Donegal wedding photography

In chess there's a saying 'the only way to get better is to play a smarter opponent'.

In photography that saying might read something like 'the only way to get better is to shoot with a smarter photographer'.

Fergal Megannety is one of the best (and therefore smartest!) photographers around. He has won numerous awards for his wedding photography and I happen to know just how good he is from personal experience - he was our wedding photographer back in 2007!

Last month Fergal was kind enough to let me accompany him to wedding he was shooting so that I could observe, learn and implement some of what he does into my own weddings

The trip was a bit of an experience in and of itself. Fergal lives in Donegal in the north west of Ireland and the wedding and reception took place along the rugged Atlantic coastline. We were blessed with good weather (that is, it wasn't raining) and the drive to and from his home in Letterkenny took us through the spectacular Glenveagh mountains.

It's hard to describe what sets Fergal apart from other photographers I have shot alongside. But he kinda has this aura about him that puts everyone at ease. He is also very efficient in his use of time and this, I think, comes from a deep understanding of the character of the people he photographs and the way in which weddings tend to be in Donegal. Imagine a wedding stripped of all fuss and pretence where everyone is completely down to earth and you're pretty much there! Fergal seemed to know, to the minute, how long the church ceremony would take and which photographs he needed to capture and where to position himself in order to do this. That meant that the rest of the time was spent relaxedly catching candid shots of the guests.

Fergal also knew his surroundings perfectly including which beaches would catch the light at which times of the day and was able to adjust the plan to suit the flow of the day and the changing light conditions. Rather than leading to a formulaic approach to the wedding, the certainty that comes with years of knowledge and experience allows a good photographer (a 'smart' photographer you might say) to keep nimble and fluid, constantly keeping an eye out for those little moments that are constantly happening but that photographers can miss if they are stressed out or overly fixated on making sure they tick shots off of a list.

While there were no real 'aha' moments, I did take away one or two practical things that I have been implementing in my own photography.

Fergal quite often shoots wide - like between 24 and 50mm. He almost never has his 70-200mm lens on his camera, except when shooting candids in a crowd or standing at the back of the church. This gives many of his images a kind of intimacy that's hard to convey with a long telephoto lens. I still love my 80-200mm, and - like many pros - continue to use it frequently at weddings. But Fergal has definitely made me think more abour wider lenses.

Fergal also rocks a handheld light meter. I'd never really understood why you would want to use a lightmeter when modern cameras do it all for you. But looking at Fergal's images, very few if any were over or underexposed. The images I took at the wedding, on the other hand, showed greater variance in exposure and required more tweakage in photoshop. Perhaps the only way to get better is to be smarter than your camera. I didn't buy a handheld lightmeter when I got home but I did download an app for my iphone and now carry around a gray card. They are called 'smart' phones after all.

Finally, I almost never saw Fergal's flash fire! I tend to use fill flash the majority of the time, even when shooting outside, and would rather have to add a touch of contrast in post than worry about hard light and dark shadows in my images. What Fergal does is ever so gently direct the action so that the guests stand by windows or white walls while he's photographing them. The whole point of photographing the bridal party on a beach (which he does as often as possible) is so that the sand can act as a giant reflector. He's so good that people don't know the are being directed. But he is subtly bringing people into good light. All the time! So whereas I'm bringing light to the party by using my flash to even out or overpower bad light, Fergal is constantly making life easier for himself. Smart photographer isn't he?!

There's definitely no right or a wrong way of doing things. I remain convinced my own approach to lighting gives my portraits a combination of glamour and drama that few wedding photographers (with the exception of people like ) are capable of matching.

I also love the soft yet directional light that comes from a snooted, bounced flash and allows me to isolate a subject in a dark reception room.

But there is, for sure, a great deal to be said for making the most out of available light. This allows the smart photographer to use flash as a creative decision rather than out of necessity.

There's so much more to what Fergal does than light or a particular camera setting. And for this reason, the experience was both a wonderful affirmation of the areas in which I already excel and an opportunity to reflect on one or two other aspects of how I approach weddings.

The following day I snapped a few photos of Fergal turning wooden bowls in his workshop before heading back home.

Massive thanks to Fergal and Sveta for their warm hospitality and to Hugh and Marie for having me along at their wedding!

Thanks for looking!

Sean

© Sean Afnan 2012, all rights reserved