Cliff Mautner: It’s Not Dark!
by Cliff Mautner
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CLIFF MAUTNER
This is my
terrific bride Carrisa with her mother just before she put on
her gown at The Hyatt at the Bellevue. They’re not dark.… I promise!
December 01, 2011 — A few weeks ago a potential client in my studio politely said, “I
really like that picture but it seems a little dark.” I totally get
it. I do. I understand why she may look at certain images that aren’t
over-lit, overexposed, or over processed, and call them dark. Yup. But when I took a moment to explain that there was no need to use
flash, no need to overexpose it, or to have every element within the
image bright and shiny, she saw exactly why it’s not dark!
At the beginning of any wedding day, when I first walk into the room where the bride’s getting ready, the very first thing I look for is where the light is coming from. If there’s no light in that room, I find another room! I’m looking for quality light, not quantity. I have no use for speedlights in this kind of situation, so they’re still in my bag, and they normally don’t come out to play until I shoot the family formal photos. I understand that the light level may be low, so I’m working with my Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G, and my Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G on my D3S bodies. However, my goal is to find the quality directional light to work with in order to create texture, dimension and mood. My fast Nikkor glass and the terrific high-ISO performance of the D3S allow me to produce images that maintain the essence of the environment with just a touch of window light.
It’s not uncommon for a planner, or the mother of the bride to turn on all of the lights available. I’ll politely tell them that I don’t need all of that light, turn them all off, and I tell them I’d rather just use what’s there. Invariably, doubt will enter their minds, and there are times I’ll reassure them with a peek at my LCD. Much of it comes down to style. I prefer to make the light a part of the story. I have to give Joe McNally a shout-out, because when I heard him speak about the language of light, and when I viewed his images, his use of light always speaks volumes about the story he was telling. When I shoot weddings, I’m doing my best to capture things as they unfold and utilize the light available to give the moment as much graphic impact as possible.
I also prefer to use the light in a directional fashion, which creates texture, dimension and mood, which have been reminiscent of my photographic style. I have no problem understanding that my style isn’t for every single bride, and that someone could easily say this image is dark. But the question I asked this particular bride in my studio was “What exactly would you like me to make brighter?” and “Can you think about what would have happened here if I used a flash bounced all over the place?” I explained that a documentary type image while a bride is getting ready should depict what she was feeling, and I wanted to maintain the mood of the environment for her and her mother so they could remember how it really was. I told her this was achieved through the mood of the light, and the moment they shared. She got it. She understood completely. She said it’s what drew her to my work to begin with, but couldn’t put her finger on it. I’ll be shooting their wedding next year!
Ingredients
• Camera: Nikon D3S
• Lens: Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G
• Exposure: 1/250th @ f/2.0, ISO 2000
• File format: RAW
• Computer: iMac • Software: Adobe Lightroom 3.0
At the beginning of any wedding day, when I first walk into the room where the bride’s getting ready, the very first thing I look for is where the light is coming from. If there’s no light in that room, I find another room! I’m looking for quality light, not quantity. I have no use for speedlights in this kind of situation, so they’re still in my bag, and they normally don’t come out to play until I shoot the family formal photos. I understand that the light level may be low, so I’m working with my Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G, and my Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G on my D3S bodies. However, my goal is to find the quality directional light to work with in order to create texture, dimension and mood. My fast Nikkor glass and the terrific high-ISO performance of the D3S allow me to produce images that maintain the essence of the environment with just a touch of window light.
It’s not uncommon for a planner, or the mother of the bride to turn on all of the lights available. I’ll politely tell them that I don’t need all of that light, turn them all off, and I tell them I’d rather just use what’s there. Invariably, doubt will enter their minds, and there are times I’ll reassure them with a peek at my LCD. Much of it comes down to style. I prefer to make the light a part of the story. I have to give Joe McNally a shout-out, because when I heard him speak about the language of light, and when I viewed his images, his use of light always speaks volumes about the story he was telling. When I shoot weddings, I’m doing my best to capture things as they unfold and utilize the light available to give the moment as much graphic impact as possible.
I also prefer to use the light in a directional fashion, which creates texture, dimension and mood, which have been reminiscent of my photographic style. I have no problem understanding that my style isn’t for every single bride, and that someone could easily say this image is dark. But the question I asked this particular bride in my studio was “What exactly would you like me to make brighter?” and “Can you think about what would have happened here if I used a flash bounced all over the place?” I explained that a documentary type image while a bride is getting ready should depict what she was feeling, and I wanted to maintain the mood of the environment for her and her mother so they could remember how it really was. I told her this was achieved through the mood of the light, and the moment they shared. She got it. She understood completely. She said it’s what drew her to my work to begin with, but couldn’t put her finger on it. I’ll be shooting their wedding next year!
Ingredients
• Camera: Nikon D3S
• Lens: Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G
• Exposure: 1/250th @ f/2.0, ISO 2000
• File format: RAW
• Computer: iMac • Software: Adobe Lightroom 3.0
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