Nicholas J DeSciose

Research how professional wedding photographers photograph place settings and tables

Horseart Loc: Alabama

I can tell you for sure that the bride will want to see at least 2 of everything that is on the tables. one shot should be a close-up. It looks to me like between the Quist and Shapiro knowledge, you should have everything you need to know to get this done.

Here's what some other pro wedding photographers say:

Have a center subject. ...
The rule of three colors. ...
Use natural light. ...
Pull back. ...
And then get in close. ...
Experiment with angles. ...

Use both your camera and your cell phone and have fun! Best wishes.

pdsilen Loc: Roswell, New Mexico

I do a lot of food photography. So I might be able to help you out. If you will be shooting a very long table with a large number of guests sitting at it, here's how I would shoot it. I would start at the head of the table and shoot at differents angles and get the whole table inside the frame. And then go to the foot of the table and do the same thing. While shooting I would sharp focus on the head/foot and bracket with five steps. do the same thing for the middle and the end. and develop the photo with a very high quality software app.

You indicated that you will be shooting outdoors. Hope for a cloudy sky. If it's a bright sunny day. set the table in a shady spot so that you don't get shadows cast from the utensils and the center piece. If necessary move the table to the sid of the building that's in the shade. I hope that this helps you. And tell the lucky bride and groom that I wish them both the best of happiness.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

I totally agree with E.L.. Shapiro, you are way over thinking this. When the tables are set, take a shot or two, check the histogram, make adjustments, then just walk around, bang, bang, bang, take fifty handheld, no added light pictures. Some wide, some tight. If they put together a book later they might include two of three of these, but plates and glasses or people eating are not what this day is about.
...Cam

Sergey

I got very helpful suggestions. Thankyou very much to all who replied. I will try to follow these advises and hope for the best :)

Thanks again to everyone. This is so helpful community

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...I will have ... no flash or any other light... Sergey basically the primary difference between hobbyist and commercial photographers is mastery of illumination... Word!

Way too funny that you list the contents of your kit, like that is supposed to be the ultimate solution?

Sorry Sergey, you actually do have light... it's called ambient light which btw way can easily be shaped and controlled with scrims and reflectors... Commercial shooters know how to handle this scenario... Yet so many hobbyist only see every challenge through the "lens" of their kit i.e. camera and lens with little if any thought of what it actually takes.

Even more telling are some of the replies here which encourage you to "bounce" your speedlight off the ceiling....
UHH posters have no clue about actually reading/studying the scenario at hand...
Then you have the Ed Shapiro who always loves to pontificate yet provides no images to collaborate his inferences....

What I've sadly noticed is that UHH currently is virtually devoid of commercial photographers now... The lion share have all moved on... btw, flickr is a far better portal for those who actually work commercially... As is Instagram or even facebook.

Best sincere and honest advice Sergey? Hire a photo assistant to handle your illumination challenges... All they will need are collapsible scrims and reflectors (both silver and white). I worked years as a photo assistant booking work through the ASMP.

I also encourage any serious photographers who wish to work commercially to consider ASMP membership. However please be advised you will need a sponsor in order to join... The ASMP isn't like the PPA who are primarily interested in taking your membership fee with little if any concern as to what you bring to the table.

Again Sergey maybe get off UHH and join other commercial photographers on flickr and Instagram.
Least I come off as simply another "pontificater" below please find wedding imagery with only reflectors and scrims.

Hope this helps... or is at least food for thought...
Cheers! Thomas

Illumination: Ambient enhanced by a collapsible reflector white reflector. For you hobbyist who only think kit: Nikon D3 and 135mm f/11 ISO 220


Illumination: Ambient enhanced by a collapsible reflector white reflector. Again Nikon D3 f/7.1; ISO 200

Sergey

Thomas, thank you for your reply, I appreciate it.

I think you misunderstood my post. I am not a commercial photographer, I am a hobbyist and sadly a mediocre one. My primary interest is landscape photography and I never sold (or tried to) any prints. This task was pushed on me by my dear niece (through my wife) and is not a paid job. I guess she liked a few shots I made at our family gatherings over years.

I listed contents of my kit just to give information that I don't have too much to work with - that's all I will have for this task. By saying that I don't have any lights I just wanted to point that I don't have flashes, nor do I know how to use it to be honest. I do have a collapsible reflector and I will bring it just in case. I don't have scrims either. So my best option will be to ask my wife to hold the reflector to soften shadows if the day will be very sunny.

Hiring an assistant(s) is not an option for me as I don't have a budget for that, nor do I know how to manage them. I have no plans becoming a commercial photographer because I am much better at my IT job than I am a photographer. Photography for me just a hobby that I enjoy, nothing more.

I am not being hired by my niece, but rather asked to take some pictures for her. She will have professional photographers there and I have no clue why she needs me, but I am in situation where I can't say no. So, I told her and will repeat again that she shouldn't expect any good pictures from me and should rely on her hired photographers, but I will do my best.

As I never did this kind of photography(nor did I have any interest in wedding photography) I asked for some advice and was glad to get some suggestions. Will these advises make me a commercial wedding photographer? Of course not. But at least I got some ideas what to pay intention to and what kind of compositions I should try.

Thank you again

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

Well said Sergey. And as for bouncing off the ceiling, if you had a flash and did not know how to use it, that is the safest bit of advice for any photographer to get a softer lit image when they don't know how to use their lighting equipment, which to be fair, you made clear to us. Of course, we could go on and on how you should use lighting to shape and form a table still life but there is no point in going in to that, since you told us that is not you and not your photography style.

I was not sure if you had a flash or not. Even a built-in camera pop-up flash can be softened by using a card to angle it up to the ceiling and not give that beginner harsh flash look, that many would do. I think you will get a few good shots from what you have learned here. Let us see a few images after the wedding.

Sergey

Thank you Lucian

srt101fan

Thomas - You have posted spectacular photos on this site. I don't think anyone here questions your skill and artistry. But you seem to assume that everyone asking a question aspires to a photographic career. Why can't you every once in a while come "down" to the level of hobbyists? I think that's what Shapiro tries to do (and in my opinion very effectively; by the way, Ed has posted plenty of his work.) Not a criticism, Thomas, just a plea for you to provide advice more tailored to the posted issue. In the present case hiring an assistant is clearly a non-starter. It would have been much more helpful to expand on your comments on the use of ambient light.....

(An admirer of your work)

lreisner Loc: Union,NJ

For white balance you can get a gray card or one of those color charts to help you in post processing. Good luck.

Sergey

Once again I want to say thank you to all who gave their advice or encouragement. I took a bunch of pictures and sent many to the bride. She liked them (whether she was just polite or really liked them I don't know).

Here are a few examples that survived my culling process. Some of them have deep shades but I didn't have a chance to use the reflector that I brought.

Best,
Sergey

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E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

"Then you have the Ed Shapiro who always loves to pontificate yet provides no images to collaborate his inferences.... "

Hey Thomas- That's not nice! And not fare. Why?

I have many images on this form, especially in the area of food and beverage photography which are posted with diagrams and precise instructions and suggestions.

In this thread, the OP was asked to make a few record shots of the place settings at a wedding, not create an image for national advertising of tableware or catering services. Besides, I have been shooting weddings for decades and not many clients are all that interested in the place settings. Yes, I do shoot such detail and fillers if there is anything that seems especially elegant or important.

There is little or no interest in commercial photography on this forum. I started a special section on "Industrial and Commercial photography" and there's hardly any traffic. If the OP was interested, there are many of my posts in that section with tutorials on photographing highly polished surfaces, dinnerwear would be in that category. I started yet another section "The Dynamics of Photography Lighting"- again it has minimal participation"

I do not "PONTIFICATE". You should know better. I am a nuts and bolts guy and try to offer some solutions to answer questions. The OP started his post by explaining he was anxious about taking on responsibility my first suggestion was for him to calm down and approach the "job" with a simple method. I'm sure that he was not about to bring a 60" softbox, boom stand and 2400 watt-second of flash lighting to the wedding. He will use natural daylight or if all else fails direct flash. A venue with a high ceiling and no wall in close proximity to the tables would preclude bounce flash. Pontificating is not my game. I offer precise instructions, and illustrations if I can, and I do not call attention to anyof my qualifications, affiliations, credentials, or titles. I doubt of the OP is gonna join the ASMP or embark on a career in editorial photograhy.

I can site a few lighting principles as to the angle of incidents, rendition of textures, how to deal with unwanted reflections, and how all kinds of "tabletop" work can be done with relatively simple lighting. The salad shot (attached) was done in the studio with a large overhead softbox and sever strategically placed reflectors. At home, when we occasionally entertain the entire family and my lovely hard-working wife toils away in the kitchen with my occasional unwanted help, she does no-take kindly to all my ugly hardware in our dining room, yet she likes pictures of her bountiful table. So, out comes the cellphone camera and a 100-watt ordinary light bulb in the Tiffiny-style lamp over the table- see the results attached. Whether you know your night or not- the gear is secondary. and can be improvised.

65% of my commercial work is in the food service industry. During the pandemic lockdowns, many of my regular clients, some small restaurants and food distributors, were suffering financial losses. Eating in restaurants and coffee shops was prohibited, and many were closed down for the duration. Suddenly many of my clients needed to go online for home delivery and curbside pickup- in order to survive. There were no big budgets or virtually no money to spend yet they needed decent menu photograhs. I ran around with minimal gear, no stylists, no assistants and very little time. I shot with flash, window light, and whatever I could find on site. In many cases, I was paid with pizza and sandwiches but we all survived. The French pastry and Egg rolls were shot on-site with window light, on the fly, in less than 1/2 hour.

I did not notice your remarks until the thread came up again. Messed up my morning. Well, I got to go off on a shoot this afternoon- a construction site- not very glamorous!

Have a good day!

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

See- I told you so...you did just fine. I'm sure the wedding couple was more than pleased! Looks like a nice festive party!

BebuLamar

Pontificate??? I never found your post to be pontificated but I found Thomas's are.