jerryfergusonphotography

<p>One of the best solutions I've seen are RadioPoppers in combination with pricey Canon flashes. The new RadioPopper JrX's were rumored to have some pretty magical abilities too .</p>

<p>I don't think it would be too hard to replicate the lighting on the photos you shared. David's steered you in the right direction. As Gary mentioned, <a href="strobist.com">Strobist</a> is probably the single best resource out there on off-camera flash.<br>

My advice - don't overthink it too much. Go with what you're comfortable with.<br>

If you're more comfortable using reflectors, do that. If you feel comfortable that you can pull it off with strobes, go that way. If you feel more comfortable tweaking things in post-production, just shoot raw and get close with the lighting and Photoshop it the rest of the way there.<br>

Bonus - my favorite band photographers: <a href="http://www.davehillphoto.com/gallery/music">Dave Hill</a> and <a href="http://www.joeyl.com/">Joey L</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.strobist.com">Strobist.com</a> is the perfect place to start if you're wondering about the benefits of off-camera flash, and how to do it.<br>

I shoot a ton of weddings with simple Vivitar flashes (285 and 283), and they turn out great: <a href="http://www.fergusonphotography.com">fergusonphotography.com</a></p>

<p>The Super has more advanced features than the ST:</p>

<ul>

<li>Wireless Master/Slave abilities</li>

<li>Greater manual control</li>

</ul>

<p>The output and TTL capabilities are identical, so if you're just using it on-camera or with a ttl cord on a bracket, you'd get away $50 cheaper with the ST. If you will need the wireless capability and manual, get the Super.<br>

I think $50 is a small price to pay for the far greater flexibility that the Super offers.</p>

<p>For outdoor receptions where there is no overhead cover, I'll usually bring out the lightstands. In fact, I have a similar setup for indoor and outdoor receptions that is super cheap:</p>

<p>2 vivitar 283's(~$70/ea) with Varipower adapters($20/ea) set to about +- 1/4 power depending on the size of the area and distance I'm covering. They are on cheap 8' stands($20/ea) and are triggered by chinese radio triggers(~$20/ea). I power them with homemade battery packs(~$20/ea) similar to the 'black box' product. The 283's have Chinese knockoff omnibounces($4/ea) on them.</p>

<p>I place them on opposing sides of the dance floor, corners of the reception hall, tent, patio, backyard, or wherever I'm shooting.</p>

<p>I also fit an on-camera TTL flash with a 'Lightsphere-like' diffuser and external battery pack and shoot away. I can shoot at just about any angle and get some dimensional light on the subjects. I basically just use the on-camera light as fill and the +-2 stops of FEC for the on-camera light are usually good enough to give me the desired look for any given shot. I can crank the lights up to 1/2 or even full power if needed, but I rarely have to do so with an f2.8 lens and Canon's low noise even at ISO 800. I have the warm, fuzzy 'security blanket' of having that TTL flash mounted on camera, but also have the 283's as my 'wingmen'.</p>

<p>Might sound complicated, but it's simple and I don't even have to think much about it anymore. Takes an extra 2-3 minutes to set up the lights on stands but is SO worth it not to have the craptastic looking 'miners helmet' look. This is the best comprimise I've found that gives me the most creative leeway with a relatively quick and light setup that I can use for 'bang-bang-bang' shooting, event after event.</p><div></div>

<p>Just wanted to post a follow-up. As often happens with these kinds of things, we were overprepared(if there is such a thing), and the couple ended up really wanting to keep it low-key and so we only shot at a few locations:<br>

 

<ul>

<li>Central Park</li>

<li>Columbus Circle</li>

<li>The Flatiron Building</li>

<li>Times Square</li>

</ul>

<br>We had a driver in an SUV that drove us to each location, which saved us a lot of time. Funny side story - we almost ran over Tim Robbins(the actor) on his bicycle near the Flatiron Building.<br>

It rained the whole day, but we still got some great shots and had a lot of fun in NYC. We never got stopped by any 'authorities' even though we did have some umbrellas and light stands set up.<br>

I'm a wedding photographer (10 years experience) from Arizona. I'll be shooting a wedding in New York City soon,

and the bride and groom have given us pretty much free reign as far as locations go. They are an Australian

couple who are flying in to elope in Central Park.

 

A coupla questions:

My partner has spent a lot of time in Brooklyn, but not much time in Manhattan. If you had a few hours and free

reign to take your bride and groom wherever you wanted in the city, where would you go?

 

Are the 'authorities' in New York strict about permits?

1. Build a site using Wordpress, Drupal, or similar CMS system

2. Make it black/dark and clean/simple

3. Use flash for the gallery only

4. Learn a tiny bit of SEO and go after your geographic keywords.

5. Have a blog and write a quality post per week.

 

Just some general tips which should give you enough leeway to 'make it your own'. I hate giving my own address as an example and risk looking like a self-promoter, but check it out: fergusonphotography.com

 

It's not the hottest site out there, but it is doing relatively well for me, keeps me busy with enough business to handle, which is the whole point. I'm doing all of those things I suggested, and it is working. It takes 3-6 months to see it start to grow, but it will eventually get there.

Hi Kacy,

 

Welcome to the Phoenix wedding photography market. I agree that there is a temptation to put a lot of 'less than perfect' photos on your site, and I'm no exception, but I've learned that 'less is more' in a lot of cases. I think that it's OK to put maybe one or two 'full' weddings up that you can point clients to so that they really get a feel for your style, but your highlights should really be your very best stuff.

 

Jerry Ferguson -

FergusonPhotography.com

Alas, this is the limitation with some of the on-flash diffuser solutions. They don't do a whole lot when your ceiling is 30 feet away or you're in a dark room, or you're outdoors at night.

 

I try to keep it simple and use a $3 piece of 20x30" (or so) white foamcore board at a 45 degree angle with my bracket-mounted flash bounced off of it. On camera flash bounced straight up into it looks pretty much the same. I've got it down to a science. It may be a bit unwieldy at first(might be a good job for an assistant if you have one) and may not lend itself really well to candids since you're holding up a 'sign', but I've found it a great alternative to setting up cumbersome strobes. I use it for large groups all the way down to individual portraits - it's perfect for formals. Just think of it as an 'artificial ceiling' right above your head. Done right, it's like having a quick n'dirty softbox by your side, and it's WAY better than direct on-camera flash.

 

BTW, How do you like the 17-55mm IS lens? I'm seriously considering it for just such occasions when I want to balance some ambient and bounced flash.

I try to do something every day that will contribute to a good, natural SEO strategy, whether it's doing a keyword-rich blog post, or tightening up some of the inbound and outbound links on my site.

 

Spending too much time on it can drive you mad, and I've eased up considerably. Obviously, if you are maintaining the conversion rates that you want and are making a decent but honest amount on your ideal amount of volume, then you're all set.

 

If it were me, I'd definitely spend the extra amount on a text-rich version of the site. You're essentially paying for a potentially better organically performing site versus shelling out the money on a Pay-Per-Click campaign.

 

When it all comes down to it though, the photographers with great rankings in my market are some of the better ones out there, which I think says something about focusing on the photography first, and trusting that the links will come if you've done everything else right with setting up a solid SEO strategy.

 

Get a good analytics package in place (like Google Analytics, which is also free) and you'll be able to see exactly what your efforts are getting you. I think most folks find that a good balance between on-site and inbound linking SEO practices, together with a reasonable CPC campaign and a solid off-site referral strategy will ensure the best success. It's all about the balance.