Getting Married Down Under- wedding images from Australia

This image is from my wedding in Australia a few years ago that I shot for Mike and Melodie on Manly Beach.  Yes, the clouds are real.  We had an amazing time and this image is going up on the new website, so I'm excited to share it with you guys!

Next Workshops:

• Morgantown, WV- October 22-24
• Myryle Beach, SC- November 6-7
• Tampa, Florida- November 13-14

Camera settings: Nikon D3, 1/1600 sec at f/4.0, 20mm at ISO 320, flash did not fire.  Taken at 3:16pm on May 1, 2009 by Jason Lanier in Manly Beach, Australia.

Sydney Opera House Breakdown "Cinderella"- this is an image of a wedding I shot in Sydney Australia in May 2009 that I get a lot questions about so I thought I would do something a little different and show a before and after. At a recent wedding one of my photographers asked me if I had the "guts" to show a picture before it was photoshopped. I love "dares" and I thought for this picture it would be instructional so I'm showing the before and after so you can see the difference.

I always tell my photogs that good images can't be made great, only great images can be made a little better. In this day and age of photoshop SO many photographers make the mistake of saying, "Oh well, I'll fix it in photoshop." When I first started I was very dumb and said the same thing. If you want to become a great photographer than you need to hone your skills and not use PS as a crutch. It's a great tool but you have to get the shooting part right. Become a professional photographer than a professional editor, THEN you are DANGEROUS. Enough with my rant.

I used a tripod to capture this image, my video guy to shine light on the bride and groom, put a video light next to her shoe to illuminate it, cropped the image a little, used some dodge and burn, and blurred the sky some. Settings: Nikon D3, shutter 1/80 at f/1.8, ISO 6400, 20mm. Hope this is helpful!

Skiff Harbor View

This shot was taken from a window of the reception hall where the wedding took place during the reception.  A huge rainstorm came in and started pouring water all over the area.  As is the case in Australia the rain comes and can quickly go...so I waited for it to stop to grab this picture.  As soon as the sun started coming through the clouds I snapped this shot.  

Some of my personal favorite shots that I love to put in my office are of landscapes taken through windows still showing the window frame.  That way every time I look at the picture I feel like I'm looking through a window back to the place no matter how far away it may be.  I hope you enjoy!

Manly Beach with Mike and Melodie

These pictures are from the shoot we did after the ceremony.  The wedding was held in Manly Beach which is about 25 minutes from Sydney.  After the ceremony we took the Bride and Groom to this amazing location that I had found the day before.  It really was as beautiful as the pictures show....the clouds, the sky, everything....all natural.  

It's so important when you're shooting a couple that they have a chance to flirt and have fun....that is when you get the best shots.  Mike being Australian was such a gentleman and kept us laughing from start to finish. Melodie was just radiant...it was almost impossible to take a bad picture of her.  Most importantly is that these two are really in love....and that is exactly the element that I tried to capture in these images.  I hope you enjoy!

Cinderella

I'm very excited to release my first image from my most recent wedding in Australia!!!  I have named this image, "Cinderella" for obvious reasons.  This is one of the last images I shot as part of the wedding. As a photographer there are a few distinct areas of the world that you have to shoot before you consider yourself, "Complete."  For me the Sydney Opera House was and will forever be one of them.  

This unbelievable piece of architecture creates lines for photography that are out of this world. It is also one of the most recognizable buildings in the world...and I was determined to get this shot.  I can't thank the bride and groom Mike and Melodie enough for working so hard with me to get this shot.  I also can't thank Kara and Cameron for providing the lighting that made this work.  A shot like this takes many people to create...and for me it took our team to make it happen.  1 Photographer/Director (me), two lighting assistants (Kara and Cameron), and the bride and groom....a total of 5 people....but it was worth it....I truly love the shot and I hope you do too!  This will be my first entry into the WPPI competition coming it.  I hope you like it!

Sydney Wedding Interview

I still have a few days to post from our adventures in Australia but I'm really getting the itch to post some wedding shots....those will be coming shortly.  To help scratch the itch I wanted to post a picture of the interview we did on the Harbour in Sydney with the ocean and Sydney Opera House in the background.  It is the most stunning place we've ever done an interview. Cameron was shooting the video while Kara held the video light and I got this shot on a remote trigger using my D90 while my D3 was on the tripod firing at the same time.  

So much about photography is related to finding the perfect location, and ensuring that the lighting is working the way it should to get what you want.  I'll use any kind of light; car, video, building, natural, etc. to get the job done.....I love natural lighting and with the D3 I can use natural lighting better than any other camera on the market....but sometimes you need more.  I find any flash on top of the camera to be the least effective of any alternative lighting sources available...and I do love the Qflash....it works great.  I'll never forget doing this interview and this wedding....just unbelievable.