots of smiles and emotion. And a great rehearsed first dance.

Anatomy Of A Wedding Day #10 – Susie & David

Roger Overall — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:00:55 +0000

I’m principally a black-and-white sorta guy.

B/W suits the documentary approach. It’s practically part of the photojournalistic DNA.

And I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve explained to couples how colour can be a pretty distraction, whereas B/W makes you look at what is going on in a photograph.

That’s all good and well. To a point.

There is another thing about colour, though – something less often referred to.

It makes documentary work harder. For me at least. I can barely manage to juggle story, composition and light, let alone add in colour.

That said, and although I love B/W to bits, I do want to develop my colour eye.

I have a number of reasons for doing so.

1) We see the world in colour, so colour documentary photographs are that bit closer to the human experience of reality than B/W photographs.

2) If I want to grow as a documentary photographer, colour is a challenge that I will have to master.

So for this Anatomy Of A Wedding, I’ve selected colour photographs only.

Colour is easier when you have time to think about it, or when there aren't any people in the shot. That's why it's simple to shoot details in colour. You mustn't overdo it, though. Detail shots on their own rarely amount to genuine documentary photography. (c) Roger Overall 2010

This is where the groom was staying on the eve of the wedding. I could have just done a straight photograph of the house, but this struck me as more interesting. The photograph is anchored by the red of the front door, which gives your eyes somewhere to rest while your brain processes the image. (c) Roger Overall 2010

This is a very subtle image but it has loads of story. Firstly, there is the introspective look of the mother in the mirror as she watches her daughter get ready for her wedding. The second layer of story is that of generations - the older looking on, but also in life children are a reflection of their parents. What I wanted to convey here is the family link: daughter and mother are one. (c) Roger Overall 2010

I don't do many posed shots on a wedding day. Really I don't need to. This is just as much a portrait of the bride as a posed shot would have been. Here she's chatting while getting ready. (c) Roger Overall

Another quiet, contemplative photograph. If you didn't know better you'd think it was the best man looking at the groom and wondering how he'll handle himself when the big moment arrives. Actually, that's the groom looking on. Not a hint of nerves. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Here the red skin tones help draw your eye to the smiles and the hug. (c) Roger Overall 2010

This photograph is especially moody in B/W. However, in colour you get a sense of the season thanks to the foliage on the trees. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Hmm. The skin tones are a bit red here - something you don't have to worry about in B/W. While artistic interpretation of a scene gives you some leeway, this wouldn't qualify. Were this selected for the final album, I'd reduce the red a smidge. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Colour photography is about compromise when you're faced with different light sources in the same shot. Here I've decided to give the couple's skin tones the preference, resulting in the daylight at the back of the church adding some blue to the yellow tungsten lights. It's not unpleasant. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Using a wide-angle lens allows you to include several stories at once. If you split the frame in half, you'd have two perfectly serviceable photographs. But included in the same frame, they add so much to each other, making for a true tableau photograph rich in story and context. (c) Roger Overall 2010

This doesn't work in B/W. You need the colour to show the warm tones from the lamp on the faces. (c) Roger Overall 2010

And this just wouldn't have worked in B/W at all. (c) Roger Overall