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Extrasensory Wedding Imagery
Professional photographer Ralph Romaguera uses an all-in-one lens (his workhorse, the Tamron 28-75mm) and employs a little bit of ESP (Emotions Sell Pictures) to capture the ambience in the church aisle and on the dance floor. Read on for suggestions on how guests can create their own visual perspective on this special day.
© Ralph Romaguera © Ralph Romaguera © Ralph Romaguera © Ralph Romaguera © Ralph Romaguera
SP AF180mm F/3.8, SP AF17-35mm F/2.8-4 & SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 Di Lenses
by Jennifer Gidman Zumpano
You’ve sent in your reply card, purchased a gift for the bride and groom off of the registry, and dry-cleaned your formalwear for the next wedding on your social calendar. Once the big day arrives, however, you’ll want to photograph the affair without stepping on the toes of the pro commissioned by the newlyweds to document their nuptials. According to Ralph Romaguera, a professional photographer based in Metairie, Louisiana, it’s not only possible to get matrimonial images from a different vantage point than the contracted photographer: It’s highly desirable.
“You don’t want to be where the professional is—if you have the opportunity to get a shot the professional doesn’t have, you won’t be aggravating him by hanging over his shoulder,” he explains. “Besides, why would someone want the exact same shot someone else is getting? Take your picture from a different angle, even if it’s from your seat.”
In fact, in your seat is where you’ll likely be when it comes time to capture the bride sweeping down the aisle, the money shot that every guest wants to add to their personal photo album. Here is where having a little bit of technical know-how can come in handy. “Prefocus,” Romaguera advises. “Usually 13 to 15 feet away is the ideal distance to get a good full-length shot of the bride and her dad. Focus on the pew right before where they’ll be walking up the aisle -- just take your hand and point to where the bride and father are walking up, go to the 11 o’clock position from there, and focus on the pew ahead of that. That way, when they hit that point, bang -- you just shoot it.”
The bride and groom’s dramatic exit from the ceremony location is another such opportunity to showcase your own perspective of the day’s events. “The grand exit is where you’ll want almost the opposite angle of the professional photographer,” says Romaguera. “If you’re up on the top step and the pro photographer is down waiting for the newlyweds to come running out, you can get the reactions of the people throwing the rice, for example. You want to capture all the wonderful vignettes that most professionals might not get and don’t think about. Get the reaction rather than the action – let the professional worry about getting the action shots.”

Lights, Lenses, Action!
These days, Romaguera shoots totally digitally (“I don’t use the “f-word,” he laughs) and uses his arsenal of Tamron lenses to complete his gear bag. “What’s great about Tamron is that they have fast lenses that can shoot in available light, or they can allow you to pop up your flash if necessary,” he explains. “If you’re going to shoot a wedding, your camera bag should include the Tamron SP AF28-75mm Di lens (I use that for nearly the entire wedding), the SP AF17-35mm Di, and a longer lens, like the SP AF180mm Di. The 28-75 can serve as your workhorse—you can use it inside, outside, anywhere the wedding day takes you. You would use the 17-35 for church scenes, for extremely large groups, or for when you want to bring the subject close to you and still have the ambience of the background, like a picture of the bride and groom by the limousine in front of the church. You can use the 17-35 to get them big in the foreground with the church still in the background. Use a lens like the 180mm, a true macro lens, to get extreme close-ups. This is the lens you’d use to get the reactions to what you were shooting with the other lenses.”
Taking advantage of Tamron’s f/2.8 lenses can facilitate the photo process when you’re working in less-than-ideal lighting situations, such as a darkened church or dim reception hall. “A camera and lens are very two-dimensional if you have one eye; we have two eyes, so we see three dimensions,” says Romaguera. “A photographer’s job is to make a three-dimensional statement out of a two-dimensional piece of paper. You do that with the proper use of light and the proper use of lenses. So by using a Tamron f/2.8 lens and focusing on your point of interest, your subject will start to lift up off of that paper. A lot of times, you can shoot available light and use that lower f-stop, which is going to give you a little bit higher shutter speed -- it’s important to not have that camera shake.”
When bringing the celebration outside, it’s critical to keep these rules of illumination in mind. “I’ve shot in little to no shade, and I don’t do anything except expose properly for the faces,” Romaguera says. “If it’s bright sunlight, then I’ll expose for the bright sunlight. If it’s backlit, where the light is coming up behind the subject, a good thing to do is to use your flash to bring the faces up to the ambient light. The ambient out there may be very bright: A common problem is that an automatic camera will expose for the background, and the faces will go dark. By throwing on your flash, you’ll bring the faces up to the tonality of the background.

Reception Revelry
You’ll likely encounter friends and family at the wedding whom you haven’t seen in some time – giving you a perfect excuse to gather up loved ones for some group shots. These might include posed portraits or table shots before you head out onto the dance floor for some candids. “The tighter you can get the people in your image, the larger their faces will be,” explains Romaguera. “If I have eight people at a round table, and I just push those chairs into an arch, I’ll have small head sizes in my photo. However, if I ask the four gentlemen to stand up and the four ladies to sit down and move in closer, I’ll get a better shot.”
In fact, a common mistake Romaguera sees wedding guests make is not getting in close enough to their subjects when composing their pictures. “If you don’t like your picture, you’re probably too far away,” he says. “Get in closer or use a longer lens.”
Look for more interesting angles during the day’s festivities. “Keep your eye on the crowds,” says Romaguera. “Get a picture of the parents hugging each other while the bride and groom are toasting, or even a shot of their glasses touching during the toast. Don’t just get what you visually see. If a bride puts on flip-flops during the reception because her high heels were hurting her feet during the ceremony, get those shoes in a shot. Get closeups of the ring and the cake toppers.”
Compelling effects can be added after the party in Photoshop (“one nice thing about digital is that you can add a lot with filters and in post-production,” Romaguera explains) or created at the reception itself with a little photographic ingenuity. “Blur the motion on the dance floor by slowing down the shutter speed and panning – it’s a lot of fun to show that,” he adds.
In the end, however, it’s not your Photoshop skills or lighting savvy that will garner you memorable wedding-day pictures: It’s your interaction with the other guests and the ambience you manage to capture that creates truly enduring images. “More important than technical expertise is the expressions you get,” Romaguera says. “I believe in ESP -- Expressions Sell Pictures, whether you’re selling your pictures for money or selling the viewer on just liking the image. Use your enthusiasm and tone of voice to evoke those expressions. After all, a wedding is really about the two people getting married and their guests. Do a lot of hugging and just have fun with it!”

Tip Box

Hold It!
If your images aren’t as sharp as you want them to be, it may not be your focusing abilities that are in question. “A lot of times it’s not the focus, it’s the shake,” explains Romaguera. “The lens may have been in focus, but there was still camera shake, either from a low shutter speed or from the person improperly holding the camera. The one thing you should always do is make sure your hand is under the lens, not on top of it. This will substantially cut down on camera shake.”