My next step - Wedding advice.

Mp4

Mp4

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Greetings all,

I'm looking to build some gear ready for my first wedding in March 2013

Looking for ideas from budget gear and max budget.

Looking at wedding insurance & gear insurance

Current Gear

400D || Plan to get 40D as main and then use 400D as backup.
Kit Lens
50mm 1.8
85mm 1.8
Sigma 70-300
Yonguo flash - Looking to replace with Canon580EX


With the gear above can they be used on 40D?


Some of my work:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mp422/


Any advice would be handy & no flaming/trolls.
 
With respect, you're possibly not ready to take on a wedding just yet.

Suggest you get some practice by offering your services to a local pro as a Number 2 shooter.

Meanwhile, get some practise shooting people and portraits using friends and family.
 
HoppyUK said:
With respect, you're possibly not ready to take on a wedding just yet.

Suggest you get some practice by offering your services to a local pro as a Number 2 shooter.

Meanwhile, get some practise shooting people and portraits using friends and family.
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:agree:
 
boyfalldown said:
:agree:
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:agree: Me too

its not a gear thing - you are nearly well equiped enough to do bottom end - mid level (though you really do need that second body and better flash and i'd be looking to replace the 70-300 with a 70-200 f2.8)

Its that looking at your photo stream you seem to have major problems with under/over exposure - and thats with fairly simple targets like monkeys in a zoo - girls in big white dresses and men in charcoal suits in changeable light is about as challenging as exposure can get - and you just arent there. sorry.

Also theres a distinct lack of people / wedding action - have you ever assisted or second shot a wedding - do you know what it involves, how to pose groups, how to deal with adverse weather, low light, crappy venues etc
 
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big soft moose said:
:agree: Me too

its not a gear thing - you are nearly well equiped enough to do bottom end - mid level (though you really do need that second body and better flash and i'd be looking to replace the 70-300 with a 70-200 f2.8)

Its that looking at your photo stream you seem to have major problems with under/over exposure - and thats with fairly simple targets like monkeys in a zoo - girls in big white dresses and men in charcoal suits in changeable light is about as challenging as exposure can get - and you just arent there. sorry.

Also theres a distinct lack of people / wedding action - have you ever assisted or second shot a wedding - do you know what it involves, how to pose groups, how to deal with adverse weather, low light, crappy venues etc
Click to expand...


I have assisted with a local tog 5x 3 weddings and 2 fashion shoots.


Thanks for info about 70-300 , I was thinking of something lower maybe too. So i can go quite wide for group shots etc. And for sure going to look at 40D and Canon 580EX MK2.

The Monkeys were very hard to shoot they are all in Penn with wire mesh/windows and about 20-40ft away from me. Unless they came to the windows/mesh then was better.
And at least you can talk to people I cant see monkey's getting married any time soon :P

And i tend (for toddler/baby) like the ones of models n my niece over expose in photoshop as I like the clean bright look.
 
Mp4 said:
And i tend (for toddler/baby) like the ones of models n my niece over expose in photoshop as I like the clean bright look.
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You don't have to blow exposure to get the look you are after. Yes expose to the right but they still should be processed correctly to recover the highlights where needed.

Without a change to this you will find weddings very difficult to nail due to the nature of the outfits.

I like bright skin tones too but process them so there are no blown areas and loss of detail - it can be done quite easily.

This was a random example of your images showing the areas that are blown out

Screen-shot-2012-06-21-at-08.49.52.png
 
another example as well for you. I have to admit this wasn't chosen at random, but it shows the blown out areas. As well as processing these down you've also another problem in that the model is real badly underexposed, to the point where is looks like she's been in a mud fight. Flare and the general scene is causing a lack of contrast and I can't actually tell what colour her hair should be. Dealing with this sort of thing isn't uncommon by any means and you should be able to take this sort of photo without issue

example3.jpg
 
Cheers guys,

I shall try and use Histogram a lot more, its something i never pay attention too.

I just mainly use AV (Canon) and Manual and aim the -------V------ in the middle give or take.

& think my monitor needs a screen tune 2006 monitor vga lcd.

With the pic boyfalldown posted it was a poor morning , my yongyo flash decided not to work as it was very cold & never use onboard flash. & was shooting direct at the sun and then tried to process it but didn't really work. None the less.

Histogram lesson needed :P
 
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Mp4 said:
With the pic boyfalldown posted it was a poor morning , my yongyo flash decided not to work as it was very cold & never use onboard flash. & was shooting direct at the sun and then tried to process it but didn't really work.
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that'll be why you need a decent flash - incidentally if you can't afford a 580ex, you could look at its predecessor the 550ex which is still a very capable unit and is available second hand for circa 120 notes

oh yeah and top tip - if a flash (or anything else electronic for that matter) won't work due to the cold 9 times out of 10 it's the batteries - try putting them inside your shirt for ten minuites (or in an emergency down your shorts ! )
 
Mp4 said:
With the pic boyfalldown posted it was a poor morning , my yongyo flash decided not to work as it was very cold & never use onboard flash. & was shooting direct at the sun and then tried to process it but didn't really work. None the less.
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To the bride: "I'm sorry the pics of your big day were ruined, my cheap flash decided not to work
& I can't use the onboard flash. I shot into the sun but don't know how to do this either, can I still have my money, please?"
 
Flash In The Pan said:
To the bride: "I'm sorry the pics of your big day were ruined, my cheap flash decided not to work
& I can't use the onboard flash. I shot into the sun but don't know how to do this either, can I still have my money, please?"
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:lol:
 
Mp4 said:
With the pic boyfalldown posted it was a poor morning , my yongyo flash decided not to work as it was very cold & never use onboard flash. & was shooting direct at the sun and then tried to process it but didn't really work. None the less.
Click to expand...

You can't say that....

Shooting into the sun (without flash) is one of my favourite ways of getting a strong shot, especially in the right light. You have to learn how to compensate exposure on the spot, by instinct. You just can't stand there and figure out how to get that shot to work, you just have to know.

This was no flash, no reflector.



p.s. I seldom uses the histogram, I shoot by feel most of the time.
 
I noticed on one of the underexposed monkey shots you had dialed in -1/3 stop of EC, if its underexposed you need to dial in + EC not - EC, ie increase the exposure time, not shorten it.
 
Thanks for input Big Soft Moose:

yeah i did this also and flash still gave up , so bought new eneloop ones i was using something simiular to them vapextech instant 2300

and now keep a warm breakable hand gel pouch with me too :)



Neil_G :


YN460 MK2



Raymond Lin said:
You can't say that....

Shooting into the sun (without flash) is one of my favourite ways of getting a strong shot, especially in the right light. You have to learn how to compensate exposure on the spot, by instinct. You just can't stand there and figure out how to get that shot to work, you just have to know.

This was no flash, no reflector.


p.s. I seldom uses the histogram, I shoot by feel most of the time.
Click to expand...

Always love your work Raymond :) and i like natural light too and tend never to use flash ever. I was trying to achive (with the poor example above) a sunrise shot (underexposed) with model ligten up (flash) exposed but it was fail :P i guess morning shoots 5:45am are not good for me. And have learnt my lesson with that.


And again like you just go on instinct but appears not the right instinct for myself as of yet :P
If i look on the pants lcd of the 400D everything looks mint or it looks too light dark i dial down/up n just go by that normally.


IanCandler , which shot was that?


580EX MK2 purchased :) along with 40D
 
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neil_g said:
also a good flash, they both do a very similar job in my kit bag :)
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£50 quid inc post?!

Might be sold and get that too :P


70-200 f2.8 - o_o wow :D

And looking at Canon 35L too :D
 
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Re your pants lcd, have you got the "blinkies" enabled to show you where you're blowing the highlights?
 
Blinking is automatic when on histogram display (brightness histogram)
 
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Mp4 said:
Blinking is automatic when on histogram display (brightness histogram)
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Then how did you end up with the blown shots.:thinking:

You really need to learn to use the histogram to review your work. It's a rookie mistake to judge brightness from the LCD, whether you've been shooting for a month or 30 years. The brightness of the LCD has nothing to do with the image.

Learn to use your meter with intelligence and your histogram as insurance, and then you'll find your image density will even out. In the old days we could tell whether we'd learnt exposure by laying our negs on white paper. Nowadays we judge histograms - it's the same thing.

For the model shot, your starting point for what you say you meant to achieve should have been metering for the sky. Then to deal with the resulting underexposed model with flash, reflectors or anything else that comes to hand. If your only choice was flash and your batteries died - then change the shot - because you can no longer achieve your vision. Or shoot the fabulous background sky and then shoot the model seperately to merge later.

Like everyone else has said, excuses won't do when you have customers expectations to meet, before you consider taking on paid work you should be able to do all of this without thinking. For your own sake we don't want you to be the next Daily Mail wedding photographer story.
 
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