Internationally renowned wedding photographer Brett Florens gives us the lowdown on capturing unforgettable images of this summer’s happy couples.

As summer approaches, the wedding season is in full swing. Whether you’ll be shooting for friends and family or you’ve been booked to shoot your first wedding professionally this season, here are some simple tips to help you make the most of the longer days and the available light.

Backlight

In a word, my first tip is Backlight! Backlighting is one of the most romantic forms of light that nature has to offer. It just lends itself to gorgeous, sensual imagery. Firstly, I make sure that my subjects always have their backs to the sun. This positioning ensures that the direct sunlight doesn’t fall on their faces resulting in harsh, unsightly shadows. Not having direct sunlight pouring onto them also reduces the risk of accentuating texture on their faces, which would show up bad skin. The correct exposure is the key here – as your camera’s metering system is accurate in assuming that there is a lot of light around, the usual result would be underexposed faces. Compensate by increasing the exposure using the EV compensation button. That usually does the trick. Don’t be afraid of a little bit of flare – creative use of light refracting into the lens could result in some great images.

Image © Brett Florens

Image © Brett Florens

Scrim or Diffuse

When shooting under harsh sunlight – which is often the case with summer weddings – an inexpensive scrim or diffuser can give you great results.  My suggestion is that you use a 5-in-1 system using the translucent fabric from the reflector to ‘shade’ your subject.  This has a great ‘soft box’ type of effect, eliminating the harsh effects of direct sunlight.  You may have to increase your exposure by around 1/3rd of a stop to compensate for the decreased amount of light landing on your subject.

Image © Brett Florens

Shooting in the Rain

Summer doesn’t necessarily guarantee perfect weather, but with a little thought and preparation you can still get great results under tricky conditions.  Try using your speedlights or off camera strobes to create the illusion of sunlight streaming into the image.  A bright LED video light may also help to create warm images with depth. To emulate a backlit effect, ask someone to hold the speedlight directly behind the subject – if you don’t have a helper or assistant, then use a light stand or perhaps a tripod.  By remotely triggering the speedlight or portable strobe, you can achieve some very romantic images that the bride and groom would never have thought possible in bad weather.

Image © Brett Florens

Shoot High and Wide

As summer generally brings improved weather conditions, the chance to move outdoors gives a feeling of space and freedom.  To capture this spacious mood, I suggest shooting from different angles of view.  A very simple but impressive trick is to use a monopod for elevation.  Attach your camera with a wide angle lens onto a monopod, activate the self-timer and simply elevate the camera.  Ask your subjects to look at the camera and wait for the camera to click – this achieves a stunning photograph at an angle not thought possible without a cherry picker.

Image © Brett Florens

Get Wet

With the warmer temperatures, there’s an opportunity to have a little summer fun.  Even if you’re a friend of the bridal couple rather than the official photographer, you can offer them a shoot that’s a little more daring.  The Nikon COOLPIX AW100 is a very inexpensive compact that is ideal for shooting underwater images.  Whether you shoot images of the couple completely underwater or just with the waves of the ocean crashing around them, these will be creative and dramatic images, rarely seen in a wedding album.  Clearly this shoot is not for the wedding day – the mother of the bride isn’t going to be too impressed with a wet dress!

Image © Brett Florens

Image © Brett Florens

Night Shooting

Summer also offers us temperatures mild enough to shoot images outside during the evening.  The technology of the latest DSLRs is amazing and has opened up so many opportunities that weren’t available during the days of film.  Look for great ambient lighting either from cafes, restaurants or street lighting.  An LED video light is sufficient to illuminate a couple.  Ask them to stand very still to create some really special images after dark.

Image © Brett Florens

Image © Brett Florens

To find out more about Brett Florens’ work, check out his website at www.brettflorens.com, where you’ll find instructional DVDs and his wedding workshop app available on iPad.  To learn from Brett in person, you can sign up for his London workshop in August, covering everything you need to know about photographing weddings – from composition, creativity, posing and lighting techniques through to successful marketing strategies and tips on how to improve on your own unique style to elevate your brand to new heights.

Have you found these tips useful? Have you got any of your own to add? Let us know by commenting below.

Write a comment

Death is never an easy subject to capture on film. Whether it’s about celebrating life or anticipating a world we cannot photograph, death is something few of us find comfortable to discuss, let alone experience and record.  But when Philip Gould – Labour peer and strategist – was facing death from oesophageal cancer last year, he wanted the world to know what it feels like to die.

Filmed during the last two weeks of Philip’s life, this intimate portrait reveals his quest to find purpose and meaning in what he called ‘The Death Zone’. After initially being diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and having periods of remission, he was finally given three months to live in the summer of 2011. Nikon photographer Adrian Steirn was tasked with recording the last few weeks of his life.

Philip Gould speaks eloquently and poignantly about terminal illness. His view from the borders of life and death is that “Only when you accept death can you free yourself from it, can you deal with it, can you move forward from it. Acceptance is the key. At that moment you gain freedom and you gain power and you gain courage.”

Recounting how his moments of joy, resolution and inspiration have been just as intense as those of fear, discomfort and sadness, he added, “I’ve had more moments of happiness in the last 5 months than in perhaps the last few years – more moments of a kind of private ecstasy than really for many years, where I just feel at one with the world.”

From Adrian Steirn’s point of view, he was the fly on the wall of a room about to be closed. Adrian’s equipment allowed him to record Philip’s message discreetly, without compromising on the narrative necessary to document Philip’s journey through ‘The Death Zone’. He told us, “It’s amazing when you can rely completely on a camera to shoot a film and beautiful portraiture without compromise on quality or mobility. The entire production of ‘When I Die’ was shot on Nikon, from the portrait in the National Portrait Gallery, London, to the short film that is bringing hope to those in need around the world. Documenting Philip’s final days was an inspiring project and Nikon helped me to bring his story to life to the best of my ability.”

Philip’s legacy in this film is an uncompromising acceptance of his experience and the wisdom to seek out even the smallest moments of choice in facing his fate. He concluded, “My life became death and it gained a quality and a power it had never had before … As long as I look death in the eye, and as long as I accept that I can choose the death that I seek and the death that I choose, I have some freedom here. I have some power here. I have some possibility to shape for myself my own death. And at that moment I have a kind of freedom.”

Learn more about how Adrian approached filming with Philip and explore his award-winning collection of photography on his website here, and his Facebook page here. If you’re interested in learning more about photographic philanthropy, you can take a look at Adrian’s ‘21 Icons’ project here that aims to inspire the children of today to become the icons of tomorrow.

Philip’s book, “When I Die: Lessons from the Death Zone”, was published earlier this year and all proceeds will go to the National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Fund and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

Does Philip’s story inspire you to bring your thoughts to life on a difficult subject? Have you ever filmed a portrait of someone special to you? What do you find challenging when capturing sensitive issues on film? Let us know by using the comments box below.

Write a comment

The spring iPad edition of Nikon Pro magazine has just been released, with all the features of the print issue – and so much more! Whether you’re a professional photographer, an aspiring pro, or a keen enthusiast, there’s something for everyone.

New product pages in the iPad edition have extra images and movies to demonstrate the incredible capabilities of new cameras, lenses and accessories. In this issue Nikon Pro explores getting the big picture with the D4 and pushing the limits with the D800, as well as how to get connected with accessories that will make your workflow easier and faster.

Assignments are a regular feature where pro photographers take on a unique challenge. Matthias Hangst, the German sports photographer fulfilled a lifetime ambition by testing the D4, shooting world class wrestlers, semi-pro footballers and speed skaters. He found the D4 very intuitive, telling us, “It will give you the freedom to be creative, take the photos and not think about the technical side. I didn’t need to worry about AF or the ISO levels. I had complete confidence in them working so I could concentrate on the image.” Matthias added, “I was really impressed with the AF system. It’s different – much faster, especially the initial detection. The settings impressed me also, dynamic 9, 21, 3D and the continuous AF. This really worked well with the speed skaters at 10 fps. Speed skating is really like car racing. The skaters are coming towards you at a tremendous speed, so your AF has to be spot on.”

Image © Matthias Hangst – A speed skater captured at the Inzell Skating Stadium in Germany.
Nikon D4, 400mm f/2.8G ED VR AF-S NIKKOR, ISO 6400, 1/1000 AT f/4.5.

Image © Matthias Hangst – Wrestlers fight to get the upper hand in Stuttgart, Germany.
Nikon D4, AF-S VR NIKKOR 200mm f/2G ED-IF, ISO 6400, 1/250 at f/3.5.

In other assignments, Belgian photojournalist Wim Hendrix covered the work of the volunteers on the hospital shop Africa Mercy, bringing medical relief to one of the world’s poorest countries – Sierra Leone. The Austrian photographer Rainer Eder – an accomplished climber himself – went for a fresh view on climbing, taking climbers out of their usual environment and putting them in different situations. Working with world champion climbers from Austria, Switzerland and Norway, he’s created stunning images of them on cable car ropes and a crane, as well as in a recycling centre and an elevator shaft. You’ll find behind the scenes movies for his main locations along with the full story all in Nikon Pro’s enhanced iPad edition.

Image © Wim Hendrix – One of Mercy Africa’s young patients. Many people suffering from large facial tumours or cleft palates are shunned by their communities, so reconstructive surgery can help rebuild their lives.

Image © Rainer Eder – Magnus Midtboe climbing a crane in the middle of Berne, Switzerland. Both the photographer and the subject were suspended 70m above the ground.

The spotlight falls on a largely uncelebrated aspect of photography in this issue too – the role of the fixer. They’re the unsung heroes of documentary projects, investigative journalism and location shoots. As production coordinators their responsibility is huge. Janos Kis, a fixer and photojournalist spoke to us about his investigative journalism on human trafficking, highlighting the importance of good research and local knowledge, but also a wide range of other skills as well. He believes “Good communication, being organized and speaking the relevant languages are a must. It’s an advantage if you have a background or knowledge in social studies, journalism and photojournalism or the film and travel industry.” Italian location scout Fabio di Segni agrees, adding “You have to be both practical and imaginative, and you have to be able to anticipate in advance what the producer wants, often before they know it themselves. You need to think laterally, enjoy problem solving, and never accept ‘no’ for an answer.” Tony Rimwa, a fixer and location manager in Kenya, adds “Safety is the number one concern and it is important to be frank with your client if something isn’t possible.”

Our spring Location Scout travels to the Ukraine to give you the inside track on local knowledge, customers and top locations. This feature now has an enhanced map in the iPad edition, linking directly to the most helpful and informative websites so you’ll be ahead of the game in compiling your own research.

As usual, there are up-to-the minute news stories too, with direct links to featured professionals, giving your contacts list an added boost. Subscribe to the Nikon Pro iPad edition here to get the inside track on professional photography at its best.

Write a comment

This month, we’re introducing an awesome new wide angle lens to fill the gap between our 24mm and 35mm NIKKOR lenses. A welcome addition to our range of FX-format prime lenses, the AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G boasts a new optical design that makes it a perfect match for today’s high-resolution D-SLRs.

We think it’s the perfect lens for any wide-angle enthusiast – and here’s why:

Wide appeal

The AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G has a large (f/1.8) aperture to deliver sharper shots in low light and enables wonderfully smooth bokeh (the aesthetic quality of the blur in out-of-focus areas of an image). The 28mm focal length lets you put subjects in a wide, pronounced perspective – ideal for shooting in confined spaces, capturing stunning vistas or photographing cityscapes and street scenes – while the improved optical construction controls unwanted distortion.

Image © Nikon / I Am Nikon

Broad advantage

Equipped with a brand new optical design, the AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G supports the increasing resolution of modern D-SLRs with sharp, beautifully rendered stills and movies. Two aspherical lens elements effectively minimise aberrations and correct the distortion that can occur with a wide angle of view. Our exclusive Nano Crystal Coat reduces ghost and flare, and Silent Wave Motor (SWM) gives you discreet, but accurate autofocus.

Compact and durable

With a weather sealed mount and weighing just 330g, the AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G is a solid yet lightweight and compact option that fits easily into your kit bag. Compatible with Nikon FX-format D-SLRs, it offers a 42 mm (equivalent) focal length (when used with Nikon DX-format D-SLRs) and is fully compatible with entry-level models that do not have a built-in autofocus motor.

You can see some photographs taken using the AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G in our Flickr photostream below.

What are your tips for manipulating out of focus points of light? Have you taken any great images recently using shallow focus techniques? Does the AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G sound like the lens for you? Let us know by using the comments box below.

Write a comment

With spring now in full swing we know many of you will be planning your holiday adventure for the year. With that in mind, we have some great tips from artic explorer Ben Saunders – one of three people in history to ski solo to the North Pole – to help you capture great photos when you’re in extreme or outdoor adventure situations.

1) Set the scene

A lot of expeditions I follow tend to start photographing when they get there – ‘here we are at base camp’ or ‘here we are in Antarctica’, but the story of the training and the preparation and the build-up is just as fascinating, I think, as the expedition itself.

Image © Bay Hippisley for Nikon

2)  Show the scale of the challenge

It’s very easy to get caught up in close-up action shots and little details and all the minutiae, but it’s important to remember to step back, get some perspective, and try to illustrate the scale of the environment, the scale of the journey, and the scale of the challenge.

Image © Bay Hippisley for Nikon

3)  Take the right risks, with the right equipment

I’ve taken pictures of crossing some very thin ice that is breaking up, thinking to myself ‘I’ve got to tell this story somehow’. I can only do that by having a compact camera and being able to quickly take a photograph of what’s happening. Having the Nikon COOLPIX AW100, which is shockproof, waterproof, and freeze-proof, certainly helps, because I don’t have to worry when I take it into extreme situations. It also has a ‘swing motion’ function, which lets you change settings and take photos by moving the camera back and forth. It’s perfect when you’ve got huge mittens on that you don’t want to take off.

Image © Bay Hippisley for Nikon

4) Involve people in what you’re doing

Nowadays I’m able to blog, to send images, and to text back home on a daily basis. I can take the memory card out of my camera, plug that into a little palm top computer, plug that into the phone, and send images back within a few minutes of having taken them.

5) Document the lows as well as the highs

It’s always easier to take photographs when you’re in a good mood and the weather’s nice and the sun is shining, but some of the images I am happiest with and most proud of now are where things were really miserable. I’ve got a few self-portraits when I’m really down in the dumps and things were going really badly wrong. But to me now, those are just as important as the beautiful, scenic shots.

Image © Bay Hippisley for Nikon

Take a look at the video below to see Ben talk in more detail about his  top tips how he’s managed to overcome challenges in the most testing environments and where he’ll be taking his Nikon next!

We hope you found these tips and insights from Ben useful. Are you planning on any adventure trips of your own? Perhaps you have some recommendations you’d like to share based on your own travels? Let us know by commenting in the box below! Don’t forget to share your best adventure shots on our Flickr page.

Write a comment

In part eight of his Via Panam project – a personal mission to travel the Pan-American Highway from Chile to Alaska – photojournalist and Nikon user, Kadir Van Lohuizen details his journey through West Coast America.

I am going north again, taking Highway 1 – the beautiful road along the East Coast of California towards San Francisco. It takes twice along as on the freeway, but it’s worth the effort. Not too far north of Los Angeles along the beach, I hear a commotion and when I stop I am astonished to see hundreds of elephant seals which migrated south to breed. I deliberately didn’t want to carry too much weight so my longest lens is a only 105mm, but it just about works for shooting the seals.

Video shot on a Nikon D3s

It’s my first time in San Francisco and it’s just as good as I hoped. I will not shoot a story here, just a presentation, because I am pressed for time to finish Via Panam. As I have spent too much time in Central America and Mexico, not only is the money running out, I am also under pressure to meet all my deadlines. So I take the train from San Francisco straight to Portland: away from the (sub)tropics and my first encounter with the winter. The below video is a view from the train travelling from San Francisco to Portland.

Video shot on a Nikon D3s

In Oregon, I want to do a story on the logging industry where many migrant workers work, but this turned out to be really tough – many mills closed due to the crisis and the companies are suspicious due to illegal logging and bad working conditions. It’s one of these decisions: do I push it and be patient with the risk of not getting access, or do I switch to another story? Considering my timeframe, I decide for the latter and will work on dairy farms where many of the workers are Latino. The below picture shows a farmer standing on the road at his farm in Granger, Oregon.

Nikon D700, 17-35mm f2.8 at 19mm f6-3, 1/5000, ISO 320. Image © Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

It’s not extremely cold, but there is a lot of snow and the days are short, so I need to adjust my way of working compared to the last few months. I need to calculate when are the best times to shoot in terms of light, using high ISOs and proper exposure compensation. It’s not the easiest story after all the tension in Central America (those were difficult circumstances to work in), but I must say that I function better in those conditions, where I know what stories I want to tell. I will confess that running around on a dairy farm can be a little boring…

Nikon D700, 17-35mm f2.8 at 22mm f5.6, 1/250, ISO 400. Image © Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

There are many dairy farms here, with thousands of cows in Washington State. One of them is the organic dairy farm, Mountain Meadow Dairy; it’s a small farm, with 500 cows and eight Mexican workers. Christian, who came to the US in 2001, is one of them. A friend of his was working here already and advised Christian to make the long trip from his village in Mexico to join him. Six years ago he returned to bring his wife. Their two children were born here in the US, so they are American citizens, while Christian and his wife remain undocumented.

Canada is next, the biggest country within the whole continent, but I will only travel the West Coast. After doing quite a few stories in the south on indigenous issues, I definitely want to do a report on the Canadian aboriginals. Many moved to Vancouver, hoping to find work and at the same time not losing their identity. I am amazed by the young generation, many of who are musicians and artists and the way they incorporate into their work their roots and where they come from.

Nikon D3s, 50mm f1.4 at 1/4000, f1.4, ISO200. Image © Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

The above picture shows a large Women`s Memorial March being held in East Vancouver. It’s a yearly event that commemorates the hundreds of (mostly aboriginal) women that have disappeared in the last fifteen years, many of whom were found to have been raped and killed. In Vancouver alone, 68 cases are currently being investigated.

Nikon D700, 17-35mm f2.8 at 17 mm, f3.5, 1/640, ISO320. Image © Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR

This image shows Ronnie Dean Harris, alias Ostwelve – he is a rapper and nowadays lives in Vancouver. He is a Stola aboriginal. Now and then he visits the ‘reserve’ where he grew up.

Kadir’s Via PanAm project is a 10-month, 15-country trip looking at migration in the Americas, and the role it has played in climate change, war and conflict, and economic issues. What do you think of Kadir’s fascinating journey? Do you have any first hand experiences of the countries he’s visited? Make sure you continue to check the blog for updates from his epic journey, featuring still images and videos from this fascinating project. The ‘Via PanAm’ app for the iPad is available in the app store here.

Write a comment