davidandkara

<p>a work-around that I often use with those couples who don't want to see each other before the ceremony would be the following:</p>

<ul>

<li>formals with the ladies/bride </li>

<li>groomsmen arrive, formals with guys/bride</li>

<li>bride leaves, then the groom comes </li>

<li>formals with ladies/groom</li>

<li>ladies leave for ceremony venue </li>

<li>formals with guys/groom</li>

<li>all the guys head to the ceremony venue</li>

</ul>

<p>that way, all that's left later are the full bridal party shots, and the couple shots. saves a lot of time between the ceremony. ;o)</p>

<p>why would Google pay employees to click on adword links when it could very easily write a program to do the same thing automatically, for free? :oP</p>

<p>drop it like it's hot.</p>

<p>I agree with Bob's profound answer.</p>

<p>there's a reason there are lenses and cameras out there that are called "professional." it's because professionals use professional-grade equipment. walking into a wedding with a Rebel and a 200 dollar lens is like going to work at a construction site with a Bob the Builder tool belt. trust me ... I've been there. not pretty.<br>

if you really want to get into wedding photography, take your time to learn the basics and to learn how to operate your camera with portraiture. do some senior photos, grad shots, anniversaries, parties, etc. learn how to shoot manual. if you mess up, no big deal... you can reshoot. wedding photography, however, is an art that is accomplished in real time, with no chances for reshooting and no room for error. if you're not proficient enough to have a mastery of your equipment [and if your equipment is not professional grade equipment], you're more than likely going to come away with a product that is less than professional... and you can't redo the wedding.</p>

<p>watermark your pictures. see my <a href="http://integriphy.blogspot.com">blog</a> for examples if you like. you'll definitely keep aunt sally from making prints for free, all the while allowing people to share your pictures and get your name out there.</p>

<p>I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the spider holster [spiderholster.com] because it looks pretty promising to me as a nice way to deal with two [or more] cameras.</p>

<p>just a note in response to the "hold your breath" thing:<br /> holding your breath in is not as effective as holding it out.<br>

in other words, breathe out first, then take your pictures. your body more relaxed that way, since you're not tensing up and using all those muscles to keep the air in.<br>

as for the graininess, look into some noise-elimination software like noise ninja, or else invest in some faster lenses. because no matter how good YOU are at staying still, inevitably your subjects won't... and dragging the shutter in dimly lit churches is going to end up giving you motion blur headaches weekend after weekend. ;)</p>

<p>the sun sets around 7pm that time of year. plan according to that.</p>

<p>Hi Marc,<br>

Feel free to check out my work as well... my website is linked in my profile here. I'll work anywhere on the planet. Let me know if you're interested. :o)</p>

<p>- David</p>

<p>Lightroom will change everything about your workflow. It's a more worthy investment for a photographer than Photoshop, in my opinion. I swear by it.</p>

<p>the majority of fisheye converters have all the optical quality of bubble wrap.<br>

I'm with Will; start a fisheye fund. you'll be glad you didn't bother wasting your money on a cheap gimick.</p>

<p>I always thought Nathan Philips Square would make for some cool framing options. ;o)</p>

<p>http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-Lens-Reviews.aspx</p>

<p>enjoy.</p>

<p>that would definitely be a cool setup, but what if you take a bad picture or have a misfire? I'd be concerned about having a bad shot show up on a screen myself...</p>

<p>Sometimes I show them even when they don't ask, if the picture's really nice, especially earlier on in the shoot or the day. It builds their confidence that I am, in fact, capturing great pictures, so they tend to relax more in front of the camera. I've never had someone ask me for a specific picture they saw on my LCD.</p>

<p>that's some great "nose" reduction you've got going there.</p>

<p>;o)</p>

<p>in my experience spring is generally a slower time of year for inquiries, and the current economic climate isn't helping out any. stick it out... I'm sure you'll be back to normal soon.</p>

<p>your customer paid you how much for the photography? and now you're debating charging them for a 26 cent disc and two minutes of your time? if your bottom line is so tight that you can't afford to burn a complimentary copy of their pictures again, you might want to rethink your business strategy.</p>

<p>I always go through my contracts item by item with my clients, so that they understand what they're getting themselves into, before I let them sign it. Does your contract describe the consequences for your clients if they decide to breach your contract and bring someone else in as well?</p>

<p>- only bring one lens and don't use a shoe-mounted flash.<br>

- stay out of the line of sight of the main photog.<br>

- consult with the couple to make sure their contract allows their guests to bring professional cameras and/or take pictures.<br>

- if you have a chance, ask the photographer what they'd prefer, especially during the ceremony.</p>

<p>when I shoot weddings I'm usually fine with guests bringing their own cameras and taking pictures. where I <em>do</em> draw the line, though, is when a guest is getting in my way or interfering with my job. it's a rare but pleasant surprise to have a guest ask me if it's okay to take pictures, and in most cases it's not a problem. but every photographer is different. ;o)</p>

<p>regardless of your keywords, your site is ranked in Google [and in many other search engines] based on how reputable it is.... and that is determined by how many reputable sites link to your site. keywords and meta tags are important, but you're going to get better search results by having other sites link to yours than by anything else.</p>

<p>one of my grooms literally messed his pants while he was getting ready and was 70 minutes late for the 90 minute time slot for formal shots. fortunately the hotel he was at had an in-house dry cleaning service, but I feel sorry for the dry cleaning staff. and the bride... she didn't know where he was for about an hour. a pretty crappy situation overall, if you ask me. [insert obligatory pity laugh here]</p>

<p>Hey Brad,<br>

You can pass my site along as well... I routinely shoot all over the continent for less than $5k.<br>

http://www.integriphy.com</p>

<p>16-35mm f\2.8L<br>

24-70mm f\2.8L<br>

70-200mm f\2.8 L IS</p>

<p>I'd use the same on a full frame.</p>