doug_axford1

I've just got time for a quick response now, maybe more later.

 

Most good PJ photographers do a lot of family & formal shots, they just don't show them on web sites because Bride's buy the 'spontaneous love' shots. Many are also horrible at formal poses. Some don't even attempt it.

 

Even weddings that want 'all PJ' photos, seem to change by the wedding day to want a lot of family & group formals. I did a wedding a few weeks ago like that. We had multiple split families and we agreed upon a deadline to get these out of the way, so she could have what she really wanted. At deadline time, I asked the bride if we could switch over - oh, just a few more family shots - that lasted another 40 minutes. I was left with 20 minutes to do the B&G formals, casuals and PJ - not anywhere close to what was needed. It was her choice on the wedding day. Not much else can be said or done.

 

The point to consider: your family lasts forever, the marriage 50/50 odds. Brides who see this may be wiser than those who don't. The portrait of grandad may be the last memory the family has, better make sure that it's a good one.

 

Doug

Me 7. I have rarely been wrong on my gut feeling when troubles lie ahead. go fishing - life is too short Maybe Susan wants to book them?

In pro or semi-pro competition almost all of the entries are manipulated. It's been that way for decades.

 

The trick is to edit so that it doesn't look edited.

 

Doug

My digital photo printer does 300 or 500 dpi. Unless the image has 6 pt. font or smaller, the human eye cannot see the difference in the photos. That why, most photos printers are 300 to 330 dpi, no need for more. As stated ink-jet are another animal.

 

dpi, ppi become pretty useless numbers after mfgs. misuse the data, esp. scanners.

Yes, more for portraits. But, it depends more on the quantity of prints sold on a typical wedding order vs. portrait. Some photographers will do as much post work on their wedding images as you would on a portrait - it's up to you. Supply & demand

 

Doug

To answer your question directly: that's exactkly what separates the 'great and gifted' photographers from the mediocre. I personally do not know any great photographer who has not spent years studying art, lighting, human interaction, color, textures, etc.

 

Doug

Similar answer: contract is a set number of hours and anything they request after that on the wedding day is $150/hr, or part thereof. After 15 min extra, it gets billed.

 

I normally get to the reception early, pose the first dance, pose the cake cutting, a few shots of the receiving line or entrance and head table if no receiving line and I'm outa there.

 

Bottom line is this: if you've done a great job of shooting the ceremony and park (formals & informals) they will only buy what they can afford. They will chop out the reception first, most of home second and most of ceremony last. I used to stay late at receptions and they'd buy 1 or 2 shots - even if they had lots of great choices. Simply no more money to buy the extras.

 

The key thing to remember is that many (most?) photographers take lousy park shots and the couple are forced to choose reception instead. That's from talking to former brides and seeing other work.

 

Just my 2 cents.

I've had a dozen White Lightning (same make as Bees)mono flashes for many years and I've been happy with performance and value. We use and abuse them constantly. I got rid of the power pack systems and much prefer monolights. I think the WL's are built better, but you're best to go through both web sites - both made by Paul Buff.

 

Doug

You do not need to re-fix. It can't hurt, as long as you re-wash thoroughly, but once a print is fully fixed, it's as fixed as it can ever get. Note: a print not fully fixed, can be re-fixed afterwards so it is fully fixed - follow along?? just in case you needed to know.

 

In other words, just wash and handle wet print VERY gently, they will scratch very easily, especially if you have claws. (bad joke)

I would still contact Fuji. Something else is wrong. I've never heard of a taring problem with Fuji. Keep in mind that there are many formulations of chemistry for different types of machines. You may be using the wrong type.

Fuji is actually the least tar prone developer on the market, far less than Kodak. 2.5 l is a very small amount. It sounds more like a tabletop than a roller transport. I've got a 12" and it runs 10 l.

Every true RT I've had, you always leave the chems in all the time.

 

Developer will go dark brown after it's first few days of use, that is perfectly normal. Most big labs just replenish and the tank is rarely, if ever, cleaned. I see almost no tar on my rollers. Perhaps you are confusing rollers going black, which is normal, with tar, which is not normal with Fuji. Are you putting water in your tanks when the chems are removed? If not, OUCH!

 

My only thought, besides calling Fuji tech support, which is free, is that your pump or rollers are too active. If you listed more details such as make & where the tar buildup is, I could help more. The best advice is, if it's not getting on your prints, leave it alone.

 

Doug

Ditto, get a contract, hand written that says you are doing this as a favor, you are not a wedding photographer, it must be completely understood that there are to be no expectations on anything turning out and that the $100. charge is for out of pocket expenses, not a fee.

 

You risk a law suit if things go south, even with your good intentions.

BTW, I always erase and overwrite, never had a problem in 6 years. One of my staff always formats. Each to his/her own.

Don't smash into the car in front of you on the way to the church.

 

It happened once, just as the limo went by. Wasn't funny at the time.

I'd make pre-set masks with 3 or so differnet beards depending upon face type. Leave them open and simply pop in the one that would be appropriate. Should take a second each at most.

Just so you know ... I have shot traditional for many years but started to add a lot of PJ photos in the past few years as requested. The number of shots climbed from 150 to 300 to 500 very fast. I could easily shoot/show many more. Guess what is NOT sold (except as proofs) - the PJs. They want them, but they don't buy them. So, we now charge a lot more for photography to compensate for the lower post wedding print sales. This is not about good vs. bad images, just consumer trends.

 

A 25/1 shoot/sell ratio is hard to adjust to when it used to be 3/1.

I'd get a cheap DSLR and take a few hundred jpg PJs in addition to your regular shots and see for yourself. I know of people spending more than 50 hours working on all the images and getting paid the same as when we shot 150 and spent 10 hours.

 

Doug

Maybe you should see how good or bad her files are before any work is done on them. Some photographers are absolutely horrible on getting close to correct settings. But they always think they're great.

The odds of an loss are in direct proportion to the number of images on it and the degree of disaster if they are lost.

Confucious

I think that you are mistaking the 'help'. People who are so cheap that they don't pay assistants are usually so cheap that they don't charge enough and are the same ones who cause so much problem with the industry. Brides deserve more than someone 'learning' and your OP here attests to your own lack of knowledge and understanding. We're trying to give you guidance, you're too stubborn to see the truth.

 

doug

My guess is that this is caused by a reflection from something inside the camera or on the edge of the film magazine. Unless the film was not advancing correctly, but you'd see that between frames.

I've had the Fuji S5 for a month now and taken a few thousand shots. I'm using it strictly for weddings now. The auto WB with jpg was absolutley on the money with all my available light shots and off by a few points on the outdoor shots (very minor). Every other pro I have spoken with gets the same results. For that alone, it's worth it.

 

The Fuji is slower for sure, file sizes are MUCH bigger, even jpg which is why it's so slow. The menu system sucks and the 'fuji' battery is not interchangable with the Nikon, even though it's a Nikon body.

 

I personally find the images soft to view, but they print just fine with a little sharpening. The camera is noisier than my Canons.

 

The HUGE difference is that you get very nice detail in white bridal gowns that I cannot get with any other camera peroid. You have much more lattitude on exposure error than any other jpg by a long way. It's almost like shooting raw, but on jpg.

 

Doug

This has been hacked to death on this forum and many others. Those of us who shoot jpg do so because we get identical or better results with a fraction of the work involved. Most of us make the decision of jpg vs raw on the conditions encountered at the wedding and the knowledge of the equipment and settings to produce excellent results.

 

There is absolutely NO difference between prints in the hands of a knowlegable photographer in most (not all) circumstances. The new Fuji S5 produces absolutely amazing auto WB results in the weddings I have shot with it. I would not use this camera for other types of photography, but weddings are wonderful.

 

Doug

The waiting list is years long Zenit, what number are you? But think about all that free wedding cake!

Blame this on WAY too much fraud on the internet and phone CC use. Taking a CC now is almost as risky as a check. I'm both a merchant and a consumer and it's getting scary.

 

B&H did the right thing - and I'm not a customer of theirs.

 

Doug

What it confirms to me is this: trust no one, especailly manufacturers.

 

There are so many variables involved in ink-jet printing, display and storage that any permanence guide in years is only that, a guide. To my personal tests, even Wilhelm's results are overly optimistic.

 

Doug