Professional Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Table of Contents Getting Ready 4 Before You Begin............................................................................................................................................. 4 z Decide What You’re Taking Pictures For................................................................................................................4 z Plan Locations, Shot Types, and Poses...................................................................................
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Table of Contents, Continued The Outdoor Workflow 23 Composing and Posing............................................................................................................................... 24 z Capturing Light........................................................................................................................................................... 24 Test Shots................................................................................
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready Before You Begin Before embarking on portrait or wedding photography, you’ll need to: Decide What You’re Taking Pictures For The number and types of shots you’ll need and their composition and presentation depend on where and how the photos will be used, whether it be (for example) as prints or in an album or anthology. Plan Locations, Shot Types, and Poses Think about the location and the types of shots and poses you’ll be aiming for.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued Things to Bring The main items of equipment you’ll need for portrait and wedding photography are: a camera, lenses, 128GB a battery, 64GB memory cards, and a flash, reflector panels, a light meter, and other lighting equipment. Bring Spare Batteries and Memory Cards Bring extra fully-charged batteries and empty memory cards. If you’re planning an extended shoot lasting several days, it’s also a good idea to bring a battery charger.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued Camera Settings The core settings for portrait and wedding photography are: AF-area mode ISO sensitivity Picture Control White balance Image quality Photo shooting menu Portrait impression balance Custom Settings f2 Custom controls Wide-area AF (L-people) ISO 200 Portrait Auto NEF (RAW) + JPEG normal Adjust hue and brightness for portraits as desired Assign [Playback] to the Fn1 or Fn2 button AF-Area Mode: Wide-Area AF (L-People) This mode
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued ISO Sensitivity: ISO 200 When choosing a value for ISO sensitivity, you’ll need to consider such factors as ambient lighting (natural or designed) and whether your subject is static or in motion—try starting with values between ISO 100 and 800. You can always use auto ISO sensitivity control if you have trouble deciding.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued White Balance: Auto White balance will be adjusted automatically for optimal results with most light sources. If an optional flash unit is used, white balance will be adjusted in accord with the conditions in effect when the flash fires. z [Auto] may not produce the desired results when used with nonNikon flash units.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued Hue e Adjust and save hue and brightness settings. • Press 1 or 3 to adjust brightness and 4 or 2 to adjust hue on the magenta (M)–yellow (Y) axis. Adjustments change hue and brightness as shown below. Brightness : : M3.0 +3.0 : : 0.0 +3.0 : : Y3.0 +3.0 M Y : : : : M3.0 0.0 : M3.0 –3.0 : : : 0.0 0.0 : 0.0 –3.0 : : : Y3.0 0.0 Y3.0 –3.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued • Press J to save changes and return to the photo shooting menu. r Highlight the desired mode in the [Portrait impression balance] display and press J.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued Lenses The correct choice of lens is very important. Choose a lens according to your goals and the kind of pictures you want to take. Recommended Lenses for Portrait and Wedding Photographs Lens NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.8 S NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.2 S, NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.8 S See Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 13 Page 14 Page 14 NIKKOR Z 14–24mm f/2.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued NIKKOR Z 24–70mm f/2.8 S © Marie Bärsch This standard (24–70 mm) zoom lens can be used for a wide variety of scenes.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S Use this telephoto (70–200 mm) zoom lens to blur and soften backgrounds, helping draw attention to your photos’ main protagonists. NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.8 S With a focal length of 35 mm, this lens ensures a good balance between your subject and the background.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.2 S, NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S The beautiful smooth bokeh produced by these fast 50 mm lenses enhances expressions on the faces of portrait subjects. z 50 mm lenses are available with maximum apertures of f/1.2 and f/1.8. Choose according to your budget and the desired lens size. © Kyoko Munakata NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued Flash Units and Other Lighting Equipment Your selection of lighting equipment will be based on such considerations as the type of results you want to achieve, the location, the weather, and the time of day. Flash Units Flash units are recommended for effective lighting. For wireless flash control involving multiple flash units, choose the SB‑5000.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Getting Ready, Continued Point Versus Area Light Sources “Point” light sources are small and “area” light sources, large. Smaller sources naturally generate harder light and shadows with sharp edges. Larger light sources, on the other hand, produce softer light and shadows with blurred edges.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Studio Workflow This section takes you through the workflow for in-studio portrait and wedding photography.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Studio Workflow, Continued Composing and Posing Before composing shots and requesting your subjects to take their places, tell them the sort of pictures and poses you have in mind. Communication is the key. Lighting the Shot Light the scene for the pictures and poses you have in mind. z For wireless flash control involving multiple flash units, choose the SB‑5000.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Studio Workflow, Continued Test Shots Take test shots before the main event to see if the look and colors match what you have in mind. Colors z Check colors using studio lighting equipment, incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, light from windows (natural light), and mixed lighting.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Studio Workflow, Continued Taking Pictures Now on to the main event: taking the actual pictures. z Useful techniques for portrait and wedding photographs can be found under “Shooting Techniques” (page 30). z Remember to take test shots and check the results after changing locations or composition (page 19).
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Studio Workflow, Continued Retouching Pictures This section introduces you to the art of retouching pictures using Nikon’s NX Studio computer software. Available only from Nikon, NX Studio can be used to view and edit pictures and process NEF (RAW) photos. An installer is available from the Nikon Download Center (https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/).
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Studio Workflow, Continued “Nature” Choose [Nature] to boost the colors of all elements in the frame, including portrait subjects.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Outdoor Workflow This section takes you through the workflow for outdoor portrait and wedding photography.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Outdoor Workflow, Continued Composing and Posing Before composing shots and requesting your subjects to take their places, tell them the sort of pictures and poses you have in mind. Communication is the key. Capturing Light You’ll generally find yourself using natural light for outdoor shots.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Outdoor Workflow, Continued Test Shots Take test shots before the main event to see if the look and colors match what you have in mind. Colors z Tints added by colored lighting, such as the green tint added to the faces of subjects standing on a lawn, are called “color casts”. Color casts can be corrected using reflector panels or by placing a white cloth at your subject’s feet.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Outdoor Workflow, Continued Fine-Tuning Picture Controls Those who enjoy tweaking Picture Controls will find custom Picture Controls a useful tool (page 7). You can name and save them as you choose or copy them to memory cards for use with compatible software or other cameras of the same type. Customizing Picture Controls Raising [Sharpening] or [Contrast] too high may make portraits look harsh.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Outdoor Workflow, Continued Taking Pictures Now on to the main event: taking the actual pictures. z Useful techniques for portrait and wedding photographs can be found under “Shooting Techniques” (page 30). z Remember to take test shots and check the results after changing locations or composition (page 25).
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Outdoor Workflow, Continued Retouching Pictures This section introduces you to the art of retouching pictures using Nikon’s NX Studio computer software. Available only from Nikon, NX Studio can be used to view and edit pictures and process NEF (RAW) photos. An installer is available from the Nikon Download Center (https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/).
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide The Outdoor Workflow, Continued Color Booster: Making Colors More Vivid The color booster tool optimizes saturation to make colors more vivid. “People” Choose [People] to boost colors without affecting the look of portrait subjects. “Nature” Choose [Nature] to boost the colors of all elements in the frame, including portrait subjects.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Shooting Techniques Here are some techniques you may find useful for portrait and wedding photography. Communicate It’s important to talk with your models. Provide appropriate direction during shooting. It can also be a good idea to show them some shots from time to time as the session progresses so they can see how they look. Liven Things Up Your subjects’ expressions are what makes or breaks portraits.
Portrait and Wedding Photography Guide Shooting Techniques, Continued Shoot More Than Portraits In addition to portraits, take photos of the background and other bits and bobs. Use Filters For softer pictures, use neutral-density or soft-focus filters. z Neutral-density (ND) filters, which regulate the amount of light entering the lens, can be used where slower shutter speeds are desired. z Soft-focus filters are fine-tuned using a special process to produce a soft effect.
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