'What I Shot; What I Got': My 1st Mobile Wedding Shoot
(The rabbi reciting the text of the ancient "ketuba" wedding contract, during the ceremony)
ShotNotes:
Was excited to shoot my first #wedding, exclusively with my #smartphone (...as in unplanned and impromptu, at night, without my usual gear: #beastgrip_pro rig, #Lumecube, lenses, tripod, or any OCF (off-camera-flash) or spot lighting. Many hits, some misses, and learned a lot on the fly (and - thankfully - the couple loved the results!).
Short backstory: while the couple - good friends - had planned for a relative (himself a hobbyist fotog) to bring along his DSLR to photograph the nuptials, he either didn't show, or was there and didn't use it (I didn't know him, so didn't know either way).
While I'd previously offered them a few shooting/video/livestreaming packages, it was a last - last-minute fotog gig, and we weren't able to close in time.
Since I, however, was at the ceremony, when it was apparent that the chosen fotog was unavailable, thinking fast, I whipped out my Galaxy #s20ultra.
Mostly shot on 4:3@108mp mode - to gather as much light as possible - despite the characteristic slight shutter lag, since there wasn't a lot of movement, and the single backyard floodlight was "adequate."
In planned situations, nine times out of ten I'll shoot in Pro Mode to craft the scene - but here, it was a real "run-and-gun," spray-and-pray" situation.
Had there been traditional Hora circular dancing, however, I'd likely have been sunk, since - with all due respect to cellphone sensor technology - it's limited, slower, and less flexible compared to an equivalent DSLR (yes, I'm familiar with the Sony and other 1" sensors, and Pixel 6 computational face deblurring - but still...)
Anyway, I wanted the ceremonial candles to light their faces, and hoped that the warm light bouncing back down off the huppah wedding canopy would illuminate their faces over the colder outdoor light, further away.
I think I succeeded in that goal, although it tricky to get useful, flattering angles on the fly...
What was a challenge was getting pale Caucasian and Negro skin tones - if not exactly "right" as far as tonal variance and exposure - then at least getting a good balance between the two in the same, flattering candlelit/harsh LED light and doing a final color-correction and light and tone balance in post.
Edited in #topazlabs denoise and #Gigapixel to get a quality baseline, then #LightroomMobile, and #Lightroom desktop to check full-screen.
The full shoot is here: https://www.mobileweddingsession.davidbrianbender.com/
Comments are welcome, and if welcome you following me on Facebook and my website for more unique Israel #smartphonephotography #mobilephotography and video galleries:
www.davidbrianbender.com
www.Facebook.com/davidbrianbender
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