"INTERVIEW WITH JEFF ASCOUGH" Resumes Today

[rtrace]

Jeff,

 

How do you choose what will be in B&W and what will end up in color? You prefer B&W as you say, but I found this a tad funny ;)

 

"For me, less is more. I personally like my colours to be real as I'm documenting reality."

 

But reality is color, no?

 

Bogdan

[jeffascough]

Bogdan, I believe the quote you taken was from a post about colour and trends in

photography.

 

I'm not entirely sure how you've made the connection from that to this post???

 

Reality in the context of the quote has nothing to do with colour or b/w. It is to do with real

moments rather than staged photographs.

[iskandar_azaman___kuala_lu]

Hi Jeff,

Great work there.

 

Always wanted to know, since you choose to work with JPEG, how do you handle white balance when you shoot available light?

[jeffascough]

Hi Iskandar

 

WB is preset to daylight. I leave it on that all day unless I am in tungsten light. Then I'll switch

it over to tungsten or do a custom WB if I get the time.

 

TBH since CS3 and ACR4 have arrived, I could shoot AWB all day and do the WB correction in

the software.

[matt_m__toronto_]

jeff,

 

i believe you mentioned how you used to use rangefinders for your wedding shoots. how has shooting with an slr style camera affected the way you shoot.

 

have you given the digital rangefinders a chance?

 

cheers

[jonj]

Jeff,

 

Earlier in your career did you ever second guess you approach/style to try to conform to the mainstream wedding photographers? Also when did you realize that you where ready to start doing weddings in your own true style.

[darren_cook]

You said:

I like to see a picture, set the composition, my angle to the light, and then wait for something to happen within that picture.

 

 

What sort of angle to the light are you looking out for?

 

Thanks, Darren.

[jeffascough]

Hi Matt

 

My work is more consistent with an SLR's. There was always a bit of compromise with

rangefinders. I can also use longer lenses with a SLR, something which is very tricky with a

RF.

 

The downside is the weight, size and noise of an SLR. I could get away with a lot more with

a RF. I also had to change the way I captured the moment. With a RF I could nail it by

seeing it. With an SLR I have to anticipate it and shoot a couple of frames off to nail it.

 

I've tried the M8. Unfortunately there are too many issues with it at the moment. Leica

have done some really odd things with the design of the digital side of things. I still have

all my Leica lenses though just in case they actually bring out a better model.

[jeffascough]

Hi Jonathan

 

About five years into my career (around 1994) I started to get disillusioned with traditional

wedding photography. I'm glad I shot it as it taught me a lot about lighting, face position,

camera heights etc. However, I just felt that I was being too intrusive on the day.

 

Around this time I bought my first SLR. A Canon eos 100 and a cheap 28-80 lens. Between

the formal images I took candids, mainly for my own pleasure just to keep my interest

going. What I was really surprised with was the client reaction. They loved all these

informal images. I knew then that I was onto something. I could satisfy my own artistic

desires and also please my clients.

[jeffascough]

Hi Darren

 

I'll look at the picture and decide where I want the light direction to come from in relation

to the composition. I just move my position in order to accommodate that light direction.

 

Sometimes the light will be the most important thing about the picture and the original

composition may be compromised as a result. Sometimes the composition may be the

most important thing and the lighting may be compromised as a result. It's often a case of

juggling light and composition to get the best picture.

 

The killer pictures happen when I can get both light and composition bang on without

compromise.

[pete_s.]

Hi again Jeff,

 

While the techniques you use and the results you are getting are certainly very interesting I was wondering a bit about your approach to the marketing and sales side of the business.

 

Could you give us a brief description of what a typical client is interested in (why you?) and how you market yourself to them/how they find you?

[matt_m__toronto_]

do your clients have a traditional photographer on the day to get the 'typical posed shots' or are you 'the man'? do you find your clients are forgiving when it comes to high iso grain? i guess since it's not a mainstream way of shooting, seeing the noise of a high iso may come as a surprise to many.

 

for what it's worth, i've toyed with the idea of shooting some documentary style weddings, and you've given me a bit of inspiration to 'maybe' go out and do that! :)

 

cheers

[jeffascough]

Hi Peter

 

I'm sorry but I'm not prepared to talk about my business and marketing on an open forum.

I'm more than happy to discuss my photography but not my business.

[pete_s.]

Fair enough Jeff, I appreciate you honesty.

 

Thanks,

 

Peter

[jeffascough]

Hi Matt

 

No. My clients don't have a traditional photographer on the day. I have it in my contract

that I am the sole photographer. TBH most of my clientele shudder with horror at the

thought of having to pose for the camera.

 

High ISO grain isn't an issue. You should have seen the 10" Tmax 3200 images I used to

put into the albums :))

 

I think many photographers worry way too much what the clients *might* think about the

images in terms of resolution, quality etc etc etc. Clients just want to see great images. I

certainly haven't had anyone comment about high iso noise on digital.

[tonylarcombe]

Jeff,

 

Stunning photos sir, incredible. All the ones you posted here, none of them have any flash involved right ? some obviously have no flash, but none of them ? Do you do any formals at all, you must get asked to do them, and how do you feel about the formal shots ?

 

Tony.

[tonylarcombe]

Ok, I should have read the post before, they are examples of shots without flish in available light, I'm sorry for jumping the gun.

 

I'll ask another question instead, to clarify, so inside you mostly use your zoom and your primes at 2.8 and below, and mostly have the ISO set high ? do you shoot in Manual or Aperture Priority ?

 

Tony.

[jeffascough]

Tony...I shoot in a combination of manual and program at the moment. More info is on my

blog. www.jeffascough.biz

[jeffascough]

"In answer to the questions on formal images. These are the type of

thing that I tend to take when asked. They are very simple and quick to do."<div></div>

[jeffascough]

No 3<div></div>

[jeffascough]

No 4<div></div>

[jeffascough]

As you can see, my formals are very simple. They are also very quick to do and the clients

appreciate that.

[rtrace]

Jeff - never mind the color thing. I understand. My real question was how do you decide on which images to leave in color and which to make B&W? What are the percentages of B&W vs. color? And is this solely your thing, or do clients ask you for something in particular?

 

Bogdan

[jmichaelc]

Thanks Jeff for all the knowledge you've shared with this fourm.

 

For all those who may not know, Jeff has developed groups of his personal actions, specifically developed for black and white conversions with a few actions for color as well. I purchased these from Jeff about two months ago and i highly recommend them. I also swithched to shooting JPEG's only about 6 months ago and, for the past 6 weddings have processed them all soley with Jeff's actions and PSCS3. These actions in conjunction with shooting JPEG has dramatically changed the appearance of my finished presentations. The actions are certainly worth the price and can be downloaded directly from his site.

[gmahler5th]

Hi Jeff,

 

In 'Side lighting' above you mention 3/4 lighting. Did you darken the edge in Post, and if not what did you use to darken the edge in camera/composition?

 

And whats the trick to getting such deep rich blacks without the noise?

 

--steve