Digital Wedding Photography
Steelman Studios: Maui Wedding Photographers

We are fortunate enough to be involved in a paradigm shift in photography. Digital photography is opening up new areas of creativity previously unreachable for many photographers. Our creative possibilities have been increased exponentially with this new technology. Photographers now have an almost unlimited opportunity to be as innovative as they wish.

So what does this have to do with your Maui wedding photographs? It opens up new possibilities for your wedding images to be more creative in ways you may never have imagined. You now have the opportunity to make changes and improvements to your images, and the process is not only available to almost everyone, it is relatively quick and affordable. It is now possible to alter an image to improve it’s content, create a mood or feeling with the use of computer enhanced manipulation, or to save an image that would have been discarded if it were shot on film.

Let's start with altering an image to improve it's content. How many times have you seen a photograph you really like, except for one small flaw? Perhaps a blink, a hair out of place, or a tanline? Shooting mostly outdoors here in Hawaii, we encounter changing light levels, wind, bugs, people in the backround and changing weather conditions. These challenges, not encountered in a studio, can be overcome with digital photography. Digital imaging allows us to view the image on our LCD screen immediately, and then allows us to make changies in framing, lighting or exposure, then re-shoot. However, it is sometimes not possible to re-capture a moment. Expressions change, the sun goes down, the wind blows the veil the wrong way, a tear only slides down your cheek once before hitting the ground, and you only have one first kiss. So, if we can't re-shoot it, we can work on it in the computer to eliminate unwanted aspects in a process called re-touching.

Re-touching is an area where digital photography shines. With photo re-touching software, our digital Maui wedding experts can make changes to an existing photo. The dog is gone from the background, the fire hydrant or utility pole is replaced with foliage, and the swimmer in the water behind you is replaced with nothing but bright blue sea.

Digital re-touching of your Maui wedding photos is not only for distracting elements. You can alter your appearance as well. Tan lines, sunburned faces, perspiration, and wind blown hair can all be minimized or removed. Perhaps you have a mole or tattoo you would rather not see in your wedding photos. Instead of posing to avoid the unwanted feature, there is now the option of digitally removing it using the computer. The possibilities are limitless. You can now have the perfect skin, thinner waist or arms, brighter eyes, and whiter teeth that you were going to have on your dream wedding day!

Now as exciting as those possibilities are, there are more. Digital images can be changed for purely artistic reasons.

Digital images shot in color can easily be changed to black and white, sepia, hand-colored, or hand-tinted. It is now possible to create digital paintings as well. Digital artists that have experience with actual acrylic, oil and watercolor paints use a digital painting program to create works of art from your digital photographs. Painting in a virtual setting has it’s advantages. Not only do the artists have less health problems associated with paint fumes and chemicals, but they have the opportunity to create limited edition Giclee prints for you and your family in a variety of sizes and mediums printed on premium quality luster photo paper, watercolor paper or canvass. Not just a photograph anymore, these prints are gorgeous oil paintings, or watercolors and are hanging not only in your house, but your parent’s house, and will last for generations.

Now I am sure you have thought of many other possibilities for your digital images. You can make holiday cards and announcements, print them on t-shirts, birthday cakes, coffee mugs, email them to your friends and family, and even use them as your credit card image. The possibilities for digital images of your wedding on Maui are only limited by your imagination.

Now it is time for the comparisons. I’m no techno-weenie, but I have shot over 700 weddings with various digital cameras over the past 5 years, and I know what a good photograph looks like.

When we began shooting, we started with 4 and 5 mega pixel cameras. We would bring these cameras along on any film weddings and shoot the digital cameras as a backup, with film being the principal format. As our experience increased and new cameras were released, we started to see more couples choosing digital over film when given a chance to view both formats. For the last year or two, we have shot film upon request, but most of our bookings are digital.

The most frequently asked question regarding digital photography is “Are the digital enlargements as sharp as film?” Several years ago we would have said “no, film is still much better for enlargements”, but today, we are printing 30"x40" wall portraits with virtually no loss in image quality. The rule of thumb with wall images is you take the diameter of the image, multiply by three, and you have the proper viewing distance for that particular size image. These 30"x40" prints, even when viewed from 3' are gorgeous.

Digital cameras are now capable of capturing 12 megapixel images, and cameras are being improved upon everyday, but it is not just how many pixels the camera has. What the camera software does with the pixel information is also very important. Although not advertised on the outside of the camera, the software is in there, and also being improved daily.

Output is also important in getting a good image or enlargement. When we print 30"x40" enlargement, we send them to a professional printer who has the hardware, software knowledge and experience to re-size the image while retaining maximum pixel information, giving us the best possible final print.

We tell our customers, when they are ready to get their own prints made, to use the best photo lab possible. We can recommend one, or they can call a few professional photographers in their area and find out who they use for printing. You can take your images to a department store or other establishment that guarantees your photos will be ready in an hour or less, but in the end, it is like anything else, you get what you pay for. Photo printing is not just a science, it is an art form, and it takes a professional lab to do a professional job. You may pay more, but it is worth it when it comes to your Maui wedding images.

Planning for your Hawaii wedding is a time filled with excitement, and a lot of options. Bridal magazines, wedding source books, planning guides, and friends and family may all be great sources for information and may heavily influence your choices. Ultimately, you are the one who must make the major decisions. Most wedding resources have lots of good information regarding photography. Some of the more recent publications and articles are recognizing digital as a viable and even preferred option for your wedding photos. However, some older publications still claim that medium format film is the only way to go. Some bridal magazines, though few, still support the medium format film as well. In my experience shooting medium format in Hawaii, I can tell you that our couples preferred digital over medium format 10 to 1. We would shoot digital backup for all of our medium format weddings, and couples were given the opportunity to view both sets of images. Most liked the digital images better than the medium format. Now we were very adept at shooting medium format, and in the past, before digital, we shot it with no digital backup, and all of our clients were very pleased with it. When given the choice though, most preferred digital, and those who liked the medium format, also opted to purchase the digital images in addition to the medium format.

I was in the wireless phone store the other week, waiting for a customer service representative (as per usual), and I noticed another Maui photographer in the store as well. I was familiar with his work, which was very good, and shot primarily with a medium format camera. I went over and said hello, and we started talking about various locations we had shot at and how busy we were at the moment and how we would both like to be helped by a customer service representative before the next millennium. I told him that I was shifting over to digital, as that’s what was most requested by my couples, and if he was interested, my medium format camera was for sale. To that he replied “Mine is too.”

You see, the future is all about digital photography. A lot of photographers will maintain that nothing has or ever will surpass film, simply because they never jumped on the digital photography wagon, and now they are left behind in the dust. Many are just set in their ways, or have never even tried digital photography before forming an opinion. Some have tried it with no experience and found it too frustrating after a lifetime of film, and now have no idea how to manipulate or process their digital images. I believe that in the near future, film will be more of an exception rather than the rule, and if you want to be on the cutting edge, you have to get out of the darkroom, and step into the digital darkroom. Having your own digital camera now, or in the future, you can see how much fun it is, and how creative you can be with it. Imagine what years of photography experience, 2000 weddings, thousands of dollars worth of Photoshop and painter classes, and countless hours of digital re-touching can do for you when you hire professionals for your wedding, vow-renewal, or family portrait.

Years from now, when your kids want to see your wedding album, will you drag out a shoebox filled with worn and faded images, or will you show them your flush mount coffee table art book digital album, created with virtual matts, and printed right on the page with archival ink, along with a digital SlideShow on DVD of all your wedding images, with titles, set to your favorite music?

Just like the paradigm shift that took place when LP’s , 8 tracks, and slide projectors were replaced by CDs, DVDs and computers with LCD screens, photography is on the same track, becoming more portable, less expensive, faster and better every day.