rippo

July 11, 2013

I can confirm that it was a dead/dying charger. The third-party charger was able to properly charge both batteries just fine. Perhaps the fuji chargers tend to fail in a rather undramatic way, leaving the user to wonder what's going on.

July 7, 2013

I just acquired a used X100 and immediately ran into the same charger problem. I thought the supplied OEM battery must have been exhausted, as it wouldn't charge. Light stayed on for a day or so and a meter showed 3.1v. So I bought a generic battery, and the camera worked fine on the partial charge (so it's not the camera! phew.). But when it came to recharging, it would charge for awhile and then the light blinked to indicate a fault. Tried again, and it charged for much longer and then blinked. But still wouldn't take enough charge to shoot more than five frames.

So I've taken your advice and I've ordered a third-party charger. I won't know until Wednesday if that's the solution or not, but I do have two more batteries arriving Tuesday.

Thanks!

August 19, 2011

There's a used one on KEH.com for $215. That's way cheaper than a Leica. You never specified what 'inexpensive' was.

Cameras I've used for street photography:

Yashica Electro 35 (Aperture priority only, no manual)

Konica Auto S2 (manual or shutter priority)

Kiev 4a (manual only)

Fed 3 (manual only)

Fed 5 (manual only)

Argus C-Four (manual only)

And the most interesting in my mind, is:

Yashica-Mat (twin lens reflex camera). Slower to frame and focus, but no one knows you're taking a picture of them because you're staring down at your shoes when you take it.

All are varying degrees of cheapness, and most or all are cheaper than the Bessa-R. But the Bessa-R has a really great feel to it.

Like Larry mentioned above, street photography often doesn't allow time for focusing by eye. You have to guess the distance, and then dial it in quickly before you put camera to eye. So having an actual rangefinder isn't 100% necessary. I could just as easily shoot 'street' on my Kodak Retinette 1a, which is a simple zone-focus camera.

August 15, 2011

Nothing like resurrecting an old thread! :)

To answer Aaron's question, I suggest a Voigtlander Bessa-R. It's the older model, and while it has a simple TTL meter, it's fully manual (so you can ignore the meter readout if you want). Flash sync (not TTL) of 1/125s, shutter speeds from 1/2000 to 1 s plus bulb. It takes M39/LTM (Leica) lenses, unlike the newer Bessas that take the M-mount lenses. So you can go cheap and get a Russian Jupiter-8, or spend more and shoot Leica or Bessa lenses. It's got an amazingly bright viewfinder. And the camera just feels really nice to operate. Not going to be cheap like a FED, but it's much cheaper than the high end.

June 11, 2011

I thought Jose Villa's new book on wedding photography was pretty useful. Not beginner-ish, and some good insight into managing the day from a creative standpoint. He shoots film (as do I), but you don't have to shoot film to appreciate the book.

May 14, 2011

I'm sorry, but I only accept clients who are referrals. :)

April 16, 2011

There's two ways to look at it:

You can simply state, hey, you're canceling the booking as it currently stands, and that places a severe hardship on us from an income standpoint. We've missed out on opportunities with other couples because we were holding this date for you. You agreed to forfeit the money you've paid if you change or cancel the date. But rather than have you lose all your money, we're offering to let you reschedule your event with minimal additional expense, in a way that partially compensates us for the inconvenience this causes. But if you'd prefer to simply cancel, we can do that under the terms of the agreement (and you forfeit your payments).

Or…

Look at it this way. Sure you had the popular date tied up and couldn't book other couples. However now you've got an *unpopular* date - since you haven't already booked it, it can't be that popular - booked instead. Your sum total bookings for the year remains the same. Yes you could have made more money with current rates. But ask yourself this: in an industry that relies heavily on word of mouth, will $500 buy you enough advertising to offset the badmouthing you're going to get? Hell hath no fury like a bride's mother scorned.

If you weren't available on the new date, this would be an entirely different matter (and the client would probably be more understanding). But since you're available, I'd just bite the bullet, don't charge a fee, go overboard to give them great service so they forget this, and consider any money lost as a marketing cost.

April 7, 2011

Ah, I see the photographer has answered (somewhat obliquely) in the comments.

fantastic series really like the high energy best man shots in the series, lots of freeze action going on there. I also like the lighting consistency at the reception, how did you light it? i have a similar location coming up, old barn with big tall ceilings and fairy lights too Guessing crosslight with diffused on camera fill? But i notice a second stand and strobe, camera right on some shots that are not firing? jprezant: scott had lights up also. 1 clamped onto one of my stands, and one on an additional stand. thats why you see speedlights that aren't firing.

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April 7, 2011

Ah, good point. The walls are pretty warm-toned in there. Could just be over-the-shoulder flash bouncing off the walls. Although the under-chin shadows look pretty hard, which has me thinking it's direct. There does seem to be flash fall off as well, when you look at long shots of the room. Hard to tell if that's just an area that isn't lit by the stand strobes.

April 7, 2011

There's definitely a key light from near camera position. It's got a gel on it though (I"m guessing), which accounts for the warm look. You can see typical on-camera flash shadows in the largest dance shot near the bottom, as well as the series of four small ones above it. Either that or there's a third, stationary light on a pole behind camera position. It's dialed down lower than the strobes on poles that are visible in the shots.

Not a bad idea, warm the on-camera strobe and keep the off-camera strobes at daylight. Your eye doesn't then go "on-camera flash!" because it blends with the tungsten more than the daylight ones. Might have to try that…

April 7, 2011

Ugh, dark AND shiny walls. The worst. Looks like you made the right choice with direct light. Did you consider using on-camera flash as well as the wall strobes, so you could keep people's faces from falling into shadow?

I did something similar recently, didn't use on-camera flash, and regretted it later. Too much hatchet light, shadowed faces etc. Lots of drama, but I'm sure the client would have preferred to see facial expressions (fortunately I was shooting with two cameras, one with on-camera flash only, plus a second shooter, so it worked out ok).

April 6, 2011

I have never, EVER found clients who were willing to get up early for dawn 'golden hour'. :) I used to suggest early morning as an option, but clients tend to think that's 8am. Not 6am. But good luck with that!

April 6, 2011

Raise your rates every couple of months, just a little, like 5% or so. So when you get referrals, the difference in price won't be that huge from one bride to the next. But you will head in the right direction. And remember, if you double your rates, you can afford to lose slightly more than half your customers and still make the same money.

Eduardo's suggestion is a good one too. Sometimes finding legit-sounding reasons for giving a discount can be challenging! ALWAYS invoice your bride with the non-discounted rate, then subtracting the discount, so they know how much the wedding "should" have cost. Otherwise they'll forget and tell their friends only the amount they paid.

And forget those who say people like you are ruining the industry. What "ruined the industry" (which I don't believe to be true, as it has merely changed radically) is the ease with which a competently-exposed image can now be taken. There used to be technological barriers to the photography business. Many of those have gone away now. If I view you as my competition, I must also view every guest at a wedding as the competition. We compete not just against photographers who charge less, but also the fact that no one need hire us at all. The middle-class photographer is becoming extinct. The lower end thrives because there are photographers willing to work cheaply (or free) to build up their business, and there are clients who are price-conscious but not quality-conscious. And of course there are people who care very much, and pay accordingly but are very picky. Far fewer people are willing to pay medium amounts of money for medium quality images.

Since you're not interested in giving up your day job, I would suggest you avoid burnout since this is more for enjoyment than for money. Ask important questions up front in your online form (as Pete S. suggested). You need that info from your prospective client at the same time as when they tell you their date, so you can use the "I'm booked" excuse. If you can afford to turn down work, then pick and choose based on the venue they've selected. No point in working in crappy venues that won't improve your portfolio, and won't be any fun. Maybe set yourself a goal of turning down 1/4 of all the inquiries you get, for example. You'll still get stuck occasionally shooting a bride who looks like a frog, or a groom who's so drunk he can't stand up. But at least you can eliminate some obvious bad choices based on venue.

April 6, 2011

One problem I've run into with VERY DARK venues (where they basically turn all the lights off for the first dance etc) is that throwing up a few lights in the corners creates some very harsh light. Umbrellas from more than about 10 feet away do nothing to soften the light. And if you shoot from the wrong angle, you can get some ugly 'hatchet light' looks (so you have to shoot with one light basically over your shoulder at all times). If the ambient is enough to at least give you a base for fill, then then lighting the room this way will work well. But not if there's no fill anywhere.

Another approach is to use on-camera flash in TTL mode, coupled with manually triggered flashes *lighting the walls*. On-camera flash can look ok if you avoid the dark tunnel effect of flash fall-off. So if you light your subject, and the background is lit also, the eye doesn't worry about the things in between. It's basically like shooting in a studio, where you light your background and your subject separately. And you can still bounce off walls and other things if convenient, since your main flash is TTL.

But you have to test this a lot before using it in practice…some cameras won't sync and do TTL at the same time, or the TTL gets confused when manual strobes are attached as well.

April 6, 2011

Time of day depends very much on the location, as well as the weather. If I'm shooting on the beach (hey, this is California!) I start about an hour before sunset, maybe a little more. However if it's in a park, I'll schedule it earlier in the day. Parks don't usually feature the sky in the photo, and the trees and/or hills that might be present will cut down the light levels too much if the session is too late in the evening. So I might shoot in mid-afternoon instead.

If the weather is overcast, the light can be very flattering and soft on your subjects' faces. However the sky itself will look awful. I will usually reschedule a beach shoot for another day if that happens. If a client has flown in or otherwise can't reschedule, I'll suggest moving the shoot to a non-beach location. If they don't like that, then I will at least try and move up the session to an earlier hour. You do NOT need the golden hour if nothing's going to be golden, so you might as well shoot when there's more light coming through the overcast sky.

March 29, 2011

You're all doing it wrong.

Kidding of course. I shoot in the 500-700 range, and I'm doing detail shots. Probably comes from my portrait background…I only shoot the shots I see, not ones in between. I'm not making a bad movie, I'm making a good wedding album. I even keep the camera set to single focus and single frame shooting. All that racket of the mirror flapping around hurts my head.

Ultimately this is a choice of when and where you decide to edit. You can edit on location (and perhaps miss a shot), or edit back at the office (and spend hours doing it). Or not edit at all, and fatigue the client.

I dunno, I always thought as photographers we're supposed to cultivate a 'look' to our images. How on earth can you do that if you give the client everything? Photography is at its essence the act of editing, whether it's framing and composing in-camera, choosing when and where to shoot, or weeding out the so-so shots later on.

March 23, 2011

Even though working with models/aspiring models is not the same as a fast-paced wedding, it still allows you to get some practice in. Working with and directing people with no pressure is still a valid learning experience. I would first of all suggest skipping craigslist and going right to modelmayhem.com. Having shot a fair number of fashion and model tests, I can say it's the best source for models who will work for TFP. If you want to simulate a bride with no body sense, find a model who's just signed up! I can guarantee she will have no body sense, and it will be just like "real life" and you'll have to learn to direct her (or him, if you're working some groom shoots in too). However working with someone who has some experience can still be very useful, because you can then see how someone *should* look.

Be aware though that models want something for their portfolios. So they want to look good. You'll need to convince them you won't be wasting their time. And you also have to decide if you're paying for a hair/makeup artist, can find some that will work for TFP (harder to find than models), or having the model do her own. Believe me, it can be done. It just requires a certain amount of 'production' effort.

If you've got a weekend where you're not shooting, then you might as well be practicing. What can it hurt?

March 23, 2011

I just shot a wedding last weekend, and between my second shooter and we shot under 1000 images. I feel inadequate! (No I don't really.) I won't show the client anywhere near that many.

I find that even 40 images can be overwhelming to a portrait client. I'll shoot at most twice that many for a family portrait shoot, and cull the losers. I will however group my favorites at the beginning of the slideshow or proof book, so they have a starting point. I've had clients comment that there are just too many to choose from…but I assume that's because my work is so good, I'm making the selection difficult. ;)

The more junk I pull out, the better photographer I appear to be. I would much rather have a client say "wow, these are all so good!" and it only be 200 images, rather than "well there are a few good ones but I nodded off around image # 1600". Just as I would never overwhelm a prospective client with a portfolio of 100 images, I want to edit succinctly with what I deliver.

I do agree that certain business models would lend themselves to crazy amounts of images though. If you primarily sell a disc, well the client doesn't go home with much. A DVD! That may not feel very substantial. So at least if there are a ton of images on there, it feels like money well spent. I offer discs but prints are what I mainly promote. In the end most of those images are going to be stored away or lost, but the print of the bride and groom will follow them around the rest of their lives.

March 8, 2011

Good advice Dave and A. Davis, thanks!

March 6, 2011

Thanks David. Your search terms yielded some posts mine didn't. This one I found particularly useful.

http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00SPht

Dick:thanks for describing the path you've taken! Definitely cements the suggestion that the organic approach to hooking up with venues is best. I agree with the face-to-face thing more generally as well. I still try to have 'proof viewings' in person whenever possible, instead of online slideshows. Ostensibly it's so the client can see the quality of the finished print, but mostly it's because people (mostly) like me, and they buy more from me the more contact I have with them.

March 5, 2011

William W:

"Does it logically follow then that this sort of referral marketing [meaning creating a relationship that will take time] is something to consider down the road, rather than right now?" You should have begun it eighty minutes ago, when you were responding to this thread.

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Yes that's the way I meant it. Thanks.

Sounds great. I would not use those though for my businesses, as I couldn’t write anything on the back side. The new business cards are "more focused": more focussed - on what, specifically?

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I feel that having a second URL on the back was diluting my message. While my old business cards are memorable and have people often go "oooh", I needed them to be less general.

I have never written on the back of one of my cards, nor felt the urge to. :)

OK - I like the style. Three is not enough, though. As I have to play by the same rules – I just checked - 24 in my wallet. Box of 1000 in the car, about 200 used.

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I must blame the fact that I use a money clip. So there are only so many cards I can fit in there. But rest assured, I am NEVER without business cards. I bring extras in a pocket to any meet n greet, and have the backup supply in the car as mentioned. I'm with you on business cards, even if the numbers don't match up. I appreciate your comments, and I think we're on the same page marketing-wise.

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Frank: Thanks! I'll take a look. I'm getting the message, venue relationships are just that. A 'nurture marketing' technique that takes awhile because it must be built.

David: I've been doing this long enough (both visiting forums and professional photography) that I try to avoid asking broad open-ended questions. "What's the best marketing tip?" "How do I get started" etc. I had hoped my question about the mechanics of becoming 'tight' with wedding venues was specific enough as to not be boring/repetitive. My searches prior to posting yielded lots of info on marketing, but I didn't see anything that specifically answered my question. If you know of a post, I'd certainly appreciate a link!

March 5, 2011

Thanks for all your responses.

David: I don't want to look clueless to a venue, so I thought I'd ask fellow photographers first. First impressions can be lasting.

William:

If you are not getting new business from referrals from your previous portrait sittings, then I offer you the opportunity to revisit that marketing strategy and look at the possibility that referrals could be the richest source of new Portrait Work. I think l that should be your first step.

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I do actively pursue referrals from my clients. I even ask them to send out custom printed postcards (with their image on them) to their friends, which many of them are happy to do. It very rarely yields anything. One of the most expensive photographers in my area has confided that he experiences the same thing: there is hardly any referral business in portraits. Weddings yes, portraits no. I *do* get repeat portrait customers. But very few referrals from portrait customers. I'd love to actually have referrals in great numbers with my portrait business, and welcome suggestions and ideas. But it's probably a topic for another forum.

3. What are the venues looking for from a photographer? Venues don’t look for anything – People have Requirements

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I am of course using "venue" as shorthand for "people who work at venues and make decisions".

So contrary to Cliff's experience, you're able to be a 'preferred photographer' (or otherwise recommended) by a venue based on personal relationships? That I can do…that just takes time. $10k on the other hand is a hurdle I don't want to jump! Does it logically follow then that this sort of referral marketing is something to consider down the road, rather than right now?

Do you have business cards?

If yes – what is on the back side of the card? If yes - at this very minute - how many do you have on your person?

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I've seen you ask this of other people. :)

Yes, I do.

Currently the flip side has the URL for my model-portfolio site, as I do some of that work as well. However I've just done a complete rebranding and site redesign, and ordered new business cards a few days ago. The back side of the new cards has an eye-catching and unique graphic that draws the viewer into flipping them over. I felt this was more focused than the current ones.

Just checked. I have three in my wallet, with a backup stash in my car. (Just gave a few out when I met with a client and the venue personnel a few days ago, haven't replenished yet)

March 4, 2011

Yikes! Thanks Cliff. Is that typical elsewhere too, this "pay per view" referrals? (Asking others.)

March 3, 2011

I'm a full-time portrait photographer, and am adding weddings to my services. The marketing is a little different for weddings…hardly any word of mouth or referrals with portraits, but it's vital with weddings!

So. Reception venues have lists of photographers, often have albums of some of them, and they (presumably) recommend these photographers to their clients.

1. How does one get on the list with a venue?

2. How difficult is it?

3. What are the venues looking for from a photographer?

4. Is this a big source of referrals?

Thanks!

-Matt

February 24, 2011

Wedding photography is very much a referral business, unlike family portrait photography. You mention that you book the referred clients…well there you go! :) You need more referrals. You have to remember that everyone who interviews you is also interviewing several other photographers. And most people avoid pain rather than seek adventure, so when they can't make a decision, they go with the safe choice: the photographer that their friend recommended and used.

So two things: you need to squeeze out every ounce of referral 'juice' you can from previous clients, whether it's former wedding clients, other clients, or even friends/relatives. Keep reminding everyone you know, and have worked with, what you do. Otherwise they forget…it's human nature that people are thinking about themselves, so you have to remind them about you. Even join the local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club etc, because those are basically referral engines.

The other thing is that you need to stand out. You have to offer something so extraordinary, that a potential client with a solid referral for a different photographer still can't say no to you. Whether it's unique photography, extra special packages, obvious commitment to service not seen anywhere else, you've got to come up with that 'hook' that reels them in. It has to be genuinely valuable, not a gimmick. Put yourself in your client's place. Ask yourself what makes you stand out so completely from the others, that there's simply no question you're the right choice. If you can't find the answer, you need to create something.

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Posts posted by rippo