neil_browne1

I use a stroboframe pro rl with my 10d & metz 60 set-up. I like it because when

I'm shooting formals on a tripod, the camera rotates within the bracket. I find

this great when you are using a tripod since you can position the rig once and

just rotate the camera without messing with your tripod.

When I shoot high school proms, I use a canon 10D. I have it pluged in a

small t.v. monitor so the kids can see right away what was shot. I don't know if

the NikonD70 has this feature or not , but it works great for me.

I like square the best. ( I still shoot mostly with a Hasselblad ) Even if I shoot

the image digital, I crop it to a square quite often.

I was just told yesterday at the local pro store that the new 1DSMKII will be out

this month. Anyone have any info on this?

I've had a couple of weddings like this. They gave me a bad feeling, but I

booked them anyway. It was these jobs that I regreted taking afterwards.

Some people complain with absolutly no basis, I don't know if it is for financial

reasons, or to compinsate for their other failures in life, but it is always a

nightmare. You did the right thing

When I'm shooting with the Hasselblad, the rig is always on a tripod. The only

time I remove it is when I'm at the church. I find that it slows you down and

makes you compose your shots better, and while it is more weight to carry,

you save your back since you are not holding your camera when you actually

shooting. When I'm shooting candids on my 10D though, I don't use a tripod.

I think that you, not the client should decide what is nesessary for the job and

shoot it accordingly. The client may not have the knowledge of what you have

to do to get the results that they expect, so if you are letting them make the

desisions on things like how much film to use, you are looking for problems.

Aron,

Often a wedding can last up to 14 hours (even longer on some occasions) I

don't know about you, but I can get pretty hungry during 14 hours of work.

Covering events such as weddings professionally usually means that you

don't get to take a lunch break and two coffee breaks as you would as if you

worked for Chrysler or some other company. I find it the norm to be treated

with respect for your professional services,and not only weddings I 've been

treated to lunch when shooting corporate events, advertising shoots & the

such. It's not so much as a matter of getting or expecting food, as being

treated fairly for the service that you are providing.

I have it written into my contract that if full recepeption coverage is purchased,

then a meal will be provided to the photographer and an assistant.

There is an option to not provide this, then we will leave the hall for a one

hour "dinner break". I have never had a problem with this, in fact even when

I'm not covering the whole evening, most couples even offer to let us stay as a

guest for dinner.

It seems rather rude to me the way it has been presented to you.

Use availble light as suggested for the wide shots, then use flash when you

are in close. The background won't matter as much when you are in tight to

the B&G.

Mary, I recieved a cheque a short while ago as a result of an item I listed for

sale here on photo.net. The cheque was for $5,000 US, I was to cash it, keep

$500 and western union the difference. The bank was willing to cash it , but

told me it could take up to 30 days or more to clear, if it bounced I would have

to repay the money to the bank. It's a scam, the cheques are conterfit.

The pictures are a result of a client booking a studio for the work, not you. The

pictures belong to the studio, you are just hired to shoot the event. If you really

want to partner, just wait it out until you do, but make sure that is what is going

to happen. In the meantime , try to get a few of your own bookings, even try

some friends just to build your own portfolio. Once you have that you can

gradually start marketing yourself even while you are still shooting for

someone else.

Not much you can do about the expressions, they might look more involved

during other portions of the ceremony such as the crowns being placed on

each others heads. The only other comment, often when I shot an orthodox

wedding I drag the shutter quite a bit to get more ambient light for the colorful

background... 1/60 or longer.

I fire my old speedotron unit, as well as my newer photogenic units via my

radio slave which is pluged into my 10D.

I joined WPPI (wedding&portait photographers international).

Where I live, there is PPO (professional photograhers of ontario) and

PPOC(professional photographers of canada)

Let the studio deal with the problem. If they handle it carefully, there might not

be a problem. I wouldn't worry about a lawsuit yet, the studio is probably has a

contract that protects them in event of mechanical problems. I don't think that

anyone could sue you, the worst that could happen is that the studio does not

pay you for the job because you did not provide the neccesary amount of

shots.(or they could pay you for a lesser amount of work)

I've had my Hassy gear repaired at Vistek in Toronto, never any problems. I

think there is now a Vistek in Calgary, try the web site...www.vistek.ca

I've had my flash not fired before with my 80cf. The pc sync had to be

replaced. I've also have had the flash not fire other times...batteries died in the

radio slave, faulty sync cord..etc... All of the times this has happened, you do

not find out until it is too late, just roll with it and have spares of everything.

The D-Flash seems like a good flash, why change it? You have TTL with the

D-Flash, and you can use it with less power as a fill by adjusting the ISO on

the flash.

I use a showroom that has quite a few framed 20 x 20 prints (approx. 25). In

addition to that I have about 8 albums of different size pictures..10 x 10, 7 x 7,

5 x 5, 5 x 7, etc...

I find that the large prints make more of an impact, and help to get across my

style to the client even if they only want smaller images.

I was shooting a wedding in cottage country, and I was going down wood

stairs to shoot the groom & the guys on the dock by the lake the morning of

the wedding. The stairs were dew covered, and just as someone said "watch

your step, it's slippery"...down I went. I landed on my back and saw my 503cxi

with a Metz60 bounce down the stairs, slid across the dock and almost go in

the lake.

The damage...

80mm CF lens had a broken shutter

Metz 60 had the flash head snap off

Manfroto tripod had a broken coupling on one of the legs

light coloured pants..torn behind & stained black

incredibly painful back ( for several weeks )

After gathering myself I got out my spare Metz, taped the pripod coupling up

with duct tape & used my 60CF in place of my 80. Also I just happen to have a

spare set off pants in the car( just by chance ) I also got a hand full of pain

killers from the bride who was a physo-therapist. The couple who did the

video also helped out all day carying my eqipment (no assistant on this day )

After all this, I probably got some off my very best pictures..I think I worked

harder so no one would think the photo's were not going to be good and got

great results.

Don't take the booking, if the bride is a pain in the---- now, she will be worse

later. It's easier to tell her that you are no longer available for the date and

move on.

Do not shoot with a camera on auto, the relective meter will be tricked. The

best way to meter is with the hand held meter that you have mentioned. Make

sure that you know how to use the meter correctly..hold it in front of your

subjects pointing at your camera. Doing this will measure the light falling on

your subjects, not the light that is reflected from them..the light that falls on

them does not change if they are light or dark. Also as mentioned already, do

not have too dark a background such as all trees.

I use Agfa Optima 400 in 120 for weddings, it's great. The other benefit, where

I purchase Agfa, it's about $2.00 cheaper per roll than Kodak.

I use the metz 60 & the metz 45 with my 10D. They are better flash units to use

professionally than the canon units. To use them though, you have to set the

camera manually, and select the aperature on the flash unit. The flash

exposure is very reliable with the metz units. One thing that I find with the metz

& the 10D is that they overexpose unless you compensate with the iso setting.

ie..camera iso at 400 flash at 800, or select the aperature one stop less than

the camera ..camera at f8 flash at f5.6. As far as the modules are concerned,

they don't work with the 10D, you have to connect the metz 60 to the camera

pc socket on the side of the body.