Wedding Photography Jargon
When hiring a candid wedding photographer for your wedding, an aspect that one sometimes ignores is that it is a big advantage to understand photography, at least at a basic level, to communicate better with your wedding photographer. Below are certain terms & phrases that will help you communicate with your wedding photographer & understand him/her better. Some of these are very basic terms that you might already know about, but its worth going through. You might just learn something new.
- Depth of Field (DOF):
DOF is one of the reasons you hire a candid wedding photographer. You wonder why their photographs are so beautiful and stand out from traditional wedding photographers. The key reason is they use lenses that give them a very shallow depth of field. A shallow depth of field means more blurring & a large depth of field means less blurring. The below image explains exactly how depth of field works.
Depth of Field
Photographs that have a beautiful blurred background are because of a very shallow DOF. A shallow DOF is created by using high quality lenses with very large apertures. And these lenses are usually expensive. So if you wonder why candid photographers are more expensive then traditional photographers, then one aspect is they use more expensive equipment in addition to higher skill level, to achieve those results.
- Exposure:
An exposure of a photography determines how dark or bright the photograph is. A well balanced exposure means a well balanced photograph that neither seems to bright or too dark. If you have collected the RAW images from your Candid Wedding Photographer for selection for editing, there is a chance that some photographs could not have the perfect exposure. But you need not worry, as images shot in RAW can be edited to fine-tune the exposure. It will all look perfect post editing! - RAW Images:
RAW images are images in the .NEF (nikon), .CR2 (Cannon) & the likes. These are like the film negative equivalents in the digital world. RAW images give a lot of scope for colour correction & exposure balancing as they contain very detailed information about the images. It is always good to have a copy of the RAW images backed up safely with you in addition to the processed/colour corrected images. - Colour Correction:
Colour correction is the process of correcting the colours of an image to make it tonally pleasing to the eye. All RAW images as well as video need to be colour corrected, especially when clicked by a candid photographer who is trying to use ambient light. These colour corrected images are the final deliverables that you get. Many photographers will not provide you the RAW images and will give you just the colour corrected JPEG images. - Processing:
Processing of Images is an extension of Colour Correction. Sometimes they are used interchangeably, but inherently there is a difference between these terms. Processing will include a specific tonal style that every photographer usually has. These styles are what make you sometimes like the tonal feel of some photographer above the other. A colour corrected image, ensures that the colours and exposure on the image are correct, but processing ensures that - Focus:
Focus refers to when the subject is within the correct intended focal length and turns out to be tack sharp. Sometimes in creative photography, a photographer might focus on a mundane or minor detail and keep the main subject out of focus. The older generations do not understand this technique as this was not used at all back in the days of limited film-rolls and non-creative wedding photography. If you understand focus & the artistic intentions of the photographer, you will be able to enjoy your photographs more and also explain to your parents why the image is how it is. - Ambient Light:
Ambient light is the available light at any given location. If the ambient light of a location is good, then the photographer can avoid using artificial flashlights or use it in conjunction with ambient light to create natural looking images with a lot of depth. Ensure the decorator uses/the hall has a lot of good lights that dont cast hard shadows to enjoy good ambient light in your Wedding celebrations. - Rule of thirds:
Rule of thirds is a type of composition in which the subject is not kept at the centre of the frame, but towards one side. Dividing the frame into three parts, and drawing grid lines for the same gives a better idea of how subjects are positioned when using rule of thirds. Now why is it important to understand this term? Subconsciously, most people like certain images above the others. Rule of thirds images are aesthetically more pleasing than centered images. But there might be people from the older generation or the current generation, who might not appreciate this composition. Knowing about the concept of the rule of thirds in aesthetics will help you yourself appreciate these compositions, and also explain to them to others who might not understand.
There are many more terms that Wedding Photographers use amongst themselves, and sometimes with clients too. But this should give you a head-start in the journey of equipping yourself better for your wedding. We will be coming out with more in the series of equipping the general consumer better in understanding how wedding photography works. Write in to use for any feedback or to know more at knotsandvows@gmail.com or contact@knotsandvows.com.
