Q&A : wedding photography by the numbers

I talk a lot about how much I love my job, and it's all true!  I get to meet amazing people, shoot beautiful details, and spend time with people during some of the most important moments of their lives.  That doesn't mean that it's easy, though.  I shot two weddings in a row this weekend and now I am absolutely and thoroughly exhausted - it's definitely a full-body workout :)  In case you're tempted to quit your day job and become a wedding photographer, or you're just curious about what it's like, I thought I'd break it down for you by the numbers.  So, here's how my last 48 hours was measured:Weddings : 2

Images shot : 92GB worth

Weight of my Canon 5d Mark II with 50mm 1.2 L lens and 580 EXII flash : 4.8 lbs (according to my bathroom scale :)

Weight of my Manfrotto 190XDB tripod (with the 701 HDV video head) : 6.1 lbs

Weight of my shooting bag: 3.2 lbs

In my shooting bag (an old leather messenger-style laptop bag) : other lens, batteries, pens, hairbrush, business cards, pocket knife, safety pins, breath mints, phone, lipstick, protein bars, screwdriver, tampons, lens cleaning cloth, lens cleaning pen

Weight of my Dakine Reload waterproof camera bag (with everything else inside ): 21.8 lbs

Total weight I carry with me : 35.9 lbs

Hours on my feet: 23.5

Energy drinks consumed : 4

Days it rained : 2

Number of concerned fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, and fathers-in-law who said the exact phrase, "Better hurry, it's gonna rain!" more than one time while we were shooting: 6 (I counted!)

Needless to say, I woke up this morning feeling like I ran a marathon. With the flu. While getting hit by a semi.  But I'm happy, and I STILL love my job :)  I can't wait to post some images from this fabulous weekend!

I had another recent question come in about my lighting.  I use natural lighting whenever possible, and I'm lucky enough to have a studio space with natural window light coming in from three sides!  I never use a flash when I'm shooting babies or children because a) it's disruptive to the baby, especially if we're trying to get them to sleep or calm down, b) older kids move pretty quickly and any flash needs a bit of time to recycle, and c) the light sensitivity of the 50mm 1.2 means that I'm never in a situation during the day when I actually need more light. I do have some old studio lights that I rarely, if ever, use.  I'm not even gonna link to them because I'd have to go find out what kind they are - that's how little I use them.  When you start getting into the world of studio lighting setups, you have to start worrying about color temperature a lot more.  I love the way skin tones look in natural light, and I'm reeeally not a fan of how skin tones look under 99% of studio light setups, so I just don't even go there.

That being said... if I'm looking to create some added drama and want to get creative with supplemental lighting outside (or inside a venue), I LOVE my Lowel iD video light.  It's dimmable and what you see is what you get, which is super helpful with composition.  It's also less disruptive than a flash if you're trying to be a little more subtle, although it gets hot quickly and isn't as powerful, but in most situations, that's okay with me.  Before I decided to make the switch to Canon, I was using a Nikon SU-800 commander unit to trigger my SB-600 speedlite units.  The visual effect was AWESOME, but it's all line-of-sight communication, which seemed to be a problem in more situations than not, and the trigger range was less than I had hoped for, so although I had fun playing around with that, it quickly dropped out of my setup.  Now that I'm shooting Canon, I'll probably be investing in some Pocket Wizards soon :)  Yay!  Oh, gear... there's always something to buy.  Okay, that's probably enough nerd talk for now.  I'll end with a quick sneak peek from this weekend- congrats to Theresa & Jason and Christian & Heather!

Q & A (for photographers)

I get a lot of photography questions, and I've always tried to respond personally to each one.  I realized that I get a lot of the same questions over and over, so I thought I'd take the time to answer them on my blog, in case any of you out there were wondering the same things!  If you have a question, feel free to email it to me at molly {at} cedarhousephotography {dot} com and I'll do my best to answer it!What programs do you use to do your editing?

I use Adobe Lightroom 2.7 and Photoshop CS4, although I'm dying to come up with an excuse to get CS5 ;)  I absolutely love Lightroom and would be lost without it.  Although Bridge can do a lot of the same things, I think Lightroom is much more user-friendly and definitely worth the investment.  I also use Photoshop CS4 to composite my images together and add the logo for the blog.

What kind of camera and lenses do you use?

"Canon or Nikon" is like the original "mac vs. PC / Coke vs. Pepsi" rivalry.  Everyone has their preference, and many people on either side of the debate might be willing to die to defend it :)  If you don't believe me, check out this video.  However, I would estimate that 95% or so of pros use either Canon or Nikon, with the small remainder using brands like Sony or Olympus.  Asking me the "Canon or Nikon" question is a little bit of a trick question, since right now I'm shooting with (gasp!) both.  I started out with a Nikon D2xs and bought a Canon 5D MarkII about a year ago, and when I shoot weddings, I bring both with me and keep a 50mm 1.4 on one and a 28-105 on the other.  When I'm shooting senior portraits, etc, I'm pretty much always using the 50 mm 1.4... I just love the quality and feel of prime lenses.  I've been shooting with the 5D Mark II more and more lately and have recently decided to make the switch all the way to Canon.  So, on that note, I'm also selling a bunch of Nikon stuff!  Let me know if you're interested :)

I'm getting more into photography lately.  What's a good starter lens for me?

Well, this really depends on what you're shooting.  For portraits or people shots, I would recommend a prime lens like a 50 or 85 mm with a shallow depth of field, such as a 1.8 or 1.4.  I find that I prefer the 50mm in most situations and I really don't use my 85 that much.  The only big drawback to using a prime lens is that they're "fixed focal length" which means that you don't get any sort of  zoom capability.  However, if you're interested in sports photography or wildlife, for example, you might want to think about getting a good telephoto lens, which will enable you to zoom right in on your athlete or your bighorn sheep without having to be right up close :)

How do you get your images to have such vibrant color?  Do you make saturation adjustments in Photoshop?

Actually, nope, I never touch the saturation - I find that doing so makes the colors look a little unrealistic and fake.  Honestly, the best way to get amazing color in your images is to nail your exposure in-camera so that you don't have to mess with it later.  Also, I intentionally shoot in areas that have a lot of color- green trees or grass, colored walls, etc.  The only time I really make color adjustments is when I'm editing a shoot that took place in less-than-ideal lighting conditions - for example, under fluorescent lights.  Fluorescent lights tend to do funky things to skin tones and give everything sort of a bluish-greenish cast, so if I absolutely have to shoot under them, I'll have to make adjustments to my white balance so that the skin tones will look more natural.  Natural-looking is the way I like it!

Did you Photoshop that?

Ooh, this question is a  toughie.  Without even looking at the image you're referring to, I can say, technically, yes.  All my images are edited with Photoshop.  But this probably doesn't mean what you think it means :)  I use Photoshop to sharpen, remove blemishes, and do some general fine-tuning.  However, I don't shoot people in the studio and Photoshop them to look like they're sitting in front of the mountains, for example.  If you see someone in front of an amazing background, they were really there!  I'll also never change your eye color or hair color.  Sometimes I will edit out distracting elements like power lines or pieces of trash on the ground, but that's about it.

Do you teach classes or workshops?

I've been getting so many of these questions lately that I'm definitely thinking about putting something together.  Although I don't have anything set up right now, if I have enough people interested, I'd love to host a workshop!  Let me know if you're interested!

Thanks for the great questions, everyone!  And because every blog post is better with an image... here's a sneak peek from Cole & Sara's wedding this last weekend.  Enjoy!