regas chefas

<p>I do occasionally if the situation calls for it. You probably wouldn't be able to tell them from the non-HDR ones though. I'll fire off a bracketed burst and then combine them to get the extra needed detail. Usually handheld. No time for a tripod and a tripod doesn't really help as people movement and tree branch movement is what kills you anyway.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Full frame and the D700 is much better for weddings. But it's a BIG investment because you'll eventually have to buy new lenses as well. I shoot a combination full frame and DX sensor at weddings, D3 & D300. I find that I shoot 90% of the images with the D3 because it does everything better than the D300. Everything. <br>

When I first had my D3 I had two lenses that would work on it, the 70-200 and the 50 1.4. I would use the 17-55 on the D300 and then switch between having the 70-200 and the 50 on the D3 and the 70-200 and the 17-55 on the D300. It's a reasonable kit, but if I was only buying one lens for the D3 for weddings it would hands down be the 24-70. I use that almost all the time and then switch out between the 70-200 and a WA zoom on the D300. <br>

Getting to any of those setups from where you are is expensive. But shooting with the 50/1.4 on the D700 and the kit lens on the D60 is a viable option until you get money together for another lens. The 50 on FF is fabulous. Sharp with great colors. I have shot whole weddings without taking that lens of the D3, but it depends on the venue. You can shoot most of the day with an 85 on the D60 and a 50 on the D3. Then if you need to go wider you can use the kit lens or invest in a 28 mm prime. </p>

<p>I use the cd cases from WHCC. They look great and have a nice feel to them. A little spendy but not too bad. <br>

<a href="http://www.whcc.com/products/boxes-and-cases/cd-cases/">http://www.whcc.com/products/boxes-and-cases/cd-cases/</a><br>

~rc</p>

<p>There are a lot of good photographers out there who offer what you're looking for. Keep looking until you find one whose work you LOVE and who you get along with and you'll be fine.<br>

I don't know where you are, but I could probably come up with a list of 30 good ones in my area who would work within your budget and give you what you're looking for.<br>

As an example, I include a DVD of hi-rez JPGs with all my packages. My 'coverage only' package is in your budget range and it includes the DVD with color-corrected and 'clean' processed images. 'Clean' means color-correction, brightness, contrast, sharpness etc...Though these are JPGs they are typically so well exposed/executed that they hold up well to a lot of processing and retouching.<br>

My philosophy is that I want you to enjoy your images so I am happy if you create an album, make prints, etc... </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hand write it on a nice card and take a picture of it. Use different color inks for each color phrase. </p>

<p>In Manual on Nikon bodies it will change if you are using auto ISO.</p>

<p>I love it when the guests are taking photos. I know they aren't going to be close to mine. Trust me on this. Of all the guests there may be one or two great photos...but they will not be well-exposed or with good white balance. Plus they will suffer in post. <br>

I love to work with the guests with cameras and chat with them and joke around. They seem to love it too. I recently shot a wedding where the FOB, Bride, Brother of Groom and an uncle were all wedding photographers. But they hired me. I loved it. I worked with those other photogs, they loved me and we all had a little love fest. I love to show them how to bounce their flash if they don't know. I love to chat with them for a second while I'm waiting for the bride to come in the room. I don't mind a bit. When something happens and I need to cover it I say "Oops! Gotta get back to work" with a smile and then I get back to work. Not that hard really.<br>

What was great was when they all saw my photos on facebook and they loved them. It means more when to me when it's coming from people who know the job and were there.<br>

Having this relationship with the paparazzi helps me say later on "Okay, you guys wait for a second and then I'll give you a chance to shoot this picture." They are usually happy to comply. Or "Okay, don't set up behind me because I move fast for a big guy and my catlike reflexes might not be enough to keep us from falling!" They usually laugh and stay out of my way.<br>

Everybody having a camera means that more people are trying to take photos. If everybody's doing it, well, that's a lot of people doing it, but only one can, ah, be the best. (Color of Money) <br>

Seriously though, the more they try to take pictures, the more they appreciate what we do. The more we are humble and show them how much work it is - the more they want to leave it to the pros.<br>

Photographing a wedding for money is work. You might enjoy it or you might not. Landscaping a yard is work that most of us can do. Shovels are good now. They are even made out of metal. You can go to Wal-Mart and buy the same shovel that your landscaper uses and probably do a better job digging the hole than he will. But you hire him to do it. Because it's not what you have chosen to do with your life. Because you don't want to spend your whole weekend digging holes.<br>

Shooting a wedding as a guest is one thing. Being there for 10+ hours without so much as sitting down for a proper break and keeping track of all the details AND keeping your cool with everyone AND getting the best possible pictures all day is a totally different kettle of fish. <br>

If people want to try it. I say go ahead. If they don't love doing it, they won't last. If they don't last, they'll be looking for someone to refer when their friends/family get married. If they remember that you helped them, kept your cool, made them laugh and took great pictures...who do you think they'll refer?<br>

~rc</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Excellent quality. Excellent feel. Excellent to work with. Print about 10% darker than you might expect so process final jpgs accordingly.<br>

My brides LOVE them.</p>

I'm a Nikon guy and always have been. But when I went digital a couple of years ago I almost went 5D instead of Nikon. BUT I stayed

with them and am glad I did for the D3/D700/D300. BUT, I am thinking of investing in some good Canon glass and just keeping both and

buying the best body every couple of years as they keep leapfrogging each other. After you buy the glass, the bodies are relatively cheap.

I think it would be pretty cool to have a D3/5D MK II wedding kit. That L-glass 85 1.2 and the Nikon 24-70 and Nikon flash.

~rc

The first time I thought of 'going back' to photography as just a hobby. LOL.

~rc

I recently shot a wedding, it went great. The bride sent me a glowing email and

included the following:

"There were two pro photographers in attendance and they thought very highly of

your photography."

They truly were professionals because I never, not once, had any inkling they were

there.

One guy who looking back I presume was one of them, asked me about my D3

during a quiet moment and we had about a two minute conversation before HE broke

it off and said "I'll let you get back to work". At the end of the night he said "great

job tonight" or something similar and that was it. Honestly I don't even remember if

he had any camera at all with him.

On the other end of the spectrum, I recently shot a wedding where there was

someone who obviously thought she was the wedding photographer. While we were

setting up formals she'd chime in and say "I want one with you two over here!" or

something similar. Twice when we needed the B&G she had them off posing for

her. I was taking picture of the first dance and I backed up a step to get a wide

angle shot and bumped into her HARD because she was standing right behind me

shooting over my shoulder. I'm glad neither of us were hurt, but we easily could

have been.

So, you choose. Which one do you want to be?

What would happen?

You would be arrested for cashing a bogus check.

Not good. Best to just ignore.

~rc

I have some nighttime engagement session shots on my blog at studioalameda.blogspot.com

you can check out. Including one shot at ISO 3200 1/8 sec f2.8 ~ which should give you an

idea of how dark it was at times. Scroll down to the Jan 28th entry.

The ones above that are all D3 images.

~rc

Great review! I just got the D3 about two weeks ago and I agree that it's the best camera

I've ever used - film or digital. Surprisingly, even though I shoot mostly weddings, I think

the high-ISO performance is not the no. 1 reason to buy the D3. That's why I bought it,

but it's so good at sooo many other things that will make life better for a wedding photog

that I now think the high ISO is a bonus.

#1 thing for me is OOC IQ. Phenomenal. I can see my processing time drop dramatically

this coming year because of this. The colors are accurate and the images already POP out

of camera. And their so consistent that batch processing will be much more efficient.

~rc

Jon Curtis said:

"Mark you should only feel "offended" if you are guilty.

You hear so many people here complaining that someone made copies of their work, yet

many here also have music, which is copyrighted on their websites.

As far as "legal" music, there are a number of sites that sell royalty free music. Feel free to

send me an email and I can suggest one that lets you have one for free, just for trying

them."

Maybe the motive for frequently posting this topic finally comes out?

The truth is that many photographers license copyrighted music through BMI or make

arrangements directly with the band or other copyright holder. Just because there is a

popular song on a website does not mean it's 'stolen'. In addition, there is some

ambiguity about the music laws pertaining to making slideshows, the internet and how

they might or might not fall under 'fair use'. Photographers do the best they can to make

a decision about their business and go with it.

Until someone makes an effort to clarify/modify the current laws, I think that's what we're

stuck with.

I think using popular music through someone like BMI is cheaper in the long run than

using royalty free music. Others disagree. But the problem is that it's not clear if

licensing through BMI really gives you the license to use the music on your website if you

synchronize it with a slideshow, for example.

I would buy the D300 and the Tamron Lens...

However, there is a difference to me between the Tamron and the Nikon. I am a wedding

photog and I shot about six weddings with the Tamron. There wasn't anything wrong with

it, but I traded it and bought the Nikon 17-55 because it's sharper, focuses faster,

especially in low light, and has better color rendition.

So get the Tamron if it's what you can afford now, but if/when you do weddings

professionally you will probably want to upgrade it at some point.

But definitely get the D300.

~rc

Ken -

Sorry, but you are wrong on this one in a specific instance. IF you use MAC OS/X and

certain card readers, not ejecting the card can cause a loss of data on the next card. I

discovered this myself and was able to test and get repeatable results, it has also been

reported on here by more than one user.

I have a delkin efilm ? USB card reader. If I pop out a CF card and put another one in,

especially if the computer has been in sleep mode and didn't detect the card change, then

it tries to apply the old directory structure to the new card and completely hoses it. If you

open it via finder, it shows the old card, if you try to open a file, then it barfs. I

downloaded a recovery program once to see if it would get the files and it was unable to.

Luckily, I discovered this while plinking around the house practicing my flash technique,

so I didn't lose any client data, but it is definitely something to look out for. I have since

switched card readers and haven't had a problem since.

Also, this was on the previous version of OS/X, haven't tested to see if this 'feature' still

exists.

Cheers,

RC

Jane,

You already have smugmug pro it looks like, you can make a pretty customized website and have your web address go straight to it. Even so that it shows your url at the top.

Here's an example of what I set up the other day, it's pretty easy to follow the tutorials etc...

http://studioalameda.smugmug.com

This is still a draft of my site, but it can give you an idea of what you can do with tools you already have.

~rc

Great answers guys. I love Susanne's idea about the flash that floats around the room and

waits...lol...

I think I'll add one of those to my list!

Thanks!

RC

Okay, so I'm making my 'dream board' with things to keep me motivated on it.

What would your 'ideal' wedding kit look like if you had NO budget. You could spend as much as you

wanted! What equipment would you have and take with you to weddings? It doesn't count if it's going to

sit in a closet because you can't lug it around. Now if an assistant will carry it, that's fine.

I think for me, it would be the Hassy H3D and the Canon EOS-1DS Mark II (I'm a Nikon guy...but still, I've

been drooling over both of those for a while now).

Anyway, past that I haven't thought it out too much, but looking for suggestions.

Thanks!

I have to say, that BODA bag looks great! Obviously the creator was bumping into the same

things that have been frustrating me with my backpack and hip-pack.