First Wedding Ever

LeeHammond · #8 05-25-2004, 03:20 PM

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Have any suggestions other than not doing it?

thanks

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The range of responses is interesting. You sound very different from the 'have Digital Rebel and an f4 lens...do I really need a flash?' people who ask similar questions. As a pro, you should already know what you are taking on. It sounds like you do.

I would make one $20 suggestion, that no-one else has done: a flash diffuser, like a Stofen, to soften the shadows.

Lee

JoyPetersKurtz · #9 05-25-2004, 03:22 PM

Whoa Guys,

I wasn't cranky exactly - just responding more to his seeming indifference to the fact that these are pictures for a lifetime.

I should have acknowledged that he's been a sports shooter for 10 years [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]. I'm hoping by that he means a professional one, not someone who shoots their daughter's soccer games on Saturday.

Think about it tho - this guy has never shot a wedding, usually shoots sports. So, the advice I gave him was what he was asking for. Whoever was talking about always approaching things fresh and not 'shooting the cake without flash' wasn't really giving the type of advice (I think) that Tony was asking for.

For instance, if you always shoot sports and don't shoot people inside a room - bouncing flash might be tough to understand, much less accomplish. But, shooting F5.6 at 1/30 is going to produce acceptable, safe pictures. And if he's never shot a wedding before, acceptable and safe pictures will seem like a godsend!

So, Tony got just what he asked for, lots of suggestions.

Hope they help!

Joy [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

David_Willoughby · #10 05-25-2004, 08:55 PM

It was I who made the suggestion of bouncing the strobe as one way of doing it, I would suggest to make safe acceptable pictures of moments that only happen once and experiment after making safe pictures of the other things...with the advent of digital capture you can make many different types of photos of the cake for instance, from ambient light to strobe effects. With todays TTL strobes bouncing with success is relatively easy, get a manual strobe like the old days and you have more work. I use bounce flash more often than not when availiable and in most cases it works very well. If you don't watch your angles though you can get some odd hot spots.
Using a stofen is also a nice idea, I have seen alot of sports shooters and PJ's use them, actually most do to some degree, the first time I saw one was when I was an intern at a paper in the early nineties, I was covering a Seahawks game, and after the game was over and the media rushed the field there they were, I had no clue what they were.

"For instance, if you always shoot sports and don't shoot people inside a room - bouncing flash might be tough to understand, much less accomplish."

Basketball, Volleyball, soccer, and wrestling are just some sports that are shot in Rooms, just large once and I have seen many (including myself) that have used a strobe (on and off camera) bounced off the ceiling (when neutral) to light the gym/room
But, shooting F5.6 at 1/30 is going to produce acceptable," I would think it would be a little better to take each reception hall/room as they are presented, meter the light and then decide what Fstop, shutter and ISO to use. that is just MHO.

Something else I thought of for Tony: if you have any non sports photo's to show your potential client, so they can see your style of shooting, you can find out what they like and what they don't like and incorporate those elements in your shooting style of their day.

Michael_Stillman · #11 05-25-2004, 11:12 PM

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As long as the bride knows what she's getting, that's fine. Do the best you can, that's all anybody can do. "maybe she could give the bride and groom the $3000.00-$5000.00 to hire an "experienced wedding photographer". Just my opinion, maybe I'm the cranky one!" please

"maybe I'm the cranky one!"

Photogaraphers today are under attack for charging tooo much, please don't add fuel to the fire. When our own, make statements as such, it really undermines photography as a profession! Today want-to-be's pay supposed models to pose for them, just for fun. That idustry is really crazy, a friend gets e-mails all the time, model seeking paid work, she's 3yrs old????? This confuses the buying public? Never in my 17 yrs have I seen such, Joy pointed out the truth, I'll get 10-12 calls a year wanting to know if I can fix pictures that someone else shot and it's all they have! As long as the bride KNOWS what she's getting, then it rests with her. You've ben truthful so do your best, mix it up do a few posed shots with family and wedding party, then shoot candids. I usually throw away 1/3 of what I shoot! Good Luck

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What's your point? Who's telling you you charge too much? Usually quality comes with a price. If your client can't see that, maybe you're after the wrong market. Did you even read the original post? The guy seemed very professional, hard working and honest w/ himself and the client. Give him and others on this forum a break!

Mike

David_Willoughby · #12 05-26-2004, 01:54 AM

That is true, it is not our jobs to decide wether or not we are charging too much or to little for, but it is our decision what to charge and if it is more than we are giving in return than maybee at that point it is too much.

Hey Tony, keep us intouch and keep asking questions, is there anything specific that you need?

Tony_Buchanan · #13 05-26-2004, 07:57 AM

Hi all,

I had a feeling I was going to stir up the hornets nest here. I had no intention of doing so. Believe me, I admire all of the professional wedding photograhers out there and have the utmost respect for what they do and how they do it. It is one of the true art forms out there and every PWP has their own style. It is true that I have done all sorts of indoor sports including gymnastics which you all know is a job in itself. Indeed, I have the stofens and lumiquest reflectors which I have found to be a great choice with my 550. Of course, I hot spot occassionally, (hey, its electricity isn't it?)! The bride is fully understanding of what is going on here which I believe is the key to this situation. I have shown her many of my T&I shots as well as communion and prom shots I have done.

To be honest, I intend to treat this as a T&I session using the BnG as the main players and the family as the team. If I can shoot 600-800 shots in the 6 hours, I would imagine I will get 200 that I can use to showcase to her for her consideration to use for the album. The artsy stuff with the rings/flowers, well, I will have to defer to the real pros but I will certainly do my best for her.

The bride and I communicate almost every evening now as I asked her to go to some websites and get me an idea of some portraits she would be interested in. As I said, this is a 2nd go around for her and while the photos will last a lifetime, its not the end of the world if I don't use a tripod for the cake, if you get my drift.

This forum is just a great place for a trading of information and ideas. I certainly appreciate alll the good intentions of every one of you, (even the cranky ones). I dont consider them cranky at all by the way, they are opinions and I agree.

Of course, you can expect me to show off the photos I take come June 6th. I am really looking forward to it and I am very excited to be a part of it. I know I am going to take great shots and make her happy. Its not like I just started photographing yesterday. Thanks again to all for the great suggestions.

HGregoryPorter · #14 05-26-2004, 03:12 PM

Well it looks like you have a mixed bag of answers. Some people forgot what it was like to shoot their first wedding. You have already been upfront about your wedding experience. Furthermore the bride is not interested in a seasoned wedding pro. She is indicating how important the photographs are to her. And you will most likely give her better quality than she desires.

You have photographic experience, and I'm assuming you know how to get a proper exposure. If you have shot sports and informal dances for 10 years your photojournalism approach may very well be better than many of the "pro's". You'll do fine. You will certainly have a fresh approach.

Weddings are high pressure. You've got one opportunity to get the candid shots. So go to the rehearsal and ask the bride to have the lights turned to the level they will be for the ceremony. If the rehearsal is in the evening and the ceremony is mid-day, and especially if there will be a lot of light coming through windows, go to the ceremony location on another day than the wedding and shoot some shots to know exactly what you'll be dealing with. Use your histogram as a monitor

Joy, come on, really. When in doubt shoot 5.6 @ 1/30 will ALWAYS work when the proper exposure is 5.6 @1/30 at a specific ISO. Better advice is don't be in doubt. At a reception, there's generally ample time to shoot a test frame and check the histogram if you doubt your exposure.

Considering that you shoot dances and sports, I'd say you have enough comparable experience to handle the reception.

Enjoy the process of capturing the emotion of the moment. Let us know how things go for you. Who knows, you may find that weddings are a new product line for you.