suzanne carey

Hi Jason, as I have found...there's a lot more to starting out than having a portfolio or even having a website. There's getting your business license, applying for sales tax, insurance, etc. I got a little behind on the whole sales tax thing. I was charging sales tax, but did not have my license to do so! That was a big uh oh. But it has all worked out. I have seen some good books on not only how to market and begin your own company, but also the business side of things. Contracts, pricing, estimated tax payments, etc. But I have found that my living and learning, you will get it all figured out! Good luck! So far I just do it part time, as I am a full time mommy....but its great fun!

Peter thanks for sharing! That is a great plug in!

Hi Ryan! After looking at your wedding pictures, I went and looked at all your other folders. I absolutely love your work, the people and kids portraits. This may not be appropriate in this forum, but I would love to know what lighting you use, lenses you have used in some of the samples you have in your folders. Your style is exactly what I want to aspire to! Feel free to email me if you want to not distract from this thread.

 

PS - I liked the wedding pictures!

Sorry Jason, just realized you said you were looking for something "down under." So not sure if my link helps you or not!

Hi Jason. I think this may be what you are looking for. http://www.archivalmethods.com/Product.cfm?categoryid=1&Productid=89

Bravo Melissa! I think you did a fabulous job. Kudos to a fellow newbie. My first is in April, so any advice you have...send it my way.

Again, thanks so much for the positive feedback. I cannot tell you how good that makes me feel. I can handle the honest feedback as well but its much nicer getting positive feedback too! :)

Share some pictures Grant! :) I also started a same sort of thread a week a go. Can anyone tell me how it does with groups? Like with 5 or more? How does it do from a distance away, say 15 or so feet?

 

Thanks!

Thanks guys so much for all the information! You confirmed my understanding of the lens. I will bookmark this thread as a wealth of knowledge. Thanks again for all the suggestions and feedback. I am sharing a picture I took of my daughter the first weekend I got the lens. I take pictures with it everyday and with the new Tamron I got, which I love, to get a better understanding of the mechanics. I think I am on the right track, and how could I not be with all the great help you guys offer!<div></div>

Hi there! I do have a dumb question for you today. Well, its more of

an educational question for me. I have recently purchased the 50mm

1.8 for my Canon 20D. I am enjoying this new lens. But I have

noticed when I use it on 1.8, the pictures are very, very soft. Is

this "normal"? When would you use it that open? But as I move it

down to like 5.6, the images are crystal clear. I will be using this

lens for mainly portrait work and at weddings. Any advice or books,

links you want to share so I can educate myself more...I am more

than open to any suggestions. I have read several books, but nothing

that was very specific on lenses and how to get a handle on them.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Suzanne

Thank you so much for bringing this up! Shew, this has helped me a ton. I was taking some pictures of my little one the other day in the bathtub. When set on AV mode, the pictures were too dark. (I was bouncing off ceiling). And the same thing as mentioned previously, the shutter speed was way too slow on f5.6. But then I put the camera on M, I was thinking to override the affects of AV mode, and the lighting worked out just fine! So yes, it was a happy "happen upon" for me, but glad to see it is something legit for me to keep in mind.

 

So during good lighting, you will use AV mode at the wedding but switch to Manual mode in low lighting?

 

This has been agreat concern for me too. Thanks for brining it up Matt! My first wedding is in April. EEEKKKK.

Hi there! The closer I get to my first upcoming wedding, the more I

feel I should use a good zoom lens. At this time, its not in the

finances to buy one. Any suggestions on who offers equipment rental?

I live in a small Southern town and the only camera equipment place

around does not offer rental. So, any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

Edward, those are great! Thanks for sharing. Thanks for all the feedback. I look forward to seeing some pictures with this thing!

Great, Eric share your pictures with us when you get some! Sorry, I should have included the link to it in my original post. I think Gary now has a little video you can watch too of him explaining it. Seeing him hold it on his camera, it does not seem to be as big as I thought it was. I am quite interested to see its results!

Dawn, its just beautiful! What a perfect setting. I love the look of natural light. She has beautiful little highlights in her eyes. That's what made me think you were using studio lighting or something. Beautiful work!

Hi guys. I have recently renewed my interest in Gary Fong's

Lightsphere II. I have done several searches on this forum and on

another forum, but I have yet to see some wedding picture samples.

Just curious if any of you have some or can direct me to some.

 

Thanks!

Hi Tyler! Welcome to the digital world. I have been taking pictures digitally for almost 3 years now, but just recently professionally. If I know the person mainly wants color, I will take them all in color and then change the coloring if they want some in "black and white." But I have found that setting the camera to black and white, rather than transforming them in PS, look much better. The blacks are more black. So if they know they want black and whites, I will set my camera and vice versa if they want color.

Hey, thanks again for great answers! My main concern is taking the group pictures. I have read about the Fong Lighsphere and wonder if that is a good alternative to the group pictures. Anyone ever used it?

Dawn, I LOVE the picture. May I ask what sort of lighting you used? Also, was it taken in a studio? What was your setup like?

 

Joshua, I think I will agree with the velvet answer. I have personally never used velvet, but I received a black and leopard print throw as a Christmas present one year. Black on one side and leopard on the other. It has a velvet like feel to it and I have used it on shoots, its great. See an example below. This was taken with natural lighting only, coming from the left of the baby. In person, its not a VERY black material, but in some situations it looks very black in pictures.

Hi Tamas. I wish I could help you with a bad experience, but I used mine for the first time this past Saturday. It is great! I was so impressed with its sharpness. The picture I am sharing was taken with it. There were no touch ups except for adjusting levels. I also took some pictures with my Canon 50mm 1.8 and I think the Tamaron blew the other pictures away, but that's just my opinion. It's a great lens!<div></div>

Wow, that is much better than mine! I am hoping it was a misfocus issue. Though, I have noticed it before on other occasions. Since I know the lens itself should be sharp, I will continue to shoot some tests and I guess send it to Canon if I can't get it to shoot sharp.

 

Thanks!

Thanks for the quick response. I thought about the misfocus as well. It was of 2 people, so 3.2 may not have been the best setting. I did have it in AV mode. I will keep practicing with it, and bring my tripod next time too! :)

 

Thanks Holly for sharing!

This may not be an easy question to answer, but this is why I am

asking. I have been using my 50mm 1.8 now for a month. I have only

shot with it a few sessions, but I am noticing they are really soft.

I wonder if I am doing something wrong on my end. For instance, I

took some pictures this past Saturday. One picture was at f3.2. Is

this still too wide open? Is that a possibility for the softness?

Later that day I took some with my Tamaron 28-70 and they were sharp

as a tack. No Unsharp mask needed.

 

I would love to see some examples of your favorite portrait with

your 50mm.

 

P.S. I am using a 20D.

 

Thanks!<div></div>

Thanks guys! Yes, it actually does show their personalites! Now if it were MY family, they would be laughing their heads off or making faces. I do like outside photography the best, but it was wet outside so we opted for just a quick shot inside. I really appreciate all the comments/feedback!

Hi there. I hope I am posting this in the right spot. I took a

picture of my husband's family a few weeks ago. I was trying out my

new Tamaron lens. The first thing I did wrong was have it on the

incorrect setting. I had it open too wide,I think that is the first

problem. But other than focusing issues, what about lighting? There

was a huge window on their left side. I bounced some flash as well

with an omni bounce attached. (no flash bracket at the time) So what

about composition? The picture is lacking to me, so any advice you

have is greatly appreciated!