Recent pictures by David Shirk, a wedding photographer in Birmingham Alabama
Tami and Richard had a fun outdoor wedding last fall in Moody on a perfect October weekend. It’s always a delight to be outdoors that time of year, and the late fall light makes for killer pictures.
One of my favorite moments was during the ceremony – Tami’s grandfather was a minister who passed away several years ago and they played a recording of him leading the Lord’s prayer, a really special way to honor his memory.
I also love that Richard picked Tami up for her first kiss – great moment!
What happens if you shoot a fast lens wide open in full sunshine? Really neat pictures, if you find the right situation. The picture above is with a Canon 35 1.4. . .the camera settings by default will be the lowest ISO and around 1/4000th or 1/8000th of a second.
Photographers typically have “fast” lenses for low light situations, but they create some neat results in bright sunlight. One benefit is separation between the subject and background – they are sharp and the background is out of focus, but still visible. Both of the above pictures are with a 35 1.4
Sometimes it works well to include backgrounds, but shooting wide open also is great for hiding clutter in an image that would otherwise be distracting. The two pictures above are at Railroad Park, which is packed with people on a spring day.
I love how the light and shadows look in the picture above. Most wedding photos need to be sharp, but it’s fun to have some artsy, storytelling images as well.
85 1.8
85 1.8
The picture above is with a 70-200 at f/4, 200mm. Shooting at 200mm and f/4 gives a similar shallow depth of field as an 85 1.2, but there will be a narrower field of view in the picture (you see a smaller slice of a scene at 200mm than at 85mm).
As the main photographer, I often have to shoot at normal apertures because having sharp pictures is very important. My second shooter gets the freedom to shoot wide-open as often as they want. . .some pictures will be out of focus, but some will be amazing, and I’m looking for some really awesome, unique shots from my second photographer. Arianna took the picture above.
35 1.4 Does this picture “need” to be taken wide open? Not necessarily, but I love the look. We made a large canvas out of it that turned out amazing!
85 1.2 – the lens and shadows work together to hide the clutter in this picture – it was taken in a church parking lot right after Kelly & Jason’s ceremony.
85 1.2 – perfect example of what this lens can do in normal, soft light. I love this look, but it is tough to nail the focus! (2nd shooter Kevin Roberts).
I love what happens when I don’t nail the focus as well!
85 1.2 – typically with 1.2, you’re looking for soft light and rad bokeh like this. Shooting in full sun means you don’t get the bokeh that is created by backlight, so sometimes (i.e. most of the time) it’s good to take some traditional pictures as well! (2nd shooter Kevin Roberts)
200mm at f/4
35 1.4 at the Sonnet House
35. 1.4 – exact same location as the picture above, but the angle is a little different. The closer you are to a subject, the less depth of field you have behind them.
Wide open
f/22 – the opposite of wide open. . .that’s what produces the cool starburst in the sunshine. I have found that shooting wide-open or just in general in full sun is much easier later in the winter – December through the end of February. Unfortunately that’s slow wedding season for most people, but the light is stellar!
17mm at f/4 – you still get a lot of depth of field, generally, with this lens, but the foreground is out of focus on this picture, which I think is pretty cool!
the problem with shooting in full sun is that you have to deal with squinty eyes. So you can have them look away from the sun, close their eyes, wear glasses. . .some people do pretty well with bright light, but others are really sensitive to it and it’s tough.
these three images are what I came up with for my challenge day. Shooting widen open in the sun is not the sort of thing that always works. Most of this shoot was at normal apertures and camera settings, but I love how these pictures turned out.
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Meredith & Josh had a rad wedding at the Sonnet House in November. Josh is a soldier, and I first met him two days after he returned home from a tour in Afghanistan. I have never photographed someone so happy as Meredith on that day we did engagement pictures. . .absolute, pure joy. The biggest delight in my job is being around fantastic couples. . .it’s such an honor, and I really hope the way they love each other rubs off on me. The joy from the engagement shoot carried over into the wedding and we had an amazing day.
For the wedding, Meredith and her mom brought in lots of personal details – family Bibles for the ring pictures, cotton and grape vines from the family farm for the tables, her father’s handcrafted backdrop for the ceremony, and an heirloom brooch for the bouquet. Carlos from Total Entertainment was the DJ and Andy Hopper from Kathy G did the flowers – two of the best in the business.
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One of the blessings of my job is to connect with family and old friends. Sami’s older sister Jenine was a friend from high school – I photographed her wedding several years ago at Sullivan’s Island, and absolutely love being around their entire family – they are fantastic people and it was definitely a delight to make the trip to Florida for Marisa & Sami. I will say Sami loves Marisa sooo much. . .it was so readily evident in the way they interacted and it made for fantastic pictures.
The Moorings club was fantastic – I loved the ceremony site – open, with tons of light. Right after the ceremony they gave us a golf cart to ride around to different parts of the island – so nice to be able to create some stellar pictures!
As evidenced by the pictures, this was a REALLY fun reception. Lots of dancing, cigar rolling, and over-all, tons of fun!
My very favorite detail was the exit – Marisa & Sami left the reception by boat – what a fun idea, especially with the “just married” sign on the boat. It’s one of my all-time favorite pictures!
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I received an email from Ashley about this time last year saying they asked a venue who was the best photographer in Alabama. . .and they said Unplugged Photography. No pressure, huh? But one of the reasons I think the last few years have been so great is that people hire us with really high expectations and consequently give us the freedom to take amazing pictures. Case in point, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens are a huge place, but we all walked to the bamboo forest, and the resulting pictures were awesome! Or the sunset pics. . .we were driving to the reception and saw a cool sky, so Ashley and Jason ran across the street with us to take a few pictures at railroad park.
It’s funny how one detail can bring an entire wedding together. . .and the detail for Ashley and Jason was something I’ve never run across at a wedding before = beards! The long jackets that the guys wore, the ascots. . .they looked so vintage and awesome. Also, I loved the bridesmaids dresses – the detail on the bottom is great!
They released butterflies during the ceremony to honor Jason’s father who passed away last year. . .the picture of the lone butterfly in the sky is one of my favorite pictures ever in terms of simplicity and symbolism.
Ashley’s mom grew up planning weddings, and it was really cool to see how all the details of the day fit together. The ceremony was at the Botanical Gardens, reception at B&A Warehouse, Mandy Majerik did the flowers, Mallory Wilkins did the planning/design, the night pictures are at the Tutwiler, and Jason’s friends played music for the ceremony and reception (holy moly, they were talented!).
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