"INTERVIEW WITH JEFF ASCOUGH" Resumes Today

[wedding-photography-denver]

Hi Jeff,

 

no questions, just a note of appreciation for giving your time. Hope your plate is filled with cherries ;-)

 

D.

[jeffascough]

Hi Jonathan

 

Not sure that I understand what you are asking.

[barry_davis___st._louis__m]

Jeff, do you build their album with or without their input? To Jonathan's question, if your only using a 35-70 lens you must be within a few feet of the subject(s)...Unobtrusive would tend to say you not right up on them but back some bit thus the need for a longer lens...like the 70-200!

[jeffascough]

Hi Barry

 

Album design is my sole responsibility. Clients don't have any input into it. It's part of the

service that we provide.

 

Unobtrusive is more a state of mind and how you behave. Hiding in the shadows can be more

intrusive than standing within five feet of the subject. Simply because it is an odd thing to do

and humans tend to pick up on odd behaviour.

[djphoto]

Jeff, thanks for taking your time to do this "interview." I also read your posts on the Digital Wedding Forum and always find them very thoughtful and helpful.

 

I've been shooting weddings a long time -- longer than you, in fact, though not nearly as well. Except for the early years, when I had only a twin-lens reflex, camera handling has always been a problem for me. I would be interested to know how you work: do you work with one camera and lens at a time, or do you have two or more bodies with different lenses hanging on your person? Also, how do you keep your equipment close at hand? Do you use a conventional bag, or one of the belt systems?

 

To expand the above question a bit, what do you take with you to a wedding, and what do you actually keep close at hand?

 

Sometimes I miss the simplicity of the TLR days. Whenever I picked up the Rollei it always had the right lens mounted. (Or the wrong one, depending on how you look at it!)

 

Thanks in advance for your answer.

 

Dave Jenkins

[scott_hicks4]

Hi Jeff,

I know you mentioned that you prefer B&W, but I must say, your color images are superb. When working with color, do you have your camera set to saturate the image or is it on more of a "natural" setting? If natural, what are you doing in Post?

 

Thanks.

[jeffascough]

Hi Dave

 

Great to hear from you.

 

I've actually had to change the way that I work because I pulled a muscle in my back a

couple of months ago. It's fine, but my doctor advised me to not keep aggravating it. So I

use two camera bodies with a lens on each and a small Lowepro bag around my waist that

takes two lenses.

 

Usually I will have a 24-70 on one body and a fast prime (usually 50L) on the other. In the

pouch I have a 35L and sometimes an 80L. That's pretty much it for how I work. If I need

more lenses I use a small satchel type bag. It's featured on my blog. I try not to work with

it though as it causes pressure on my back.

 

During the summer I'll ditch all the primes and just use one body with a 24-70. That's my

most prefered way of working, but I need a good sunny day to do that.

 

I've ditched the 70-200 as it's too heavy. I did ditch the 24-70 for a while but I can't live

without it :))

[jeffascough]

Hi Scott

 

My camera is set to neutral (1DMKIIN) and the contrast is backed off by one click. The

images come out of camera pretty flat. I use one of my actions to boost the colour and

contrast. Most people use curves to do this but I find it blocks up the shadows too easily.

My colour actions are set so that the shadows don't block up.

 

I like my colour images to look like film, so I'm not into heavily saturated colours or too

much contrast. I also like my flesh tones to be on the warm side, so I usually boost the WB

a little to get this.

 

It's basically a couple of actions that I use to get the tones that I want.

[stephen dohring]

Jefs thanks so much for your time and insight I have two questions:

 

1. Could you get into a little detail on what you touched on above regarding the light "lifting" to get the 3d effect. As if you were teaching a class how can newer shooters recognize that and position ourselves correctly?

 

2. Your quote above: "Most new photographers go for the moment, and very rarely see the picture. I often see a good moment captured but it's lost in the rest of the image which is usually quite poor". What is your thought process as you are expecting a moment or if it happens very fast what is your thought process to get more impact and meaning out of capturing that moment.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

-Steve

[jonj]

Jeff regarding the 24-70mm what I was asking is at 24-70mm you must be up close to the subject close enough to be noticed. I was wondering how do you stay out of the way and still get such candid shots with out the subject catching on to you?

[gavin_cato1]

Hi Jeff.

 

Thanks for your time with this. I understand you don't pose generally, and shoot moments as you see/plan for them. In the weddings I shoot (I have never been to UK), there is generally 1-2hrs for photos after the ceremony.

 

I'm curious if there is an equivalent time period in the weddings you shoot which is time dedicated for photography after the ceremony - and if so how you deal with it if you are not a fan of posed shots.

 

For my part I try to get a lot of shots of the couple interacting together (if you look at my photos you'll see what I mean), along with quite a few posed shots (which a lot of people mistake as being candids). There are times however during this period that I struggle for ideas for the next series of poses/shots and was hoping you might have some tips for that.

 

cheers

 

Gav

[aizan_sasayama]

Jeff, while you're shooting a wedding are you entirely focused on providing your client with a

product, or do you sometimes take a photo for your own photojournalistic/documentary

interest?

[jeffascough]

Hi Steve

 

I'm not sure I can answer your question without showing you in a practical demonstration.

The best thing to do is to practice with a model. Take images in different lighting

conditions and see which give you the best images. That's how I started out. You should

be looking for how the light moulds the subject. Sometimes it's best to squint when

looking at the light as this gives you a better indication of the light direction.

 

One of the differences that separates the men from the boys in photography, is the

photographers ability to see light direction and quality.

 

Regarding capturing the moment. I try and second guess what is going to happen. It might

sound weird but I have almost a sixth sense when it comes to shooting. I can see the shot

in my minds eye before it happens. I suspect that this is a result of many years of

experience though, rather than me having any special ability :))

 

I know how and when to position myself for a shot even before I bring the camera up to

my eye. Once the camera is up to my eye, I then refine the shot and decide on what to

leave in and leave out of the image. Then I wait for the shot to happen. If all hell is

breaking loose around me, say the dancing shots in the evening, then I'll go with my

instincts and react to things happening. I do find this way of shooting to be more

haphazard though, and my success rate is a lot lower.

[jeffascough]

Hi Jonathan

 

Like I said earlier. Unobtrusiveness is in the mind. You can be unobtrusive and be less than

three feet from the subject. It's all about how you behave when shooting. If you

permanently have a camera up to your eye, firing off hundreds of images, the client is

going to be very aware of you. If you simply have the camera down at your side and just

quietly observe, then they will relax and start to ignore you.

 

Unobtrusiveness doesn't mean you can't be seen. That's a mistake many people make. For

many clients unobtrusiveness means that you are letting them get on with their day

without making them stop for photographs.

[jeffascough]

Hi Gav

 

Can't help you on the posing tips I'm afraid :))

 

Most of my weddings have a drinks reception directly after the ceremony. This takes around

90 mins. I'll need 10 mins of that 90 to do the formals. For the rest of the time I shoot

images of people having a good time, dining room details, that sort of thing.

[jeffascough]

Hi Aizan

 

I take pictures firstly for my clients. However, I also have to satisfy my own artistic needs so I

do take images to please me as well. But the emphasis is on providing the clients with a great

set of pictures that they will enjoy looking at.

[barry_davis___st._louis__m]

Jeff, is it possible to see one of your completed albums. Your website has been very helpful and I love the shots, I was just curious how you put it all together. For me, the album is the medium that expresses all the collective artistic work that we do. Blessings to you and your family.

[jeffascough]

Hi Barry

 

Sorry I haven't got a completed album that I can share on here. If you email me, I'll see what I

can do.

[sune_pedersen1]

In addition to the above question by Barry Davis, I would like to know a little about your workflow when it comes to the albums.

 

Do you use any special software?

Do you use any standard layouts?

Do you have any preferences as to the number of pages and type of album you deliver?

 

thank you in advance!

[jeffascough]

Hi Sune

 

I use Jorgensen album designer software and Yervant's Page Gallery 4 for designing the

albums.

 

My albums are Jorgensen exclusively. The number of pages and album shape/design varies

according to client's taste.

[john_baker8]

Can you tell me what the name of the song that plays on your web site? One of the girls in my office loves it!

[stephen dohring]

I ask again if that is ok - Jeff I know you don't want to get in to your business side but I thought I would ask a general question.

 

Is their a large high end market (including destinations) that you and some of your fellow pros shoot for? Do you generally get referals or actually market to that clientel or does it come down to just producing top notch work that gets recognized? So many top pros claim to make in excess of 10k and I was wondering do they they really shoot a large volume of weddings?

 

Do you find your work appreciated by the higher end clientel or are you sometimes hired because they want and can afford the best? Whatever your comfortable with sharing is appreciated, it is interesting to gain insight on someone at your established level

[anika london media]

Hey Jeff, Just wondering how photomechanic compares to noise filters like noise ninja and noiseware professional (imagenomic). Does yours work faster being it's own program than having to work within photoshop?

Thanks!

[jeffascough]

Hi John

 

My web designer sourced the music for me. I have no idea what the piece is called, or who it's

written by.

[jeffascough]

Hi Steve

 

My clients tend to come from different socio-economic backgrounds. Most of them are in

the professional sector - doctors, lawyers, bankers etc. I also shoot weddings for the

English Aristocracy, sports stars and celebrities. However I will only do a handful of these

gigs a year as the magazines tend to pick them up first.

 

My work comes in from a variety of different sources. Recommendation, internet

placement, magazine ads etc. The one thing that all my clients have in common is that

they understand good photography, and want good photography on their wedding day.