Evolution of a Groom Portrait - using TTL metering by TriCoast...

[MyKey]

Well Cody and I just got back from a GREAT wedding in Cullman, Alabama. The groom's father and step-mother are professional photographers and old friends, so it truly was an honor to be a part of their AMAZING day.

When teaching Cody and I are ALWAYS asked (and even a time or two here on the forum) how do we or what do we meter when using TTL off camera lighting. So I wanted to show everyone the evolution of how we capture an image and how the below image took only two shots to capture without any light meter or manual light settings. All happened in a matter of about 10-15 seconds to capture usable image.

Fast - Effective - Portable - pretty much what we do all the time, hope it helps a little on how we capture our wedding images.


This image is my "Light Check" or "Light Meter" image - I simply and roughly pose the subjects where I want them, set my camera and wireless flash to what I think is needed then take the image.
Shutter Speed: 1/1000 of a second
f/stop: f/5.6 (due to the large group otherwise I would have shot at f/2.8)
Lens: Canon 15mm fisheye
Body: Canon 30D (yes my older but goody still works great)
Camera Mode: AV (A for Nikon People)
Metering Mode: Spot - metered on the grooms face being that is the key to the image
ISO: 125
Flash: +1 on the flash comp.


As you can see the sky is not where I want it - it is blown out somewhat and the light on the grooms face is too bright. So taking these factors to mind I made the following adjustments to the camera and flash settings, fine tuned the groomsmen to fill the image out as I saw it in my view finder then took the next image, which is Straight out of the Camera completely with no Photoshop or retouching on it.
Shutter Speed: 1/2000 of a second - removing ambient light therefore bringing in the clouds better, however STILL METERING ON THE SUBJECT NOT THE SKY
f/stop: f/5.6 - left it alone only change the shutter speed makes things easier and faster to adjust
ISO: 125
Flash: -1/3 on the flash comp.


Then wanting to edge it up some - yeah I might have gone a little far but you know what I love it and judging by the groom's face on the SOOC version and then watching him get excited when I told him what I wanted to do with the image I think he will enjoy this version as well. Of course the key is the SOOC image is strong so you can do anything you need to the image from basic retouching to edgy beyond this example.

Oh I removed the Fish effect using Photoshop if anyone was wondering why the two look slightly different.

The advantage of TTL metering is once you understand it you simply can get strong images faster than manually metering all on the go in a very fast paced situation of weddings and even other photography subjects such as Seniors/Grads, Children, Animals.

Hope it helps just trying to spread the love of TTL wireless flash metering :) heheheheh

[David Price]

I knew that............... a long time ago. Then I started complicating things. Thanks Mike for taking your time to go through this, I needed it.

Regards,
~dp

[Phanee]

Mike,

Thanks for sharing the knowledge and the shots. Very useful.

Phanee

[MyKey]

We have been swamped lately and I simply have not had time to post much less share anything, we are doing a webinar on TTL wireless flash tomorrow for Marathon Press so getting somethings together I wanted to take the time and share a little from recent sessions, since this artform is not what have you done for me, but more what have you done for me lately :)


Hope it was at least entertaining read!

[gmarblestone]

I like turtles

[toverman]

Thanks for sharing, Mike.

While there are times to take it slow when producing images, a wedding isn't one of them. Great tips!

[marcq]

thanks for the share mike... :)

[trac76002]

Thanks Mike.
Also, really enjoying the new book so far. Very informative and helpful!

[danchez]

what I really like about this particular image, I like how you shot from a low angle. It lifts the groom up above everyone else and really gives him separation from the background too. Excellent shot, thanks for sharing.

[ChristopherCoy]

Cody taught me the basics of this at After Dark. I started off getting shots of the 'model' as well as the background lit up. And through changing my settings one shot at a time, he showed me how to light and isolate the subject and get a dark background.

With just the short instructions that I got at After Dark, and the very small bit of information that I've been able to read thus far in the book, I was able to shoot an entire event using TTL flash. I used two SB800's on stands for the entire thing and was able to get some really good shots! I still need to refine and polish my TTL skills a whole hell of a lot, but between the AD instruction, and the book I'm definitely inspired!

Thanks Mike!

[Dobick]

Quick question -- with this wide of a scene (and with the sky occupying up to half) the normal mode of evaluative metering for TTL will not work, so are you doing a Flash lock reading, or is there some other trick that I should know to lock in the exposure so that the the sky and black suit dont influence the flash power?