wedding-photography-denver

<p>I am with Bob in general.</p>

<p>Have "adequate" backups, but not matching unless money is just freely available.</p>

<p>Not there?</p>

<p>I love these shots of leaving. The relief, the joy, and they really are such a powerful story telling images.</p>

<p>Marc, as ever, you have a knack for grabbing a shot that speaks.</p>

<p>Ian, love it. Magazine cover (of a landscape oriented magazine?)</p>

<p>Dave, good mood with the bride. I would love to see the whole face of the driver though. Also a little more exposure on the brides face would be a bonus.</p>

<p>Rab, while it is a great shot emotionally, it is a bit flat in the color, and I think would benefit from some curves tweaking.</p>

<p>Karl, sweet and retro to fit the car style. I do prefer the second shot you posted. That is all about the emotions of the leaving and speaks louder to the intent (as I read it?).</p>

<p>Most recent "getaway" I have had chance to shoot. I often leave before they do, so this is not something I do too much these days...</p><div></div>

<p>Vail, thanks for that info. Very helpful.</p>

<p>Thought about it for presentations, but have not done so yet. This is great to hear about though.</p>

<p>Vail, I too am interested how you do your DL of image to the Ipad. Don't you run out of space pretty fast, or are you using jpg and a 64gb ipad? Also, I would appreciate you sharing what software you find useful for any of the functions you are doing.</p>

<p>Thanks, D.</p>

<p>You can never have too much memory (esp. as you age…!), so bring what you have.</p>

<p>On the 70-300. If it is the VR, you might get some use from it during daylight hours, but as Nadine suggests, limited amount. I would sooner put the 50 on your D90 and use it sans flash, with iso up to 1600 (3200 if you feel daring or in the mood for B&W conversions) and apertures around the F1.8 - F2.2 area. Use it for sniping portraits and such.</p>

<p>This is from someone who shoots two bodies at all times, so it depends on if you feel able to lug the gear all day. One thing you can do with the D90, is to have the nissin on there as your means of carrying it around. When you want it for off cam use, its there, and when you want it for backup its right there with you….? Just sayin'.</p>

 

<p>Hi Vail,</p>

<p>Genuine fractals is one, On One is another and there are several more that are designed to do this specific task of uprezing your image to specs for printers.</p>

<p>Yes on the sharpening, but not until you have uprezed it. USM is the preferred method with settings something like:<br>

500;0.2;2.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

<p>BTW, I aim the light speed light head toward the opposite side of my groups (the taller girl with the grin on the far left) when using a single location for lights. Fall off hits the nearest subject.</p>

<p>Hi Ellie,<br /> IMO, yes on the dual speed lights if you shoot through a brolly (take the shell off in case you are unfamiliar with that use of brollies) and have the power set to about 1/2.</p>

<p>Here is something that will give you an idea of the light spread and how it looks with groups. I picked this one as the group is spread far enough to have 20-25 heads and still get the same effective coverage (light wise). It was shot through a 20" brolly as we had some breeze and did not want to chase a brolly around. This is one speed light, set cam. right by about 5' and about 10+' from the nearest subject. I had it dialed to about 1/4 power with ISO of 100 and the sun behind (as you can see). So, pretty easy, but you can see how this will work if you are outside and the light is dropping. Of course, this may not be a soft enough light for you needs, but works well in a wedding situation for us.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>I am with Nadine re the lens.<br>

Use the 17-85 (mostly wide open and keep your FL to around 35mm when possible (less work for your flash if you are not super wide, or long.) and add the 580EX II.<br>

I find the thermal issue to be common to Nikon along with the same thing the 580's suffer. Just plan your shots and up your iso to 800 to keep the flash use lower. The second flash is a great idea if you plan to have a belt/bag to carry it in. Other wise, have a spare set (or two) of batteries in your pocket.</p>

<p>I don't use a flash bracket any more. But if you do use one, make sure you are not clipping the backs of guests heads as you pass between tables. :)<br>

A second body is good insurance too. I would be tempted to use another (rented?) body with your 50mm wide open with higher ISO's.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Also, visit NVN's site as Nadine suggests. He offers quite a bit of great information.</p>

<p>Hi Ellie,<br>

Welcome to Pnet's overly experienced board of wedding shooters ;-). I too shoot Nikon (ATM), and work with of cam once the light drops. However, I find that in dull receptions and such, softboxes and umbrellas don't work too well. They end up in your shot a lot of times and are just unsightly. With that said...</p>

<p>I will work through your questions with my answers and you can take from it what you will. </p>

<p><strong>- What settings do you tend to use for flattering light?</strong><br>

Flattering light is hard to achieve with the wedding reception scenario. This is not a portrait session, but more of a paparazzi shoot (if you get my drift). The reason I use speedlights for weddings is specifically because they are small and easy to trigger/change settings on the fly. The pack up and move with one hand (mostly) as they are one a stand that is light/small.<br>

<strong>Does everyone use TTL BL for fill and TLL for dark rooms or have I got that wrong?</strong><br>

<strong><br /></strong>I don't. I use TTL outdoors in daylight, but dialed back about -1 or so. Indoors (darker rooms), I use the off camera lights in manual mode and ride the aperture up and down as needed. My on cam (sb900 currently) is set to TTL -0.3 usually, and that is combined with an ISO and aperture that give me the ambient at about two stops under.<br>

I have heard others say the TTL works well on the Nikon system, but it's hard for me to trust it coming from manual settings. <br>

<strong>- What settings do you use on camera - AP or M? Why?</strong><br>

<strong><br /></strong>For most wedding work here is what I find myself doing. I shoot with two bodies. Body #1 is currently a D7k and body #2 is a D700. On #1 I have it set to manual most of the time. I lilke to control what light is recorded by a quick guess of what the light levels are. I dial the settings I think in, shoot a frame, then adjust to suit. I am usually shooting a 17-55 on that body, so I look for a SS of around 1/80th (higher if the light allows). My aperture is normally around F4 - F4.5 for most of the day. Stopping down for venue shots and portraits of the groups etc. I set ISO's based on the need. Once I hit ISO1000, I will typically introduce flash (bouncing it when possible). Those settings are not hard and fast, but generally what is used for body #1. <br>

Body #2 is set to Av most of the time, and around F1.6 - F2.2 with an 85mm. I use ISO's from around 400 to 6400 (only going higher as needed of course) The great thing about the D700's (or other nikons) is that you can set the lower limit of the SS when employing auto ISO, so I do use that in the darkest of situations. I will set this camera to M when I want a particular look, and any auto settings are too restrictive. On this cam/lens combo, I look for a SS higher than 1/100th when possible, but frequently find myself dialing it back to 1/50th - 1/60th to get the shot.<br>

<strong>- What sort of shutter speeds do you commonly find yourself using?</strong><br>

As said above, you will see I am using higher SS's on body #2, but on body #1, I will drop it to 1/30th and let the flash freeze my subject sometimes. If I want the light trails, I use it down to 1/10 with flash. Working w/out flash, I tend to stay in the 1/60+ range.<br>

<br /><strong>- Does anyone have BOTH SB-910 and the Nissin? How would I use them together most simply?</strong><br>

<strong></strong>I don't know the answer here as I don't have either. But, I use an SB900 to trigger SB800's off cam and with the Radiopoppers, they are flawless.<br>

<br /><strong>- In general, would you use 2 speedlights together at a wedding? </strong><br>

I use up to 4 depending on what we need to get done. For larger groups, I will set up a pair of them shooting into a 60" or so umbrella (shoot through some times).<br>

For receptions/dancing, I usually have one off cam at a corner of the dance area with a wider head setting around the 28mm setting (flash head). No modifiers on that one, and I have it close to or right next to the DJ's speakers or some other non movable object. I have a second/assistant with me who also works with this setup, but using his own off cam flash.<br>

<strong>What about the large group shot? </strong><br>

As said above.<br>

<br /><strong>- Do you ever set up stands for your speedlights - if so for what setting?</strong><br>

See above<br>

<strong>I have a camera & speedlight bracket and I was assuming that I wouldn't be using stands at all - let me know if I'm wrong...</strong><br>

See above<br>

<br /><strong>- Flash diffusers? I have ordered a Gary Fong Lightsphere because I thought it was probably a sure-bet.</strong><br>

I have a few of these from a few years back. They do work well in some situations, but not all. They also waste a lot of light and when you want to shoot for several hours with flash, your batteries will be spent much faster as your flash has to work much harder.<br>

I tried using a flash bracket on camera for some time too. That also is good, but is very cumbersome and makes me bash the guests in the head with my flash from time to time. <br>

Presently, I use a piece of foamy from the craft store (see pic below)<br>

<strong>- Are there any setups that I shouldn't miss? Any sure-fire winners that the bride and groom will go 'fantastic'! If I know there are some winning shots in the bag I will be less nervous... [quaking in boots..shudder]</strong><br>

<strong><br /></strong>This is usually the basics: The couple's portrait; Portraits with Mom/Dad (w/ bride and same with groom), then the wedding party and family groups. Processional, ring exchange, kiss, recessional. First dance, dance with dad/mom etc., cake cutting, bouquet / garter toss and Exit.</p>

<p>Hope some of that helps. Try to stay focussed on getting your settings dialed in at the start of each portion of the day. Then look for what you would like for your own wedding to add to the list of must have's above. All the best.</p><div></div>

<p>You have an eye, but lack the wedding work on your site.</p>

<p>I would go to local photography shows, network with other photographers and such. That may get you in front of someone who sees your style and will be willing to hire you.</p>

<p>Hi Tom,</p>

<p>Firstly, what you have is not bad. I use two cameras at all times, so my view will be based on that.</p>

<p>One camera I like to shoot with the equiv. of a F/F 24-70. Right now that happens to be the D7000 and 17-55/2.8. That covers about half of what I shoot including formals. That body always has a flash that can trigger others on board. When the reception happens, I typically use it with one off camera light (or two if the space is a little bigger). </p>

<p>My second body is usually a D700 (probably get a D4 or D800 to do this with soon) with an 85/1.4 without flash.</p>

<p>Those two setups are the staple for how we work.<br>

Once in a while I will use crop body w/ 70-200/2.8 Vr, or a 70-300 consumer zoom from the back of the church etc. I only do this IF i think there is no way to get close enough durning the ceremony without disturbing the event.</p>

<p>I may in the future (with a body that has dual cards, so NOT the D700), start using a 35/1.4 instead of the 17-55. Not sure if I can do what I want that route though, so not decided yet.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

<p>Hi Rachael,</p>

<p>I know how you feel. I sometimes reflect on my work and wonder if its the best I can do. The one thing that assures me is that I keep getting booked for weddings.</p>

<p>I have won a few awards, but they don't help when you are not getting clients in the door. So while entering some competitions will boost your ego a little, it won't book you weddings.</p>

<p>I would look harder at where you clients came from and see if you can refresh that source in some way. Referrals are a major part of my business and as such, I take time to ask each client if they were happy with the pictures. I believe in the ultimate judge being those who hire you, not other photographers.</p>

<p>Perhaps you can show a link to some of your work and have it evaluated here, but I don't know if that will get you more clients either.</p>

<p>Do you advertise anywhere?</p>

<p>I shot these from time to time for Arbone and Herbalife. </p>

<p>In general, I get through one per 2mins depending on the group size. It's sometimes a 3 or 4 person shot and takes a moment to get them to smile in a relaxed way.<br>

If your pro is good, you should allow about 1.5 hours total. If they are average at this (less experienced), it could take more like 3+ hours. <br>

Keep a person on hand to direct traffic, so you don't have down time and make sure your photog has their lighting dialed in nicely well before you begin shooting.</p>

<p>My record time with about 50 people getting their pic with the celeb. was just under an hour.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

<p>Thom Hogans is usually on of the best for Nikon.</p>

<p>I found the AF on these bodies a little quirky at first, but am used to them now and can get better results than with the D700's sometimes.</p>

<p>I am with Frank.</p>

<p>We have two of this lens (and a Tamron of the same FL). Its a Nikon thing with the lens, and it is fine. One of ours is less audible, but the zoom is slightly stiffer. Pick your poison.</p>

<p>Have you updated your firmware?</p>

<p>I did that once too. I think you can hit a few buttons simultaneously to do the same thing (if memory serves me right), and that was how I got there. Very frustrating.</p>

<p>I would concur with the 28mm idea. 24 at a push, but 28 is better and 35 is perfect for groups (all assuming FX format).</p>

<p>I use a 17-55 at around 20mm (30mm) for groups mostly. On the D700's we like to use a 35 for the same shots when needed.</p>

<p>I saw that too, but don't have one to test it.</p>

<p>I tried that cam before the LX5 and while it was great in a lot of ways, the AF and write times we horrible. If those are fixed, it would be a great camera.</p>

<p>Really?</p>

<p>I think the answer is in the question…. if you have to have an "or" camera, then get the 5d2. If you want the camera, get the 800.</p>

<p>The D700 is better than the 5d2 IMO. The 800 will top that for sure.</p>

<p>@ A. Davis,</p>

<p>good idea on the eHarmony approach. Still a meat market, but way better than the leads approach.</p>

<p>Good work, solid style, great website, top notch marketing, they get my nod. I no longer rate these so called (and self proclaimed) wedding photography listing sites (knot/WW, etc.)</p>