david myles photography

<p><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4293248521_e0668c8005_o.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></p>

<p>Harlem Renaissance</p>

<p>http://www.flickr.com/photos/10612006@N04/</p>

<p>I posted 3 samples from PMA yesterday of the New Nikon 70-200 2.8 version 2 lens. Very impressive, sharper all around, the VR is seriously improved. I was able to hand hold 190mm at 1/80th of a second without a hiccup.</p>

<p>David</p>

<p>Hire someone, anyone with some wedding photography experience. I see hundreds of people with their powershots and mini DSLR's getting in the wedding photographers way, diverting the focus of people who are being posed and creating very chaotic/uncreative situations. Furthermore, the cameras are not made to make decisions beyond metering for middle gray and will under/overexpose in too many situations.</p>

<p>A decent wedding photographer shoud be able to give you not only quality photos but express the creative and emotional parts of your wedding day.</p>

<p>David Myles Photography</p>

<p>Good questions. RAW... I use Lightroom, Nikon capture NX2 and Photoshop.</p>

<p>I was looking for advice on where to look for more post processing effects specifically for wedding photos. Books, videos, online lessons. I was looking for specific formulas in some way. Not that I want to copy it exactly but classic "film/print" techniques would be a great starting point that I could incorporate and elaborate on. In a nut shell, I want to know the basics... like what colors are standard in the cross processing technique. Or what is the difference, by the numbers, between silver and platinum. Stuff like that. Perhaps I am looking for too much.</p>

<p>David</p>

<p>You should be able to find at least 400 more images out of the 2500 you shot. I am sure she just feels like there are so many more photos that she hasn't seen but knows were taken. I take anywhere from 600-1400 images at a wedding depending on length and how much action is going on and give them around 80 to 90% of those images.</p>

<p>Make sure you have a good contract next time.</p>

I am always looking for more wedding photography enjoyment. Sometimes I miss the days as a second photographer

where I can really capture an events emotional context/not be the center of the photographic world. Give my

portfolio a look... www.davidmylesphotography.com. I am in NYC and have a schedule on my site.

My contract states that I will give them high resolution JPG images. This was a destination wedding, they came to NYC so it was only the 3 of us for most of the day. They state along with the prints that are in the contract they want all the RAW images and then will send the balance of the photography payment.

 

I am not hugely against sending them the RAW images. I wanted to know if others have encountered this and what your thoughts on it are.

I have wedding couple that will not pay the balance they owe until they receive the RAW images of the wedding. I

usually give the B&G the processed High Res JPG images (which I already did. The groom states he wants to print

the images larger than 8x10 and thus wants the RAW images. He is an amatuer photographer and I think he wants to

play around with the files.

 

What are your thoughts? Should I charge him a fee? State to him again that I do not give out the RAW images and

that it is not in the contract.

 

Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

With my calibrated monitor I see some detail in the dark areas. You need a good monitor that is calibrated to see detail in the darks and a knowledge of post processing techniques. I know my printer would print most of the dark areas of that photo as black with no detail. Only until you get to the 2nd, farther away hillside which is at an RGB of 30 would you get some tonal gradation.

My favorite monitor calibration website is http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

 

Basically, you do need a way of calibrating your monitor to your printer, at least along the lines of tone and then an extension with color matching. There are international standards that your printer and monitor can be calibrated to. This has to do with contrast, white and black point, brightness and finally color accuracy. It is a simple process once you understand how to do it but learning how to do it is like color correcting a photo, it takes time and experience. I can sit down in front of a monitor and just know it is off.

 

A few thoughts, most monitors out of box are not calibrated and the store display models have the white point too high as a way of making it "LOOK" good to a customer but is no where near international print standards.

 

Calibration of an LCD monitor has much to do with the environment you have it in. Changing light contamination from lamps and sunlight affects the colors and tonality throughout the day. I keep my monitor in an area with controlled lighting and no direct sunlight. I also calibrate my monitor every time I start a new project because they drift or see previous point. Monitors should warm up at least a half hour before calibration. Another point, you may find out how "consumer" level your monitor actually is after calibration. Meaning, it does not show detail very well in the highlight and dark areas or there is poor color/tonal separation. You will see that in the website I posted. There is a good reason why people spend $800 to thousands of dollars on a monitor.

 

There are too many different things regarding this topic and you have to do research and customize for your particular monitor/printer combination. First, what should your white point be in your particular room lighting environment.By setting your white point and contast (via calibration tool) and making a print, you will be able to judge how close you are on a tonal level. If your screen is too bright then it is lying to you because in actuality, the image is a different tonality than what you see. The printer tells you that by printing darker. I can only speak in artistic terms and maybe a more technical person will be able to explain it in terms of gamma and other engineering definitions. I use a Spyder 2 Pro but there is a new generation of calibration tools that may be better.

Having a growing wedding portfolio allowed me to shop myself around as a 2nd photographer, work with many different experienced pros and continue to build my own style. I grew faster because I was taught by 4 different professional photographers as a second photographer.

 

I would say that you should have the rights or rights given to you for the photos you take and only for your portfolio. $200 barely covers your costs for getting to and from and does nothing to help improve your equipment. Knowledge does cost but there has to be a place for you to be able to grow your own wings. I

 

I agree with you Ara, I look at my images to this day from my 1st weddings and learn from my mistakes. How can you grow without seeing your images?

I don't use one but should in some instances. When doing those vertical shots you have to figure out a way to minimize the hard shadows and uneven light you can get. I usually try to bounce the flash behind, to the side or use the creative lighting that the un-natural flash position creates as part of the image.

Get to know all the focal lengths and how to work the angles, light, composition and flash techniques. I really think you have enough at this moment in regards to focal lengths and don't need too much more to confuse the issues. I would save your money and study or pickup a backup flash and learn how to use it off camera. Study other great wedding photographers and notice how they use light. If you haven't visited wpja.com do it and study those images. Study different group poses, photographic ideas/concepts, fashion poses, lighting use. These things will take you much farther than buying more stuff. I know this has improved my images exponentially and I still have much to learn. But if you must...

 

Nikon is sure to get a prime lens update soon so you may be able to find what you are looking for (85 1.4 - 60 macro) used for less money for next season. Many really good photographers use only 2-3 lenses throughout the day. If you are really wanting the 85mm then I would try to find a 1.4 used. It is worth the extra $$$ from my experience. Perhaps buy a wide angle like the 12-24 which will give you another focal length to work with that you don't have or a 35-70 2.8 if you are worried about that 55-70 gap (which you shouldn't) and as a backup lens.

Wow, I actually might drop her as a client instead of going through all of this. And, perhaps there will be more problems with her down the line. One negative interaction might be just a flash point to many more.

 

I can't say from just your email but this may create some animosity or she looks for problems as a personality trait. I think your email was very conciliatory, offering her something in exchange which in my mind you did not have to do, was very nice. She missed the bridal portrait session and it is her fault. You showed her the parameters you are willing to work in but in a way, isn't the customer always right. Good luck with this one.

You might want to get a wider angle lens. The 17-55 is really around a 24-70mm when you consider the crop factor. There is something to be said about shooting at a real 20mm to get the storybook look. Other than that, maybe an 85mm 1.4. My lens makeup (a DX and FX camera setup) is a 17-35, 17-55 DX, 35-70, 70-200, 50 1.8 and a 85 1.4. Only thing I might add to this is a TC-1.4 for a little more reach in a pinch but those things are real extras. If you can hit 24mm to 200mm with the low light situation added in (20mm to 300mm is the real edges of need) then you are golden.

 

Side note - I opted for the 85 1.4 after owning the 1.8 version and am much happier. Really hoping some new primes will be announced before the end of Sept.

Way too much red in the photo. It has been suggested to me to work on skin tones using the info pallet CMYK in PS. One of the thoughts on caucasian skin tones is that the cyan should be one half to one fifth the amount of magenta on an average lit portion of the skin. Don't measure from the face (because of makeup) but from another part of the body. It takes a while to get skin tones to look good by the numbers and it varies widely but you need a starting point.

 

So your skin tone on the arm in one place reads 0, 57, 68, 0. Try to make the C read anywhere from 14 to 25 while keeping the same M/Y spread. The exact numbers are debatable and are a matter of taste, actual skin tone and style. Of course it helps to have a calibrated monitor but if you have some standard numbers you can get a lot closer.

I think you need to go to the synagogue and inform them what that rule is going to do to the photography. I am sure they will understand what you are saying and how the rule change will hurt "Their" customers. Also tell the parents about the rule change and your second shooter solution. Show them that you are a professional photographer by giving your professional photography opinion about what is going on.

Another thought to this question is timing. I worked with a famous photog who hated shooting above ISO 100. He would shoot boxing at ISO 100 without flash and has had many award winning photos. His trick is to pick the right moment, the peak of movement before a new movement occurs. When someone is moving there is a point when almost everything stops, the apex before a new movement occurs. If you snap a photo at this moment, the apex, you will get an image with more stillness that can be very artistic. You have to practice this predictive skill. The best wildlife photographers are good for many reasons, one of them being; understanding the animals behavior and predicting when it is going to do something like fly away or pounce on something. Understand the movement of people and you will be able to have excellent timing. Oh, and fast 1.4 - 1.8 lenses at ISO 1600 can't hurt either.

 

 

David Myles

Awesome PJ style work. Recognized some of those WPJA winning photos. I think these images stand out because they are timeless, capture a moment that anyone can understand and even have some design elements. For example, the 1st image has juxtaposition, capturing the moment and an active editorial. Just my opinion.

I shoot interiors three times a week in NYC to pay the rent while my personal business builds. One thing is, the images a broker use are usually very small. So we send a lot of web ready 72 dpi 400 pixel. My company provides 2 SB's and a tripod. The trick is to expose for the windows then fill in with SB's. I shoot one straight up and the other pointing at the room, but there are other techniques. Use the shutter speed to open up the natural light. Always shoot RAW. When you don't have a window, check for variable light switches to lessen the contrast and have the ability lower your shutter speed. Balance blowing out the lights with filling in the shadows.

 

With Nikon, if you can get a peak around 160-180 on the histogram, D-lighting will pull the shadows out very well. This is not a professional level Architectural technique "architectural digest" but I shoot 3-4 apt a day and broker are happy with the results.