hoang_nguyen2

I would like to thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my question. To summarize what I have learned from your suggestions, I would use a smaller aperture like f8.0 or f11 and/or shoot at a slightly faster shutter speed to give me some added safety. Thanks again.

Ben C.,

Thanks for the link. I will surely read that thoroughly.

 

Jewan,

I'm pretty sure my focal lengths were between 50mm and 70mm.

 

Ben R.,

What shutter speed do you normally use in this situation, i.e. when the subject is moving?

 

Thanks all for your quick responses.

Hello everyone,

Please excuse my ignorance on this subject. I have a question about

pre-focusing to ask. How do you prefocus a bride walking down the

isle to ensure the image is sharp? I usually focus on a pew and as

soon as she walks close to that pew I trip the shutter. However some

of the images are not too sharp (kind of blurry), and I usually set

my camera on Manual at 1/30 and f5.6 for these shots. Should I shoot

at f8.0 or smaller to ensure sharper images? The reason I chose f5.6

is to open up the dark ambience inside the church, so if I go to

f8.0 or f11 the background may be too dark. Please advise how you

would handle situations like this. I'm using a 35mm Pentax SLR with

flash. Thank you.

Hello everyone,

I will be shooting my first wedding at the end of April and would

like to know if I can use the professional Kodak Ultra Color 400UC on

sale at Walmart, or should I strictly purchase film at my local

camera shop or B&H? Are there potentially any differences between

this pro film sold at Walmart and those sold at B&H? Thanks in

advance for your help.

Pentax. Film

I'm not familiar with studio light so may I ask a stupid question: What is a modeling light? What's its purpose? I try to make a guess that it shows you how the light is falling on the subject (light pattern). Do you turn it off when ready to fire the studio light flash? Please help me understand its functions a little better. Thanks.

Steve,

Nice image, I like it in sepia tone. It gives the image a timeless look!

Are you tilting the camera when this picture was taken or the image was tilted when it was processed and printed?

Do you tilt your camera to the left (counter-clockwise) to get the above image? How much of a tilt is that, 30 degrees?

Sometimes I find tilted images more powerful than non-tilted ones. Thanks.

Hello all,

I would like to hear from anyone who use Kodak Portra 400VC to

photograph wedding. I read Bambi Cantrell's wedding photography book

and all of her color pictures were done with Portra 400VC. I always

used the low contrast films like Fuji NPH or Portra 400NC and want to

know how Portra 400VC compares to these low contrast films. Thanks.

C Jo,

I like your picture very much. What kind of soft filter did you use to take that picture?

 

Regards,

Hoang

I have my Pentax PZ-1P mounted on a Stroboframe Pro-RL bracket with a

handle-mount Pentax flash. The whole package is fairly tall and heavy

and I would like to know what type of tripod you recommend for

wedding photography that could handle my rig and yet it should be

affordable, not too heavy and easy to set up. The tripod should have

a quick release mechanism so that I can easily remove my rig from the

tripod when I don't want to use it. I don't have much experience with

tripod, and not sure whether to buy one with or without heads (what

kind of head do you recommend?). I need some good advice from the

professionals. Please help me. Thanks.

Mary, who is gonna eat the cost of this proof album? If the client is paying for it, do they keep this proof album and the proofs in addition to the final album? Do you give them the negatives to keep? When you have the lab do final prints for you, do your prints get gloss sprayed on the pictures to protect them? Do you have your prints dust spotted and things like that?

Thanks again for the invaluable advice.

Mary, thanks for your informative response. I assume your answer is for 35mm film since I do not take medium format pictures.

To reiterate what I understand from your response, I would send my exposed films to a pro-lab and they will print 4x6 (or whatever size I request) prints for me. These are the PROOFS.

If my client likes certain prints, I will send the those negatives back to the lab and ask them to do reprint, either 4x6 or larger depending on how large my client wants their prints. These are the FINAL prints. Am I correct or still missing something?

If you do not mind could you direct me to a good pro lab you have used. Since I'm not a professional wedding photog (just a serious amateur hoping to take wedding photo on weekends for friends), do you think they will want to do business with me? Do they want me to have an account with them first? Thanks for your help.

I am still confused about the difference between proofs and final prints. If I have to put a formal album together, I just have my film negatives developed at a professional lab and have 4x6 prints made of each image. Those prints became the FINAL prints for the wedding album. Should the bride and groom want enlargement of some images, I made those and charged them extra for those. This eliminated the issue of making proofs altogether. And, I found that the couple usually showed their final album to the friends who were interested in ordering prints anyway, so there was no need to make a book to pass around. Why do you have to go through the hassle of printing 4x6 proofs at Walmart and final 4x6 prints at a pro lab?

Thanks everyone for your answers so far. They really help me understand a little bit more about putting a finished album together.

Do you think it's better to print your proofs at 5x7 instead of 4x6. The reason for this is if an oval shape mat (cutout) I order is meant for a 4x6 print, I still have some space around the proof when I insert the print behind the cutout. Am I correct?

I am planning to put all these proofs in my finished album, and a few larger prints (8x10) - is this how you do it?

Perhaps I would make my question about the album a little clearer. When I say preparing the album, I mean the formal album with different 'cut-out' designs. Some designs have an oval cut-out (I'm not sure if 'cut-out' is a correct terminology), some with square or circular cut-outs. How do you come up with certain designs, or is it strictly your taste? Do you have to crop your prints (cut with a pair of scissors?) to fit your prints in the cut-outs, if you understand what I mean.

Thanks a million.

I would appreciate professional wedding photographers' feedback on

what proof size you usually ask for and how you put an album

together. I'm shooting 35mm, and will send my films to a pro lab for

processing and proof printing. What is the most popular proof size

and why, 4x5, 4x6 or 5x7? Should I just get all proofs and decide to

go to 8x10 or larger later based on the proofs I (or my clients)

like? How do you put a wedding album together? I'm talking about

leather albums like Pro-Craft, Art Leather, etc. Any ideas on these

would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ellis,

How do I join the PPA? Does it have specific requirements, membership fee? I guess I have to be a pro to join. Thanks.

I currently subscribe to Petersen's Photographic magazine. I am more

interested in wedding photography alone however. Does anyone know if

there is any magazine out there for wedding photography? Please let

me know. Thanks a million.

I would like to know if there is any concern with shooting expired

film, especially professional film like Fuji NPH400 or NPS160. I

always keep them in the fridge. How long pass the expiration date can

film still be used with good results? Thanks.