nikonboy

I finally put together a basic site and was wondering if anybody could

offer some feedback and/or suggestions. Nothing is in stone at the

moment and I am still building it ... THANKS!

<br>

<a href="http://www.silverleafphoto.com">www.silverleafphoto.com</a>

Hey Don't forget us Canucks up in the North :-)!

Luke ... I just purchased some Alien Bees also ... I have only used them a few times but they are great so far!

Thanks again for the great feedback. Nadine that is almost exactly what I want to do, but I don't have a Santa Claus. How on earth do you make money paying some guy to be Santa? In my area there are PetSmarts that offer dog photo's for $10 so I have to try and stay in line with them. If you could give me a little more information on your basic setup I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

Thanks for all the great feedback. William, Melissa would you both get the B800 again? I was thinking of ordering the Digi B Package and it has 2 B400s ... I was thinking of upgrading one of them to the B800 (it's only $55 more).

<p>

Also, do I really need 2 lights or could I get by with 1 B800 and a reflector. My concern with this setup would be lighting larger groups with only 1 light. I don't think a reflector would work very well for this or am I wrong?

</p>

Okay I have a small dilemma and I need your help. I am going to be

doing Christmas dog photos and some other portrait work in the coming

months. I currently do most of my work outside in parks, but since

winter is approaching and dog photos must be done inside I am in need

of more lighting equipment.

 

What I am trying to decide is if I can achieve a professional look by

adding some dedicated hot shoe flashes to my setup and mounting them

on tripods. The benefit here is that I can invest in a couple flash

guns that will migrate smoothly to digital bodies (namely the

SB-800/SB-600). So these would see a lot of use in the future at

weddings. But would these offer enough power?

 

Or should I just get some portable studio lighting? I have been

looking at Alien Bees (B400) and they seem to offer the most value for

the money. I would think that the only time these would be useful at a

wedding would be during formal shots and perhaps during a reception if

I added some Pocket Wizards to the mix.

Please share your thoughts. Thanks!

Okay I have a small dilemma and I need your help. I am going to be

doing Christmas dog photos and some other portrait work in the coming

months. I currently do most of my work outside in parks, but since

winter is approaching and dog photos must be done inside I am in need

of more lighting equipment.

<p>

What I am trying to decide is if I can achieve a professional look by

adding some dedicated hot shoe flashes to my setup and mounting them

on tripods. The benefit here is that I can invest in a couple flash

guns that will migrate smoothly to digital bodies (namely the

SB-800/SB-600). So these would see a lot of use in the future at

weddings. But would these offer enough power?

</p><p>

Or should I just get some portable studio lighting? I have been

looking at Alien Bees (B400) and they seem to offer the most value for

the money. I would think that the only time these would be useful at a

wedding would be during formal shots and perhaps during a reception if

I added some Pocket Wizards to the mix.

</p>

Please share your thoughts. Thanks!

I started in High School during an internship at a local newspaper. The paper was small enough that reports had to shot their own photos. This lead me to purchase my first nice SLR (Canon Rebel). That experience gave me a love for photography, so in University when the opportunity came I took an Photograpy class. That gave me a great foundation and from there I have built upon it through friends, seminars and of course the interenet.

"After a good meal be sure to compliment the chef regarding his choice of pots and pans."

 

Come on people ... stop being rude to each other ... as was pointed out earlier some people like to talk about camera's.

 

Besides do you really think a great chef in a resturant has Dollar Store pots and pans???

 

While the camera doesn't make the photo better ... it still must be a capable performer.

I agree with Melissa ... NW would be great with a theme ... say rings one week and then rotate the theme. This would serve as a place to gain inspiration and new ideas.

Amazing how an image of a withering flower can still look beautiful ... thanks for sharing Marc!

I must say I am rather disappointed as to where this thread has ended up.

 

Please remember that one of the drawbacks of the internet is that we can not see how something is said/typed. If you have read a large portion of Marc Williams posts you would see that he is not a man who is about self promotion. Instead, he tries to help others by sharing his experience ... and surprise that sometimes involves using words such as "I" or "me" ...

 

Marc, please don't lower your level of PN posts because of a few fools ... your wisdon and experience is far to valuable. BTW, when your book comes out I will one of the first to snatch it up ... signed of course :-)!

Thanks for sharing ... some great images ... keep them coming.

I have both the 85mm 1.8 and the 105 2.5 AI ... both are great in terms of sharpness and OOF areas. When working with stationary subjects I prefer the 105 ... actually I got that lens and an FA body for a little less then I paid for just the 85mm.<div></div>

Okay I just finished catching up on Marc Williams post "Why should you

shoot film ? : a POV from a digital maven." and my brain is a little

numb. SO I thought I would post a request for you wedding shooters to

post some NON wedding work. I would like to see what you shoot for

pleasure...

 

This is not just on off topic post ... since I am currently in the

process of become professional I would like to know how you guys feel

about the importance of shooting NON wedding work. Do you feel it

helps to keep your eye from being lazy? Does it help to keep your

skills fresh? Does it help you remember why you got into shooting

professionally?

 

For me fall makes my index finger twitch with excitement (it's fall in

my part of the world). So I try to shoot whenever I can. Attached is

an image from last weekend.<div></div>

Marc thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience with us. I always search out your theards since they offer great wisdom and have helped me a great deal.

 

My Story started with not being happy with my own wedding photos. Then with the encouragement of my wife I started on the course of becoming pro. At this point I had to decide between digital and film since I didn't yet have a large investment in any system. I had enough funs that I could have jumped into digital with a kit lense, but that's it. At this point I decided it was much more important to get good glass. So I took the money and bought film cameras with fast primes. I am so glad I did this. The glass is such an important aspect. Great glass on a crapy body can still produce great images. Crapy glass will always produce crapy images.

 

Talking about glass that has a soul ... just the other day I picked up an 105 f2.5 AI Nikon lens ... that lens is great ... the bokeh is so wonderful. See the attached photo.

 

All of this to say that I think it is important to look at digital and film as different ways to the same result (most of the people that contact me want physical 4x6 proofs). I will of course one day add digital to my equipment list, but I think it will be a long time before it replaces my film cameras completely. So, yes I think the two can coexist very happily.<div></div>

I think most people have come to accept some camera noise ... as long as it isn't 30 shots in 1 minute (in the case of film). Besides all the guests get to have their digicams that beep after ever shot! At any wedding I have attended I can't ever remeber being upset by the noise of the Photographer's camera ... usually it their movement that is most annoying. I was at one wedding where the guy walked up about 4 feet directly in front of the B&G during the kiss ... 80% of the people could not see the kiss ... most where upset!

 

So I would say that for most cases movement is a bigger issue then camera noise.

Henry's - <a ref="http://www.henrys.com">www.henrys.com</a>

Marc ... the B&Ws look great ... they have that true silver glow to them. Please tell us how you did it!

Steve,

I don't usually reply to posts of this nature since I am fairly new to wedding photography, but I feel that you are missing a few points.

 

1. "I dont think the above attitudes have any place in a "service" business,no matter how creative we are." As you stated above this is your view. Some people choose to run their business differently - botton line is that it is their choose.

 

2. "If the bride brings in a last minute video crew,it is our job to deal with this with a smile,and to deliver the goods." Perhaps the bride is unaware of the fact that bringing in an agressive video crew could mean you can't deilver the goods that she is expecting. Sure you could make do and deliver the shots that you can get while working around the video crew, but these might not be the "goods" that she is expecting.

 

In this case I don't think it is to much to expect that a Professional Photograher and a Professional video crew treat each other as Professionals. Perhaps these means that at times you give each other the time and space needed to get the shots/video. I witnessed this play out at my sisters wedding where the video guy and photographer managed to actually get along. They worked with each others needs and timing.

 

Gettting back to the post ...

Rick I think it would be very wise to speak with the Bride and mention that having the video guy around for your 30 minutes shot could affect the shots and that perhaps they might want to arrange another time where the video guy can work with them alone. Heck he might also want that! If they don't agree then I think it's time to put a smile on and do the best you can.

Love it ... can't wait to see some more!

This is perhaps one of the best theards to be posted recently.

 

The value of "seeing" is far more important then the value of the camera. This is why a wedding photographer with an old Nikon can capture images that put to shame Uncle Charlie and his flashy new state of the art computer/camera that cost more then the B&G paid the photographer.

 

There is a lot of talk here about which film, flash or lens is best. This is of course important in it's own way since a good photographer needs to have tools that allow them to caputre the images they need, but in the end it is the image that is king.

 

I once read a theard from a photographer who loves it when the B&G have disposable camera's on the tables. He snatches one up and shoots away. At the end of the night he hands it to the B&G so they know he took the pictures on it. His clients always love the images he captures with it. I haven't yet had the courage to try that, but would love to one day.

 

All of this to say it is quality not quantity that matters, but in our number obessed society people tend to feel comfortable with numbers. Just look at the horse power ratings of cars to see this in action ... do we really need a 375HP Hemi powered family car??? So most B&Gs want to see numbers ... surely if the photographer captures 500+ images there will be some good ones. I am sure this is part of the reason Unclue Charlie and his digital rig get called upon more often these days.

 

I agree with Marc ... who cares how many images you capture? More does not equal better ...

I love to try new images ... doesn't always have to be wedding related. This is an image from my first wedding and I really enjoyed setting this one up. The Bride & Groom just loved it and they had a blast doing it. I would love to try this again next time ...

-Jason<div></div>

This is an interesting time for this post ... I just completed my first wedding. It was a second wedding that was on a very tight budget and would have ended up with no professional photos had I not offered to shot for material cost. The B&G where and still are tickled pink. Thankfully PN has a wealth of great information that helped to prepare me for this day.

 

I say all of this because all Pros have had a first wedding! Whether it was as an assistant or flying solo like I did. As was mentioned above I also think this post could have been a little more positive. Actually, I wonder if somebody over at PN could put together a summary of all the great information that is found in different posts. Maybe something that poeple could use as a getting started guide or a lessons learned article. Heck I would even voluteer ... just a thought!<div></div>

Hi all I recently shot a wedding in a church that happened to have a

glass wall at the back of the sacturary. It's basiclly another room

that has windows facing out. I shot a test roll the night before and

discovered these windows.

 

Usually, they have the blings pulled closed so the day of the wedding

I opened the blinds and turned on the lights ... this helped, but as

you can see in the picture it didn't cure it. How do you guys handle

this type of situation?

 

Thanks!<div></div>