tim_carlson

<p>Canon 60D - 24-70L @ 40mm, F2.8, 1/500, ISO 200.</p><div></div>

<p>I purchased a 60D body only a couple months ago and have been very happy since. Right out of the box, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference if it was new or refurbished. I couldn't find any wear on the body. I'm not quite sure how to tell the true number of actuations, but the image numbering started at 55 when I took my first picture. I've had no issues with it since purchasing and couldn't be happier, especially with it being $200 cheaper than a new body.</p>

<p>Thank you ALL for your helpful advice, especially on acceptable places to move about, your experiences with the specific instances I noted, and other things that I hadn’t considered. I’ll look into renting an additional flash for the wedding if I can’t come up with funding to purchase one in time.</p>

<p>@William – Yes, I was thinking the same thing about carrying two cameras at the same time, though I appreciate the insight on have the 10-22 and the 30 as the primary lenses and switching out for others as needed. I wasn’t thinking about the 10-22 at this point as a primary lens, but your analysis on the 30 getting a lot of work made me think that I’ll use the 10-22 a lot more than I had originally thought.</p>

<p>@Nadine – Thanks for the additional guidelines on what wouldn’t “normally” be done, even when given free rein. It was very helpful to have input on those kinds of situations because it confirmed what I was thinking about with several of them.</p>

<p>Thanks again everyone for your time commenting on my questions.</p>

<p>Tim</p>

<p>This summer I have been asked to shoot a sister-in-law’s (SIL) wedding on my own. Last summer at another wedding with that side of the family, I helped as a second shooter on the periphery with a rented 70-200/2.8 IS and I took portraits before and after while another SIL posed the groups. It was incredibly fun and pretty exhilarating to shoot a wedding and I’m really looking forward to doing another. I feel confident about using my equipment and I’ve been reading a lot of books on wedding photography (such as Marcus Bell’s Master’s Guide to Wedding Photography) and the very valuable posts here in this forum, but I have a few questions that I’d like to get input on.</p>

<p>For particulars about the wedding: It will be in July in the afternoon with about 350-400 people attending, and the ceremony and reception will be outdoors with ~6-8 attendants on each side of the wedding party. I will soon be purchasing either a Canon 60D or 7D for the primary body, using a loaned 50D from one of my other SIL’s for a second body that I could carry with a different lens, and my current XTi body for a worst case backup. For lenses, I have a Sigma 30/1.4, Canon 50/1.8, Canon 10-22/3.5-4.5 and I’m considering purchasing the Canon 85/1.8. I MAY also rent another lens, but am leaning toward sticking with what I’ve got right now. I also have my Canon 430EXII flash available if that is required for anything.</p>

<p>So the questions I have are: </p>

<ol>

<li>From what I’ve been reading, many photographers seem free to move around quietly up front with the goal to be unnoticed/unintrusive. If there are no restrictions from the officiant, what would you consider to be restricted areas around the B&G/officiant/wedding party both from the front and from behind? The specific location will be on a ranch in western Montana with a lot of mountains in the surrounding area. I haven’t visited the site yet (I'm in Michigan), but I can imagine a number of vistas that might be available from any direction and am wondering how best to try and incorporate any of those views. In some ways I can imagine having some nice views of the whole wedding from behind the officiant, but am not sure if this would be good etiquette...</li>

<li>If taking pictures while up front between the wedding party and guests, do you ever stand in or cross the main aisle or do you change sides by going around the back? I wouldn’t hang out up front, but also would want to be effective to get to where I need to be for various shots. </li>

<li>I'll certainly practice how I move around at the rehearsal, but do you have any tips on how to practice before the wedding to get a sense of the flow of a wedding and the timing required for positioning myself for various parts of the ceremony? In some ways I imagine playing the DVD of my own wedding to serve as a timeline and practicting somewhere, but I was wondering if there are any good practice methods that can be recommended. </li>

<li>Does there seem to be anything missing from my collection of lenses? I don’t imagine taking too many photos from a distance, so I’ve been thinking I don’t particularly need to rent a zoom like I did last summer, but would appreciate input if there are any glaring holes in what I’ve got. </li>

</ol>

<p>Thank you all for your input, I love reading the posts here on the forum and I appreciate any insights you all may have. I’m really looking forward putting these things into practice for this upcoming wedding and having fun capturing these moments for my sister-in-law.</p>

<p>My sister-in-law and I recently took the photos of my other sister-in-law's wedding and we are looking to post the images to an online photo sharing website where people who attended the wedding could be invited to view the photos and order prints. However, some sites such as Snapfish allow users to download the hi-res photos for a small price.</p>

<p>Does anyone know of a good photo sharing website where we can share the photos and allow people to print a variety of items, but will not allow users to download the hi-res photos? It would also be preferable if they could not right click and save the low-res photo on the screen, but I do understand that you can't completely prevent someone from getting these photos once it is shown on their computer. Thanks!</p>

<p>Tim</p>

<p>Thank you all for your responses, I appreciate the different perspectives and insights! I still haven't quite made up my mind, but your responses have been helpful with some of my concerns.</p>

<p>Tim</p>

<p>I'm looking to purchase a super-wide angle zoom lens for my Rebel XTi and wanted to get some perspective on the two options I’m considering (the Canon 10-22/F3.5-4.5 and the Tokina 11-16/F2.8) for what I intend to use it for. My primary uses for this lens would be for architecture (about 70% interior photos and 30% exterior), but with other uses such as landscapes, nature, or other outdoor photography. For the architectural photos, I’m an architect and would use it both to take photos of compact spaces for project background information, but also documentation of my work for my professional portfolio.</p>

<p>So the question I keep asking myself between these two lenses is which is more important for the interior photos, the few added degrees of view angle for the 10-22 or the bigger aperture for the 11-16? I have not had a chance to take either lens for a test drive yet to get a sense of how wide the angles of each lens, but am hoping to get some perspective from this community to help guide my decision. Right now I’m leaning toward the 11-16 for the aperture and hoping the angle will be sufficient for my intended use.</p>

<p>I’d appreciate any feedback you all can provide to help with my decision, especially with the use for architectural work. If it helps in the discussion, lenses I currently own are a Canon 24-85/F3.5-4.5, a Canon 50/F1.8 II, and a Canon 100-300/F4.5-5.6. Thanks!</p>

<p>Tim Carlson</p>