Multiple Elements

    Every wedding has hundreds of elements that make it unique.  What makes a photo unique is combining these elements in a unique way.  I personally find photos that combine elements of a wedding to be more dynamic and appealing to the eye.  Of course this is subjective and doesn't always apply. 

    Two areas that I find really helpful to photograph using multiple elements are the bouquet and the cake.  I find it very hard to take a dynamic photo of just the cake alone.  I have the same dificulty with just a bouquet by itself.  Usually I will photograph the bouquet with the bride blurred out in the background.  When I photographer the cake I try to have another key element of the wedding out of focus in the back.

    To all you aspiring wedding photographers out there try combining multiple key elements of the wedding into some of your photographs.

    In this case I photographed the cake and included the head table in the background in order to add another dimension to the photo. 

Interaction

   Getting a couple to interact is a great way to get natural looking shots.  Have them embrace each other and joke with each other while focusing on something other than the camera.  All wedding photographers have different ways of getting couples to interact.  The easiest way for me to get natural interaction between couples it by using a long lens and shooting from far away.  That way the couple is less aware of the camera and the photos end up being more natural.

Cropping!

    Wedding photographers need to pay close attention to how photos are cropped.  Obviously we want to get the crop right in the camera.  But it doesn't always happen.  In those situations we as photographers must identify how we can improve a photo with cropping.

    The other thing that we need to consider is the crop dimensions.  Changing the dimensions of the crop can make or break a photo.  Often good wedding photos can be made amazing just by changing crop dimensions.  The crop dimensions I use most are 1x3, 1x2, 4x5 and 1x1.  There are no rules to cropping, its more of an art than a science.  The best advice I can give is don't be afraid to crop an image in any dimensions.  The final prints will have a bar at either the sides or the top.  I find it gives the image a classy touch.

    The photo below I took at a wedding here in Ottawa at Orchardview.  When I first looked at this image I almost went right past it.  Nothing stood out to me until I cropped it.

 

   Ottawa wedding photographer

The Wedding Location

    One thing I capture at every wedding is the location.  I want the bride and groom to remember where they got married.  Not just the name of the place but what it looked and felt like.  I want them to relive their wedding when they look at there pictures.  I always try to photograph the location when I get some down time at the wedding.  All wedding photographers need to pay attention to the overall location, and capture the location from a creative angle. 


    I find the best way to capture the location is by first taking a few wide angle shots that show the entire scene and then I focus in on the more interesting points that make the location unique.

    Below is a shot I took at Stanley's just outside Ottawa.  It was shot using mixed light.  The flash gave me the fine detail while hand holding the camera.

 

The Flowers

    As a wedding photographer one thing we must do is leave no stone unturned.  We must capture photos of everything that may have any meaning to a bride.  One of the most important details to capture is the bouquet.  The bouquet can be used in so many ways to create unique and captivating images.

    Any aspiring wedding photographers out there!  Don't forget the bouquet!  One of my favorite things to do is keep the bouquet in focus and have something or someone of significant meeting blurred out in the background.  This is done by using a wide open aperture and/or using a long focal length on your lens.

    This shot was take just outside Ottawa at Strathmere!  Great place to get married!

Wedding Photographers Equipment Part II

    Ok guys I have gotten some people expressing various opinions about a post a few weeks ago.  My article on photography equipment has sparked some debate.  The point a lot of people are saying is:  "Its not the equipment, its the photographer"

    My point is this.  If you give a wedding photographer a $1000 consumer grade camera body and a entry level kit lens, and he goes and shoots a wedding.  Then you take the same photographer and give him a $5000 body with all pro lenses, and shoots the same wedding taking the same identical photos, using the same exact settings.  The photos shot with the professional grade equipment will yeild nicer looking photos, better color, sharper images, less noise, among other things.

    At the same time I agree that a good photographer using consumer equipment will take better photos that a bad photographer using pro equipment.

The Ottawa Wedding Show

    The Ottawa wedding show was a huge success this season.  I have to give much credit to the awesome team of photographers who helped promote me at the show.  They're all very passionate about the business and was huge reflection on our success at the show!  Thanks so much guys!

    Anyone who is serious about becoming a professional wedding photographer should consider the Ottawa Wedding Show.  It is a great way to meet with brides and other wedding photographers.  See what people are up to.  Keep in mind that there is a lot of competition amoung the photographers.  This show had 25 photographers at it.  The key to success is pricing yourself approrpriatly based on your experience.  Figure out your market and target those brides.  Are you going for the budget weddings, the mid range weddings or the high end weddings?

    If you are thinking about booking at the next show as a wedding photographer, let me know and Ill give you some advice on what works and what doesn't at the show.

    If you are a bride I highly recomend attending the wedding shows, its a great chance to meet many photographers in a short amount of time. 

Focus your Photo

    One thing that is very important for wedding photographers to continuously work on is what they focus on.  Usually photographers are worried about what goes in the frame of the camera and pay no attention to what is in focus.  My advice to all you aspiring wedding photographers, focus on whats in focus.

    The photo below is a shot I took of a couple just as they got in the limo.  The success of this photo is totally because of its point of focus, in this case the champange glasses.  Just remember the viewers eye is drawn to whatever is in focus.

Tell a Wedding Story

   One thing that sets wedding photographers apart is their ability to tell a story with their pictures.  When a bride and groom look at their wedding albums they want to relive the day moment by moment.  As wedding photographers we must provide a series of images the help the bride and groom relive their wedding day in a story format.

    Bellow is a few images that are all tied together.  These pics are a small part of what would be considered "The Wedding Story".  For these shots I used a slower shutter speed and higher ISO to let in the ambient lights behind.  The flash gave me the sharp image.

 

Wedding Details

    One thing that is often overlooked or given less attention to at weddings is the detail shots.  Often times wedding photographers focus a lot on the bride and groom and much less on details of the wedding.  I don't know about you but I would want pics of every single detail right down to the decorations on the cake. 
  
    I began to realize the importance in detail shots last summer when I was showing a bride her pictures.  She was so excited to see a close-up photo of her rings, and the cake.  In my mind I was like..."uh its just a wedding cake..."  But when I thought about it... It was her wedding cake and that made the photo so special to her.  It was the last known record of her cake.  Of course it would mean a lot to her to have a nice picture of it.  Since then I pay close attention to details when I photograph weddings.

    Below is a detail photo I took last summer here in Ottawa.  I used an open aperture and mixed my flash with the available light to give a more natural look to the photo without the noise.  Without using flash I would have had a much noisier photo.

Compositing in Bridal Pictures!

    These days brides want more than just a pic straight out of the camera.  They want something more artistic, edgy, and different.  Typical straight out of the camera wedding pictures are a thing of the past.  All you photographers out there who want to shoot weddings, the best advice I can give is learn Photoshop and learn it well.  I spend the same amount of time shooting photos as I do editing them.

    Below is a photo I shot at a wedding in Orleans, this shot was taken during a prayer before dinner.  The Bride was pretty still for the shot so I was able to get a really sharp image.  What I did on this photo is I desaturated the wall behind her.  It was a nasty yellow color.  The easiest way to do this is by simply desaturating the yellows in Photoshop or Lightroom.  The next thing I did is added a second layer in Photoshop of a cracked window.  I used layer masks and blending modes to combine the two images into something I felt was pleasing to look at.

Traditional wedding photography still has its place!

    These days everyone is into candid wedding photography.  Everyone wants a candid wedding photographer.  And I can understand why!  But I do feel its important to capture some traditional shots at every wedding.  The older generations love these shots, and they are great for the coffee table.  Every wedding I shoot I do a formal photo shoot where I mix traditional wedding photography with some artistic studio wedding photography.   I always bring my studio lights to the wedding for these shots.  They give a very crisp clean look to the photos.

   Bellow are a couple traditional wedding photos I took last summer.  Both pictures were shot with identical lighting.  I used a 1600 watt studio light and mixed the lighting with available light.

Equipment Wedding Photographers MUST have!

Hey guys I have just added a new document to my website called "Equipment Wedding Photographers MUST have".  Its a great document to read over and use when shopping around for a photographer.  The reason I posted this document is because I have a problem with Ottawa photographers who charge high end prices and use low end equipment.  Consumer bodies, 3rd party lenses, consumer lenses...ect...  I work hard to purchase the best equipment out there and I feel that other photographers who are charging high end prices should do the same!  Don't get me wrong, there are lots of wedding photographers in Ottawa using great equipment, and I respect that!

If you are shooting with consumer grade equipment this isn't an attack on you!  I started with consumer equipment as did almost every other photographer.   But please price yourself fairly!  

The difference in picture quality between consumer grade and professional grade equipment is extremely noticeable.  Especially in low light situations!

Read over the papers on my wedding site to help you make a more educated decision on who will photograph your wedding!!!

Above is a photo of the equipment I use to shoot my weddings!

Sean and Sara's Wedding!

    Here is a couple shots from my friend's wedding last summer.  I wasn't the offical photographer for the wedding, I was a guest.  But these days its hard for me to attend a wedding and not take pictures.  I love my job so much, I can't get enough of it!

    This wedding took place here in Ottawa at golf club in the west end.  It was a great time!  Thanks a lot Sean and Sara!

Wedding photographers must have a steady hand!

    One essential aspect of great wedding photos, is sharpness.  A great photo almost always have one area of the photo that is tack sharp.  Sharpness is something that takes a lot of work to master.  There are a few things you can do to ensure a sharp photo.

1. Keep your shutter speed no slower that 1/(your focal length).  This rule can be broken when you have a tripod, use a flash, or have image stabilization on the lens.
2. Learn to use your auto focus points to ensure you have the desired area in focus.  
3. Use quality lenses.
4. Use walls, tables, chairs or anything you can find to support yourself.
5. Take a deep breath and release the shutter right before you exhale.
6. In low light use a flash or tripod to ensure sharp images.
7. For freezing motion, use faster shutter speeds, flash and focus on where your subject is going to be.
8. Learn to manual focus, there are times when manual focusing is the only way to get the shot.

This picture was taken at a wedding I shot at the Courtyard Restaurant here in Ottawa, last fall.  The sharpness of this photo is what gives the shot character.  You can see every detail in the subject.  For this shot I put my ISO up a bit to 400 and used a slower shutter around 1/30.  The aperture was set at 2.8 to blur the background.  I had to use a wider focal length to allow me to use such a slow shutter hand held.  To freeze any camera shake I bounced a flash off the ceiling at around 1/4 power.

To all you photographers out there make sure you pay close attention to image sharpness.
To all you shopping around for wedding photographers make sure you look for a photographer who produces consistently sharp images.    

The Art of Candid Wedding Photography!

    These days every bride in Ottawa wants a wedding photographer who shoots candid shots.  Candid wedding photographers need just as much knowledge in social dynamics as they do in technical photography.  Here are some things to keep in mind when shooting candid wedding photography.  These are guidelines not rules. 

1. Both eyes of the main subject should be showing.
2. The eye closest to the camera should be in focus.
3. The best expressions for wedding pictures are smiles and surprises.
4. The best candid shots are taken when the subject doesn't know you took a picture until after its taken.
5. Even the most serious of people will smile at some point during the wedding you need to predict that moment.
6. My favorite time to take candid shots is during the speeches.  Most people will give you tons of great expressions during speeches.
7. Use a telephoto lens so you can photograph people from far away.  You don't want the presence of your camera to ruin the moment you are trying to capture.
   

      The shot below was taken during the speeches at a wedding I did last summer here in Ottawa.  This shot was of the brides father.  I knew he would respond well to the brides speech no matter what she said, so as soon as she started talking I pointed the camera at him.  This shot was taken at 200mm at f3.2, shutter of 1/60 and iso 400.  I bounced my flash off the ceiling in order to compensate for the low light, give me a sharp image.

Spanish Wedding!

     Here are a couple shots I took from an Ottawa Spanish wedding I did a while ago.  I have to say ethnic weddings are awesome!  I always have a blast at these, and the food is always something new.  I'm also very interested in the various traditions that each culture has in their weddings.

    The location of this wedding was here in Ottawa but I'm not sure of the exact location.  These shots where from a while back.  (Since my blog is new I'm posting about older weddings and catching up.)

    The first shot I took the groom upstairs and just got him to pose for me. This shot I used a bit of fill flash to light the groom and the rest is all ambient like. I boosted my ISO a little and opened my aperture to get some background details. Afterwards I did some photoshop. First I cleaned up the shot, dodge and burned, his eyes, nose and mouth. Then I changed the ugly yellow, orange cast background to a sepia blue. I found it much more visually appealing.

    The second shot was just as the bride and flower girl were exiting the limo.  The shot was mostly available like with some fill flash to lighten the eyes.  I did very little photoshop on these two shots, just recovered some highlights and sharpened the image.

    Anyone who's doing wedding photography here in Ottawa, do more ethnic weddings... you will fall even more in love with your job....

Soon Ill post about the indian engagement party I just shot outside Ottawa, in Manotick...

It was a blast!!!

 

Another couple shots from when I used to assist.

    Another thing I learned when I used to assist other photographers, was the importance of photographing everything other than the bride and groom.  Don't get me wrong tons of bride and groom shots are essential.  But just as important are the shots of everything else.  Often when I was assisting weddings I would be sent out to take pictures of all the details and the guests.

    This was one of my original cake shots taken at a small wedding just outside Ottawa.  I closed the aperture a bit to get more of the cake in focus.  I also used flash to make up for the lost light.  Afterward I played with the colors a bit in Photoshop, sharpened some of the details and cleaned up the table cloth.  All bride and grooms want detail shots.  Make sure when photographing your weddings that you capture as much details as possible.

    This second shot is of one of the cutest kids I have ever seen.  The whole day she was full of energy bouncing off the walls.  She also had a huge fascination with my camera.  Whenever I would get low to take a shot she would come flying over in attempt to grab onto the camera.  This shot I just got low and took a pic as she came charging towards me.  This shot was taken in indirect day light with a little added flash.  The bright daylight allowed me to increase my shutter speed and freeze the photo, giving a sharp picture.

    Sometimes I miss my days of assisting...

 

  

Wanna be a wedding photographer?

    Anyone out there interested in becoming a wedding photographer? One thing I would recommend to anyone that is interested in shooting weddings, assist someone first. It’s a great way to try new things without any risk. You can learn a lot from assisting and it’s very low pressure.

    If your dream is to be a wedding photographer then there is plenty of room for you in the Ottawa wedding photography market. There is always room for new wedding photographers with passion. If your dream is to make lots of money and you want to shoot weddings obtain your dream, you will fail. Brides here in Ottawa are looking for wedding photographers who are passionate about shooting weddings. They want photographers who love what they do.

    Do you want to be a wedding photographer? If you have a serious interest in photographing weddings I would love to offer you any help and advice I can to help you make it happen. I believe competition in the Ottawa wedding photography business is a great thing. It forces photographers to continually better their skills and techniques. It pushes us to keep improving our product. The photographers with the most heart survive. Don't let anyone tell you there's no room for another wedding photographer in Ottawa.

    Below are a couple shots I took while assisting at weddings. The first shot was at the ceremony in the west end of Ottawa. This was taken using very minor fill flash from quite far away. I shot it using my 70-200mm lens. The light in the gazebo was indirect and quite soft, a quite flattering type of light. After I recovered a bit of highlights, played with the colors, dodge and burned and sharpened and blurred areas of the photo in Photoshop.

    The second shot was taken at the reception. This is one of my original dancing shots. I remember trying so hard to find a formula for getting crisp dancing shots with a well exposed background. This shot was taken at 24mm at 1/30th of a second, f2.8, ISO was somewhere around 400, and my flash was around 1/8th power. They were dancing very slowly so this helped a lot. If people are dancing faster I boost my ISO a bit and use a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion.

    Again, to anyone who is serious about becoming a wedding photographer in Ottawa, I would be happy to offer any help I can.

Yves and Rachelle's Wedding

     I remember this wedding very well because it was one of the hottest days of the summer in Ottawa. We were sweating bullets on this day. It was a great time though. The church was a beautiful cathedral in the heart of Ottawa (the name slips my mind). After the ceremony the bridal party all had bubbles and as the bride and groom exited they all showered them with bubbles. That's when I got the first shot. I got low so I could catch the sunlight shining through the bubbles. That is one of my favorite wedding shots in my portfolio.  

    The second shot was taken at the wedding reception in a banquet hall here in Ottawa (the name also slips my mind), these two were having a blast together and they made my job easy by just having fun together. This shot was totally candid. I had to put my ISO up a bit so I could increase my shutter speed to freeze the motion without getting too much motion blur. My aperture was open at 2.8 to let in as much ambient light as possible and then I used a flash at around 1/2 power to help freeze the motion more.

    Thanks Yves and Rachelle, I had a great time at your wedding!

   

Denise and Joel's Wedding

   

    I met Joel and Denise at Ottawa University back in 2003 and over the years we would bump in to each other here and there. Then one day Joel called and said "Hey dude we want you to shoot our wedding." I have to say it was an honor to cover their special day. Their wedding was definitely one of my most memorable! These are a couple of the best friends I have.

    I remember shooting this wedding using a lot of available light. I wanted the photos to look as natural as possible. I did use a little flash to fill some of the deep shadows, but mostly I went natural on this one.

    Of all the weddings I have done in Ottawa I have to say this is one I will never forget!

    Thanks guys and I look forward to hanging out soon!

My favorite shot from Adina's Wedding

  This shot was taken at my good friend Adina's wedding.  I had such a fun time that night.  I was their as a guest but assumed the role of photographer as the night went on.  I love shooting and these days I have a really hard time attending weddings without taking pictures.  I'm officially addicted to photographing weddings!!!

My camera settings for this shot were:  Shutter 1/25, F 2.8, ISO 400 @ 24mm on my 24-70mm F2.8

I bounced an on camera flash off the ceiling in order to freeze the motion and prevent the picture from blurring.

My Grandma

This is a shot I took of my grandma a few months ago. Oh man I love my grandma and her chili and spaghetti sauce is wicked!

My camera settings for this shot were: Shutter 1/200, F 4.5, ISO 100 and it was shot with my 70-200mm 2.8 IS at 200mm's.  The lighting was all available light.  We went in the shade for this shot because the light was pretty harsh that day...

Soon I'll introduce you guys to my other grandma.  She makes the the best cookies!

One of my Original Weddings!

Here is a shot from one of my original weddings that I shot back in the day! Shannon and Dwayne were a really fun and light hearted couple. They definitely made my job much easier. This wedding was at the Chateau Laurier, one of my favorite places to photograph weddings.

This shot was take with with a shutter speed of 1/50 at f 4.5 and ISO of 400. The focal length was 32 mm. I bounced the flash off the ceiling at about 1/4 power.


Now if I had to take this shot again I probably would put my settings at shutter 1/30 (to let in more background light) f 3.2 (to let in more ambient light) ISO would stay the same. And then I would have put my flash around 1/8 power to accound for the extra light reaching the sensor.

Welcome to my blog!

Hey everyone thanks for checking out my blog.

http://www.ryanparentphoto.com