A cellphone pic from our beach. #nofilter

Wow. Almost half of 2014 has just flown by.

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind of weddings, engagement sessions, and other photo projects.

Some of you might already know, but Carina (she wouldn’t write this but she’s not writing this, so I can say it) recently finished almost 2 years of college wrapped up in one, in addition to being a full time photographer, all the while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

You might say I’m a teeny bit proud of the woman I’m lucky enough to call my wife.

This past weekend, we had a chance to take a bit of a breather so we drove to “our secret beach.” It’s a beach near where I grew up, that’s all I’ll say. (The locals try and keep it a secret, so I wouldn’t want to spoil it for them).

We picnicked and sat out in the sun. We talked about a lot of things that had nothing to do with photography, such as the enigma that is a Japanese mochi.

Inevitably though, this isn’t just a job – it’s our passion. We sat down and looked back at where we were 6 months ago, and the goals we had then.

-To continue getting our work published. So far, so good!
- To do “more styled shoots.” Hmmm, this has definitely changed. I think we’re not as into doing “more,” we just want to do one or two really amazing ones!! And it’s happening!
- Our branding has gotten a little more ironed out, thanks to help from a designer!
- Do more things that cause us to get excited about our business. Does eating a whole box of Japanese mochi at the beach count? No? If not, maybe flying to California and doing a workshop with Erich McVey does? Or shooting like 90% of a wedding on film? #thathappened

These were our goals and so far, we can’t begin to express how thankful we are to be meeting them head on and accomplishing them. We’re living our dream and it’s not always easy, but it’s definitely worth it to us. Our biggest blessings have been our couples this year. You guys can’t imagine how thankful we are to know you.
It’s such an amazing feeling to meet someone and for them to say to you, in other words, “Yes, I’m going to trust you with the telling of the visual story of the most sacred, most important day of our lives to our children and grandchildren.” To the couples whose weddings we’ve photographed thus far in 2014- Xi and Wesley, Kim and Brian, Emily and Jason, Kelsi and Michael, and Joy and Brian – each of your weddings was such a joy to document and we can’t thank you enough for the opportunity.

That said, we have some mid-year goals we’d like to put out in the open for everyone to see. I guess putting it out there will give us less room to just “not” let it happen. We believe in prayer but love the old proverb, “Pray, but move your feet.” We’re putting it out there, too, because perhaps you might be just the one to help us achieve one of these goals! Okay, let’s be honest. None of our dreams would be possible without you guys. Every time someone asks us to take a photo of them, that’s them reaffirming our passion. We’ve limited this to “business goals,” just for the sake of keeping it short and sweet.

I have to thank Kat of Dear Sweetheart Events for putting her “DSE Bucket List” out for everyone to see, as it really inspired us to do the same.

1) We really want to shoot a wedding in Italy. Rome is the city where we honeymooned, and we loved it so much we went back the next year, and the year after that. Everything in the city practically glows; Roman photographers must not have an idea of what “bad light” is. Italy is the same way – it’s almost impossible to go wrong. Imagine a bride + groom being photographed in Italy… Now imagine a bride + groom on FILM in Italy… now we’re talking. Next year, we will be in Europe during the latter part of the summer. Like, it’s happening, no doubt about it. So if you’re planning a wedding in Rome or somewhere else in Italy for Summer 2015, please send us a message! Also places where we’d love to shoot a wedding: Germany (wir sprechen so wie so Deutsch, und ein bisschen Bayerisch auch), Greece, Austria, England, and France – we know with your help, we can make it happen! We actually just recently received an inquiry for Australia but were booked for another wedding. Still, what a great feeling just to be considered!!

2) There are still some amazing venues we’d love to shoot at in or near Virginia, too. We’d love to shoot a wedding at Pippin Hill, the Mill at Fine Creek, Keswick Hall, and the Clifton Inn. We’ve photographed at Keswick Vineyards, the Tide’s Inn, the Williamsburg Winery and the Inn at Warner Hall before, love all of these venues and would be absolutely thrilled to photograph more weddings there!

3) Get published in Southern Weddings. Hey, we can dream, right? We’d like to believe it’s going to happen someday.

4) Be featured on Style Me Pretty. This is happening!

5) Shoot more and more film. We love film so much that we don’t care that it costs an arm and a leg… it’s worth it. We’ve found it’s where our personalities, our style, and our photography skills just fit. Yes, it’s just a medium… but it’s our medium.

6) Attend a fine art wedding photography workshop. This is also happening!

7) Give back. We’d really like to be as much a blessing to others as so many are to us. Not only our clients, but other vendors, too. Almost every single person we’ve been blessed to work with leaves us feeling more blessed and better than before. We’d love to do and be the same way with other wedding professionals.
Also with photographers who might not be as far along in their journey – we love mentoring and offering opportunities for photographers to come learn whatever we can offer them. Their success becomes our success. We’ve been there before, ourselves, and know what it’s like… and we remember the people who helped us on our way.

We don’t expect all of these things to happen right away… or in 6 months… or even a year. Maybe some won’t happen at all. But none of these things are impossible. Now it’s out there for everyone to know and if it’s supposed to happen, it will. In the meantime, we will keep loving each other… keep living our dreams… and while we pray, we’ll move our feet.

xoxo Michael & Carina

PS. Thanks so much for reading. If you’re a photographer and this helped inspire you, please share one of your biggest goals or “the next big step” you’d like to take in your business in the comments below!

The post Moving Our Feet | Goals | Michael and Carina Photography appeared first on Virginia + Destination Fine Art Wedding Photographers.

We are so excited to announce something that we have been doing for the past several months and that have gotten popular without us blogging about or advertising a single session:

Skype Mentoring Sessions for Photographers!

Well, they are too much fun to keep secret any longer, and we’d love the opportunity to do more of them.

Over the past several months, we’ve connected with photographers from Conneticut to California via Skype. We’ve answered questions about film, guided photographers step-by-step and in real-time through our editing process, reviewed portfolios, and more, all without our clients leaving their living rooms.

It’s a relaxed atmosphere and so much fun. We don’t pretend to be know-it-alls; we just want to help and we share what has worked for us, and what hasn’t worked for us.

For about 2-3 hours we’re a completely open book.

After the mentoring session is over, we keep in touch and offer feedback on how you are putting what you’ve learned into practice.

For the 2-3 hour runtime, your investment is $300. Custom pricing is available for shorter (1 hour) Skype sessions but usually 3 hours is the ideal time frame.

All you need is a pen, paper, a list of your questions, a cup of coffee, and a Skype account (preferably with mic AND webcam).

Whether you want to talk all about film, or the business of shooting & sharing, we’re looking forward to hearing from you! For more info, feel free to write us at info@www.michaelandcarina.com.

xoxo Michael and Carina

PS. Read a review of a Skype mentoring session here!

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*disclaimer: film is just another photography medium, and doesn’t necessarily make you a better photographer. There are plenty of photographers out there who do not shoot with it and who are completely amazing just the same. This is for people interested in “trying” their hand at film.

When we talk with other photographers who are interested in shooting film but who haven’t yet taken the “leap” of trying it out yet, one thing that inevitably comes up is the cost of film.

It’s as if there’s an idea out there that to shoot film means you “have” to shoot medium format film with the magical unicorn of film cameras, the Contax 645.

Don’t get us wrong – we love our Contaxes. They’re the cameras we see ourselves shooting with for the rest of our lives, not only the rest of our careers.

But they are still, at the end of the day, just cameras..

Our romance is with film.

Film slows you down. Makes you think. It’s like going on a photoshoot with a few one-time-use, expensive memory cards that hold just a few images each.

The surprise of getting images back from the lab; the learning experience of trying a new scanner or a new film type.

The constraints and the abundance of creativity it yields.

And shooting film is more accessible than you think.

A few weeks ago, we bought a Canon Elan 7 off of Ebay for $75.00. There are tons of old cameras out there that are available for super affordable rates; Nikons, too. This one we were excited to try out because it actually works with all of our modern, professional Canon lenses (EF mount). That’s a $75.00 “full-frame,” 35mm camera. We ordered some 35mm film – Kodak Portra 400 and Fuji400h- but decided for our first experience with it, we were going to “rough it.”

We went to Walgreens. Yes, Walgreens. We went and bought a few of the old boxes of Fuji Superia 200 tucked away in their 1 hour photo.

Last week, we experimented with the camera. The lens we used was admittedly a Canon L lens, the 35mm 1.4, but we deliberately shot stopped down to f2 to imitate the constraints of the cheaper glass.

Even at Kim and Brian’s wedding rehearsal, where we were invited as guests (not as official photographers), one of us photographed on the Contax (the prettier one did, that is), and one of us photographed using the Elan 7. We metered using the in-camera meter for 64-100 (hint  - always err on the side of overexposing with film).

When we developed the drugstore Superia, we were tempted to send it into one of the best labs in the country… but opted to stay true to form and use Walgreens. Not that we would recommend it for professional work – it goes without saying that you get what you pay for and the scans from Walgreens are nothing compared to those from Richard Photo Lab – but for those of you who are new to film and just wanting to try it out, it’s definitely an affordable option! Wouldn’t you know it – our local Walgreens actually uses our favorite scanner – the fabled Frontier. Here are some of the results of our experiment!

All in all, it cost us around $110. The camera, the film (2 boxes), the processing – it only cost that much because we ordered two sets of prints from each roll. Walgreens prints… covered in scratches… not ideal. But using a better lab like Indie Film Lab, Film Box Lab, Photovision, or even Richard Photo Lab  would cost about the same as what we invested for processing, just without the prints. Definitely not something that’s un-achievable if you’re interested in film and want to push yourself creatively! After a while the cost does add up, but if you’re like us, it’s more than worth it for the satisfaction we get in our work (and of course you can factor it into your pricing too).

To all our friends who want to “dabble” in film, there’s no better time to start “dabbling..”

Keep shooting!

xoxo M & C

#buyfilmnotmegapixels

I went out to eat with my friend Justin, who balanced the Elan perfectly at 1/15th of a second at f2 to take this. The “white balance” of the artificial light of the restaurant is technically off, but not as bothersome or ugly as in a digital file. – M

The post Shooting Film on a Budget | 35mm film | Canon Elan 7 appeared first on Virginia + Destination Fine Art Wedding Photographers.

If you’d like to book us for a mentoring session, (where you can ask unlimited questions), we’re available in person or via Skype! Contact us for more info.

On average, how many images do you hand over for photo sessions and weddings?
Hi Kristen! It depends on the wedding, but an average amount is probably between 600-700 images for a full day wedding and about 100 for photo sessions.

I’d love to know more about your process regarding OCF during receptions? What’s your set up during that time? Do you use any diffusers on your off camera flash? Thanks!

Hello Lindsey! We love shooting with natural light, but unfortunately that isn’t always possible in receptions
(unless you’re comfortable with grainy/grainy black and white images – in which case go for it!). Flash to the rescue! We wrote a blog about how we utilize flash here. Sometimes we do use diffusors – we love our Wescott Rapidbox! It comes in handy especially when you cannot bounce the flash (like with dark ceilings) and is ridiculously easy to setup and break down. It depends on the situation. Personally, I (Mike) like the look of a bounced flash with a bare flash behind the subject as a rim light (as seen above, Canon 5d Mark III, 50mm 1.2 lens at f1.2, 2 Canon 600s, one on camera @1/32 bounced and one on a stand about 15 feet behind the subject @1/128). When we do use OCF we try to keep everything consistent by shooting “wide open” like we normally do.

I remember you sharing at the end of 2013 that one of your goals had been to “make it” as a photography team. I’d love to know how you jumped in and booked those first few weddings! Thanks – love your work!
Hi Allison, we kind of started from nothing in August 2012 when we moved to the USA. For a while, we didn’t get a single inquiry. To be completely honest, the first people who booked us found us on Craigslist. They didn’t pay a lot for us, but we did everything we could to make them feel that they did. Those first bookings yielded numerous referrals as a result, and so on, and so on… Over and over again, we’ve realized how important it is to treat your clients not just like “clients” but like people. We have paid for advertising and never received a single booking that way, except for one very small bridal show. Maybe it works better for other people. Most of our bookings come from either referrals or Google.
And thank you!

How did you begin with to get to know your cameras? I feel that there is so much I should know and try so that I lose my excitement soon. And there is a friends child I was asked to take photos from, but it feels a like a big task, although I know it is just for fun, can you give me some starter tips? =)
Sure thing, Maria! It’s important not to overwhelm yourself, and it’s easy to do – I know, I’ve been there. We’ve been there. Our solution was to give ourselves assignments with constraints (Tyler, if you’re reading this, this goes back to our conversation over dinner). Find something or someone you love shooting, take one camera, one lens, and take a series of portraits but limit yourself to 10 photos – that’s one example of a project where you’re limiting yourself and causing yourself to be more creative in the process. It causes you to think more about what you’re doing. You also usually end up discovering new ways of doing things that help you grow as a photographer. When it comes to shooting with people, if you need help, one of our favorite books might come in handy!

We don’t photograph children often, but we used to! (You probably know I (Mike) used to be a kindergarten teacher). One thing that is really important is to get on their level. Don’t just photograph them from above. Talk to them and get them comfortable on camera (if they are old enough to comprehend you), don’t feel like you have to jump into shooting. It helps if you try and see the world through their eyes and let them know you take them seriously. Be playful with them, especially younger children. Older children can be directed a bit more when it comes to posing, but it hardly ever works with younger children so why force it? Keep it light-hearted and easy-going and you should be fine!

hi michael & carina!! =) my question is: how did you start attracting brides in your business? what’s the best way to get WOM marketing going during slow spells if you shoot mostly portraits but would like to move to weddings? thanks so much!
Hi Paulina! There are a bunch of things you can do, but we’d say the first step is to figure out what type of client you’d like to attract. Who is your ideal client? Is your brand attractive to your ideal client? Once you figure that out, it’s easy to get in touch with a few clients by using social media – giveaways get a lot of attention. It doesn’t mean you have to give away a whole wedding- you could give away a “wedding planning kit” or a gift card to Starbucks. Once a client books you, just treat them like you’d want to be treated by your photographer. J

Hi friends! You knew this question would come from me : How do you get ALL of your images to look so consistent! No matter where the shoot is, what the subject looks like..it’s consistent! Your work is so beautiful!
Hello Katrina! Thanks so much – your feedback means the world to us! Shooting A LOT – even in “slow periods” helps you develop your own style. We have to remind ourselves of that just as much as anyone when we’re tempted to sit behind our computer all day answering emails or pinning on Pinterest boards. You should never be bored or complacent with your work, but even if you push yourself, shooting a lot just naturally helps you develop common threads of consistency in your work.
We also always look for the “perfect light” which helps our subjects glow.

Hey guys!! My dream is to shoot film and have it become part of my brand (still saving my pennies!). Hybrid shooting sounds really appealing to me and I love your work so much! Can you go over the benefits of being a hybrid shooter? I’m sure you’ve answered this before, but how often do you shoot film during a wedding and at what points throughout the day do you pull out your digital camera? One more!! How much extra are your expenses for one wedding since you’ve incorporated film vs. digital only…did you have to raise your prices? Thank y’all so much!
Shooting film can be expensive but it is SO worth it if it’s your passion. We just are happier and more satisfied with our work. Shooting a mix of film and digital naturally helps you save money, but that’s not the number one reason why we love it. Film is lovely, but that doesn’t mean “digital is dead.” Shooting digital in dark situations can really help where you’d be wringing your hands with most color films. That usually determines where we shoot film. If we want color images in dark situations, we use our digital cameras. In most situations where we can use natural light, we love shooting film. Our cost varies depending on how much film we shoot, but at the last wedding we photographed total film costs were well over $600 – and that’s nothing compared to some photographers we know. We shot film for a long time at a personal cost. We did this simply to become more experienced with it. If that’s really not an option for you, sometimes you might consider shooting with someone on a “test” basis, waiving the session fee and just charging the overhead for film instead. In September 2013 we changed our pricing structure to reflect the amount of film we shoot.

This is brilliant!!! First thank you sooo much for your time. Here’s my questions… What medium format film cameras would you recommend starting off with? What is the one thing you wish you knew when you first started shooting film? Lastly what kind of scanner do you like best? XxX
Hi there! We love our Contax 645s but they are hard to come by and/or very expensive. We hear great things about the Mamiya 645 and have personally shot with a Pentax 6×7. I wish I had known more how badly sunflare can affect a film negative. We once shot a whole test session on three rolls of film (luckily, as I said, it was a test session) and basically destroyed 2 of the rolls with too much sunflare. I also wish we had reached out to our developers personally early on for feedback. Be sure to reach out to your lab when you start shooting film, explain to them where you’re coming from, what you’re looking for… usually they are FULL of information and love helping! As for scanners, it depends on the film. We love the soft contrasts you can get with Portra 800 inside on a Noritsu scanner but we also love the deep, three-dimensional effect Frontier scanners have on Fuji400h outside:

Thank you guys for all of your great questions! We love interacting with y’all! We have a few blog posts in mind for the immediate future, but if there’s anything you’d like to see in more detail feel free to make a suggestion in the comment box below!

xoxo Michael & Carina

The post Mentoring | Photography Questions Answered | Michael and Carina Photography appeared first on Virginia + Destination Fine Art Wedding Photographers.

Dani is just amazing. She is a wife, a mom to a little girl and has plenty of experience under her belt. She has traveled the world to help people.
She knows about her strengths and her weaknesses and is eager to learn. She has big plans too: a new website, logo, more weddings and new off camera lighting techniques are on the list.

She has big plans and a big heart – we just know she will go big places! It makes us so happy to see that this industry is not all about competition, but about friendships and encouragement. We are so thankful to have a part in kickstarting Dani’s amazing business and finding a friend at the same time.

xoxo, Carina

shot on medium format film (Fuji 400H)

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Yesterday we asked followers on Facebook and Instagram to ask us your questions and promised we’d answer them today! So here goes… 

Contax 645 with our favorite lens, the Zeiss 80mm f2.0; fuji400h film developed by Richard Photo Lab

Britta asked: 
What are your favorite lenses to work with? Do you prefer film or digital?

Hi Britta! We love the mix of working with film and digital and the flexibility it gives us. Outside with plenty of natural light, we love shooting with film. Inside at a ballroom reception, we might shoot 1 or 2 rolls of Ilford 3200 film for a soft, grainy black and white look that evokes (at least to us) a sense of timelessness. That said, we love shooting digital inside with several speedlights to really capture the energy that erupts out on a dance floor. Being hybrid shooters really has its benefits. <3

Our favorite lens is definitely the 80mm f2 Zeiss lens on the Contax 645!

Amanda asked:
How do you save your photos to upload for facebook?

Oh, the love-hate relationships we’ve all experienced with how Facebook resizes images upon uploading, right? We use the same program we use for blogging to resize and sharpen our images: Blogstomp. It’s a wonderful addition to the photographer’s “spend less time at the desk, more time shooting” arsenal. Also a great way to get sharp images on Facebook is to resize them for Facebook and save them as a .png file in Photoshop. Photographer Trevor Dayley has a great article on uploading to Facebook on FStoppers.
We hope this helps! We know how much this can be a pain!

Elke asked:
Would you want come (back) to Germany to photograph the weddings of your old friends? 

Elke, without a doubt, yes! We’d be honored to! Send us an email so we can set up a Skype date! Let’s chat!

Serena wrote:
Hey you two! 
My question(s) is/are:
why did you move to the US and how did you start your own business in the states?
I am asking because I am going through the same right now and wonder how you got the attention of potential clients, how long it took, how you promoted yourselves, if you had a regular job in the beginning … since it is quite hard to get noticed in a big forest of photographers around here.
Looking forward to your reply!
Best wishes and lots of success,
Serena

Well, those are some fun ones! And what a sweet note, thank you! The short answer to why we moved back to the USA is because we could! Haha! Seriously though, we had started getting used to the idea of settling down in Germany when Carina’s greencard was finally approved – three years after we applied for it!
One of the conditions of accepting a greencard is having a US address, so we decided to give it a shot. We gave ourselves 3 months to see if we could make it… and we’re so blessed to still be here a year and a half later!
As far as when we first moved here, how we got the word out about ourselves… Well that’s the thing… aside from admittedly one or two Craigslist ads (there we admitted it, guilty), we reached out to other vendors and tried to help promote them as much as possible. Specifically vendors with a similar target market to our own. Reaching out to them and being genuine about it got us referrals.
The first clients we booked didn’t invest an arm and a leg in our services… but we tried our best to make them feel like they did.
You don’t need to drive yourself crazy trying to book more clients, trying to book more clients…
One bride led to five referrals here, another led to three referrals there… and it just went on from there.
Just get one client… and don’t concentrate on promoting yourself, concentrate on being a good photographer and a genuinely good person!
All you need is one client for you to treat as genuinely as possible… a client to go the extra mile for (which you want to do for all of them!)… underpromising, overdelivering..
And then you won’t need to promote yourself. They’ll take care of that for you.

John asked:
How do you deal with the following issues that could occur during engagement shoots/weddings:
1) Extreme difference in height between the two subjects.
2) harsh light
3) lack of light in a dark room or outside at night.

1. Some people might feel differently but we’re of the opinion that our clients are who they are… we accept them for it and embrace it! When you’re taking photos of a couple with a big difference in height, I’d probably say try less to worry about their height difference and more about composing in a manner complimentary to them!
Granted, poses where the couple is leaning over towards each other, a cute one where she’s on her tiptoes giving him a kiss, or where he is sitting and she’s leaning up against him, those are fine for some shots and put them on a pretty even ground. I’m guessing though they’re aware of their height difference! Imagine how unnatural it would seem if the couple was separated by several noticeable inches in height in real life… then, all of a sudden they look the same in photos where they are standing! Just go for natural, loving shots like you would with anyone else!
2. Easy answer is shoot film <3 We love shooting film in harsh light because of its dynamic range. But even with digital photography, there are some basics to shooting in harsh light that help photos stand out. And no, it doesn’t necessarily mean “FULL RETREAT! BACK TO OPEN SHADE, NOW!”

• Shoot with their backs to the sun to avoid squinty eyes and blown out details on the dress. Having the sun at their back also creates a nice highlight on their hair and shoulders. You might just want to put your lens hood on, though!
• If you can control the situation, such as during portraits at the wedding, it helps to look for natural reflectors (or bring your own for an assistant to hold). Some of our favorite natural reflectors are walls, cement walkways, sides of white delivery vans.
•  Shoot closeup, on a longer focal length, and with a shallow depth of field. Shooting a couple posing in harsh light on a 24mm focal length in the early afternoon might yield some interesting results, but put on a 135mm lens at f2, and get up close… and the subjects just glow!

3. Use some off camera flash! As photographers, it’s good to know what to do when it gets dark! Throwing a couple of speed lights up on stands helps you take control of the situation and will help your images stand out, too! If you don’t have a flash handy, you can always get creative with sparklers, streetlights, candles, etc… but if you’re a photographer, it’s a good idea to have at least one flash! Two or three is even better! Getting this action at the ballroom reception that night wouldn’t have been possible without flash.

Lina asked:
Questions about film.. I want to start shooting film. What camera would you recommend for a beginner, what printing lab and maybe some film roll suggestions?

Sounds exciting! YAAAY! We love it when photographers want to begin experimenting with film! It depends on what you shoot now, but the Canon Elan-7 for example would work with your Canon EF lenses, if you shoot Canon. The Canon AE-1 is older and takes FD mount lenses, (i.e., not current model Canon lenses), but it’s an amazing camera to work with and has a build quality that puts cameras today to shame. Also, it looks awesome.
If you’re just getting started, Kodak Portra 400 is a great option; Fuji400h is our favorite but a bit trickier when you’re exposing it. Indie Film Lab offers very competitive rates and Film Box Lab does an awesome job as well. Richard Photo Lab does amazing work and they have amazingly fast turnaround times, but they can be pricey.

Emma asked:
When you shoot film for an entire wedding, how many photos do they receive? Do you cull them?

Hi Emma, we definitely cull the images but we do find that the keeper rate is somehow much higher when the photos cost several dollars apiece to develop! Shooting film really forces you to think each time you press the shutter button. But of course, there are always still the odd photos of someone blinking, and those are removed in the culling process. In the end the couple usually receives several hundred photos.

Matoli asked:
 Do you and Carina also shoot digital during the wedding? Or solely film? If you shoot digital also, how do you make sure they look consistent with film images? Actions? Presets?

Hello Matoli! We shoot a mix of film and digital throughout the wedding. It begins mainly film, and then as the evening draws we rely more and more on our digital cameras. We also shoot a mix of film and digital even during the portraits though. We spent the better part of last year working on our own presets, but the best “film” preset we’ve found that also helps our workflow is the “Kodak Portra 400 Mastin Labs” preset for Lightroom 4. Our own presets reflect our favorite film more, Fuji400h. Although we hear Mastin Labs is coming out with a fuji400h preset soon…

We don’t just apply them and batch edit; we try and match the look of a digital image to a film image in similar light by opening a second window in Lightroom and basing our edit on the matching film scan.
Also, we really try to concentrate on giving the “film look” to images where we would also normally shoot film in a similar lighting situation. We don’t worry so much about matching every single detail of a dance shot where we use flash to how that would look with film, as we never shoot film with off camera flash. We still apply the same basic adjustments to said images, we just don’t try to painstakingly match them to images which don’t exist. We feel how we edit them is consistent for our look!

Kristine asked:
How do you go about getting your soft creamy, and classy look digitally?
We like to think a lot of getting the “soft” look digitally comes in camera and how you expose. Finding the right light and using natural reflectors helps you a long way, more than editing ever could! We like to expose for the shadows of our subjects, turn down highlights in post, push the blacks bar up (+++) and the contrast bar too when we’re editing.

This shot of Annika was taken on a 5D camera with a 50mm 1.2 lens and was shot wide open. Instead of a natural reflector we opted for the white side of our 3-in-1 reflector. 

We also shoot at relatively wide apertures, from f1.2 – f4 is where we stay. Finding the right background, such as where sunlight is coming in through the leaves, helps lend an image bokeh similar to shooting on medium format when shot wide open. More important than how you edit an image is definitely finding the right light. We love shooting on gravel paths for example, because they reflect light beautifully on to ours subjects faces!

Just keep shooting and while it’s easy to get distracted by others work and it’s good to be inspired, be sure to let your own creativity, your own clients and your own love of photography inspire you too!

–

Thank you guys so much for taking the time to ask us what was on your mind!

Please let us know if we missed anything! <3

Until next time,

xoxo Michael and Carina

Destination Wedding Photographers | Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers | Virginia Wedding Photographers

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Virginia Wedding Photographers | Destination Wedding Photographers

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Happy Tuesday, everyone!

We’ve recently completed editing Lindsay and Dylan’s wedding, and we’re eagerly awaiting their film scans to share with you.

We fell in LOVE with their dancing photos, and we thought we’d share a preview from their wedding.

We thought we’d also offer some insight into how we light most of the first dances we shoot.

Here’s a list of the equipment:

Canon 5D Mark II(s)

Canon 600 EXs (multiple)

Canon 35mm 1.4 L lens/ 50mm 1.2 L lens/ 135mm f2 L lens

Lightstand or an assistant 

Newlyweds

One thing to remember: we like to keep things simple and beautiful. This is how we light a first dance but there are definitely other ways too! This is what we like <3

Also – we love shooting film. Give us some natural light and we could shoot film all day.  Also, Ilford 3200 b+w film has a gorgeous, grainy look to it that captures dances well even in low light conditions.

That said, we like the flexibility of being hybrid shooters and being able to get clean, clear images with digital cameras when it gets dark.

ISO 1250, 135mm L lens at f2.5, 1/160 (remember to keep your shutter speed fast enough when using longer lenses to eliminate camera shake)

We start off by finding the correct exposure for the room, without flash, and then underexposing slightly so by using off camera lighting, we can put a moody spotlight on the couple.

This varies from setting to setting.

Then we take a test shot to find the correct exposure with bounce flash on camera, usually pointed at a nearby light surface such as a white wall.

Shooting with our flashes in manual mode is really important to us. A lot of photographers rely on ETTL mode, but we find we get more consistent results when we set everything manually.

Walls can easily be used like big softboxes if you bounce your flash correctly.

Also, remember to check the “zoom” of your flash. If you’re shooting with your flash set to 24mm but you have a 135mm lens on your camera, it might be why your results are looking wonky.

This also applies to bouncing your flash!

(Do be aware that “bouncing” might not always work, especially if you’re in a  venue with wooden walls and ceilings – bouncing off of these surfaces turns your photos red. Then it’s a good idea to have a trigger handy and to use a small umbrella.)

Next we sync up our on camera flash, the Canon 600 EX, with another off camera 600 EX.

The second flash is important. It’s creates a “rimlight” which defines / highlights the silhouette of the couple and helps bring them out from the background.

Have we mentioned how much we love the Canon 600 EX?

If for no other reason, it uses a radio sync transmission system that works flawlessly. Officially, the master flash can trigger the slave up to “98 feet,” but we’ve tested it across parking lots and gotten great results. No need for pocket wizards or any extra gear.

If you’re into keeping your life and gear list simplified when it comes to off camera flash, the 600EXs are for you!

The off camera 600 EX is either on a stand or being held by an assistant as seen in the position below.

Having an assistant is great because it means that you can move and have the light move with you accordingly.

We try and keep the flash at 2 or 10 o’clock to our 6. You can also try with the light at 12 o clock  and lower to the ground to wrap the light around your subject for a silhouette.

Our off camera flash is normally zoomed in to around 70mm. If you’re trying this technique and finding that the light is overpowering the background or wrapping around the subject too much, you might want to adjust the zoom or use a snoot modifier.

Our off camera flash usually starts off at half the power of our on camera flash, both of which we try and keep turned low for three reasons.

1. Conserve battery life

2. To increase recycle time

3. To be less noticeable

For the photos above, our on camera flash was at 1/32 and our off camera flash was at 1/64.

This doesn’t matter as much for black and white photos, but if the ambient light is really warm, gels can help your flashes match the color of the indoor lights.

That’s about it, except this: we try to really watch for our shots, so as not to cause a distraction.

If the couple has their back to you, it’s a good moment to take a break and hold off.

Choosing your shots carefully means you get more keepers, and it also means you’re less noticeable.

That’s about it! How do you light your receptions? Did this help you? Do you have any more questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

xoxo,

Michael and Carina

The post Lighting the First Dance Simplified | Off Camera Flash | Virginia Wedding Photographers appeared first on Virginia + Destination Fine Art Wedding Photographers.

The past spring we were looking for an assistant to come with us to weddings. Shooting as much film as we have been and carrying around so much gear, we really needed a helping hand.
We needed somebody we could trust and somebody we could have lots of fun with. Anthony was one of the first people to write us. We met and it clicked.

He is one of the most humble and motivated people we know. Plus, he seems to have magical memory powers; seriously, he always remembers where we put our lens caps! I guess you could call this patience-training?

Anthony is good at so many things. He is a passionate coach and teacher, he has a fantastic sense of style and he is incredibly talented when it comes to photography.
He has just been soaking all the experience and information up and is about to launch his own photography website! *proud moment*
We are super excited to see where is he going. Because he is going places. Big time.
Yeah, we pretty much love this guy and are happy to call him a friend.

xoxo, Michael & Carina

For Photographers: shot on Contax 645, Portra 400, developed by Richard Photo Lab (Frontier scan) at Newport News Park

Hampton Roads Wedding Photographers

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