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Wedded to success York Place Studios reveals how the Fujifilm X-H2S is key to a happy marriage of stills and video EVERY WEDDING IS unique – and every moment is special.
Each celebratory day is a thousand, maybe a million, tiny fragments of fun, joy, sadness, silliness, love and nostalgia… thrown into this, what can photographers and filmmakers hope to achieve? How can they possibly capture everything in stills and video, binding the chaos into something meaningful and lasting? Making a success of weddings since 2006, York Place Studios – which consists of brother and sister Liam and Dom Shaw making stills, and their brother Alex and Dom’s husband Matt Thompson recording video – would seem to have the key. “Capturing all those moments is where the beauty of documentary photography and filmmaking comes into its own,” says Dom. “Liam and I were always thrilled by street and candid photography, and so they naturally formed the heart of our wedding style. Of course, we also
CANDID CAMERA Finding impromptu moments is York Place’s speciality
get all the ‘big beats’ of the day you would expect: the ceremony, cake cutting and kisses, but it’s really the in-between moments that clients choose us for.” Weddings, Matt and Dom agree, have changed over recent years, and so has their approach. “It’s true that many people like a less formal event these days, where they can concentrate on having a great time with family and friends,” explains Matt. “There’s less of the fairy-tale look people once wanted; they prefer honesty. As documentary styles show, life can be amazing enough without making things up.” But on a busy wedding day, which is rarely anything short of organised chaos, how do they go about their business? “We’re always looking for humour, candour and emotion in our shots,” Dom says. “What we love is the idea that people have spontaneous documentary moments on their wall. We never stage anything and don’t know what’s going to happen. We can only be aware of the possibilities. It takes a lot of concentration as we are always on the lookout, or anticipating how a situation may unfold. And we can also create by the way we compose. That’s certainly where working as a pair can be vital, as you have more time and more opportunities. “The optimum is capturing these layered images,” she adds, “where you have a frame that’s full of life. It can happen at any time – even within the regular formalities of a wedding, like people relaxing after a speech or a group photo. The trick is to find some balance, and make images as clean and easy to read as possible. For instance, no matter how busy the frame might be, subjects require separation, so you could almost draw around each person. It usually just means quickly moving your feet!” At other times, they will adopt a classic street approach of matching up aspects of a location with the people in it. “It’s the old difference of
X-H2S SPECS › Sensor 26.1-megapixel APS-C CMOS stacked › ISO Auto, 160-12,800 (expandable to 80-51,200 for stills, 160-25,600 video) › Image stabilisation In-body sensor shift with seven-stop improvement › Screen 3in free-angle tilting touchscreen, 1.62m dots › Shutter speed 15 mins to 1/32,000sec › Autofocus Intelligent hybrid AF, phase and contrast detection with 425 points
› Frame rates Up to 40fps (electronic shutter), 15fps (mechanical shutter)
› R ecording media 1x CFexpress Type B, 1x SD/SDHC/SDXC slot › Input/output Mic input jack, headphone jack, USB-C, 2.5mm sub-mini control input, 2.5/5GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth › D imensions (wxhxd) 136.3x92.9x84.6mm/ 5.4x3.7x3.3in › Weight 660g/1.5lb with battery and memory card
“There’s a lot less of the fairy-tale look that people once wanted; now they prefer honesty”
12 Photography News | Issue 105
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