brandonheath

<p>My main body is a 7d. For the past 5 months I've barrowed a friends 60d anytime I have a wedding. I would like to purchase a 2nd body, and i would like that body to be FF. I really dont have any fault with the 7d except in low light (noise to ISO ratio). Other then that i love it and could really justify replacing it at the moment. <br /><br />I see I have 3 options for a FF 2nd body. Ill list them and my issue with not pulling the trigger below<br /><br />Used 5D mkII<br /><br />I have a quote from a reputable camera store for a used unit with all the accessories and a 2 year warranty for $1600. Negatives: I cant get the shutter count. The price is near a new 6D. Everyone turned their backs on the mkII when the mkIII came out. Isnt this the same camera that industry leading photogs swore by just a little over a year ago. Cant help the feeling of trying to keep up with the Joneses.<br /><br /><br /><br />New 6D <br /><br />Not exactly "pro" statues. I hate the Idea of needing to carry 2 different types of memory cards (sd). Its not a big deal but i really dont like the lower top shutter speed. <br /><br /><br /><br />5D mkiii<br /><br />I think we all know that this thing is awesome. I cant help my self but to ask is it $1700-$2000 better then the mkii? At the moment this will require me to save for another month or so. But in my bookings will i see more money coming in with this choice? Will it cause the quality of my work to sky rocket to new heights The only positive i see is that i will feel a lot more comfortable with the frame rate and in dark situations i may not curse as much.<br /><br /><br /><br />I will possibly be pulling the trigger sometime in the next 24hrs. Thanks</p>

<p>Thanks for all of the input everyone.<br /><br />In this case i was concerned mainly beczuse the church i was shooting in was very dark. I was shooting down from the front of the ailse and in this case i also decided to go with two bodies. My setup for the precession was 7D with Sigma 35mm 1.4 and a 40D with tamron 17-50 2.8<br /><br /><br /><br />For this situation the 2.8 just isn't grabbing enough light especially for moving subjects. The 35 prime was the right call in this case. I know i need to upgrade my second body but i honestly don't know what I would have done with out it today. I'm glad to see that this also is in line with everyone's suggestions.<br /><br />So if i stumbled upon a some money and bought a FF body and i found my self in this situation again. For a FF & crop either with the 35mm what would be you next choice of lens?<br /><br />(I also own 100mm F2 and a 70-200 F4 IS)</p>

<p>Hello,<br /><br />I am just wondering what the majority of you use for the procession (wedding party entrance). I've always have used a 17-50mm 2.8. On a crop it allows me to quickly switch from a wide to medium telephoto with no issues. The lens I currently use though isn't as sharp as the primes I use the rest of the day. I know I've seen comments from photographers who only use primes and I was just wondering how it worked for them?<br /><br />Also I have a habit of only shoot portrait orientation as everyone walks down. In your own opinion, is this wrong?<br /><br />Also anyone who can share a prime only procession would be great!<br /><br />Thanks everyone for your help.</p>

<p>Hello<br>

I've always shot with crop bodies since starting my photographic/wedding journey. I feel that my lens selection and low lite situations are limiting some things I would like to do. </p>

<p>I currently us a Canon 7D as my main body and a Canon 40D as a back up. With the price of the 5D Mark II dropping fast as well as the rebate that is being offered I think now is a great time to make the jump. I would like to sell one of the crop bodies to help pay for the 5D but im not sure which one. I know the 40D should go first since time has caught up to the image quality when being compared to newer cameras. Don't get me wrong its still a great camera, I think the lower resolution is just lacking a little now. The problem with the 40D is that its super high miles on it (actuation's). Its at 140,000 clicks!!! This means that i would have a hard time getting $300 for it.... almost seems like i should just keep it Right.</p>

<p>The 7D is a lot newer and i could get a lot more money for it (I was going to try for $900-$850). The only problem with this scenario is that it would make my back up body a 5 year old 40D with high miles. Now i have to intention of ever using it. I simply always keep it with me just in case anything with the main body went wrong. I take shots with it every now and again to make sure everything is working.<br>

What do you guys think i should do? Get the extra cash from the 7D and stop extra worrying about the 40d. Or should i cut the 40d loose and keep my back up as something a lot newer and capable?<br>

Thanks for your time!</p>

 

<p>Ok Thank you everyone for your help. I survived my first wedding on a Yacht and it turned out great. I did end up renting a 10-22mm and im so glade i did. OMG that yacht made my 17-55 feel like a stinking 70-200. Im heading off to church right now but i will post some images to night. Thanks again</p>

<p>While using the MiniTt1/FlexTt5 allow you to sync up to 1/8000th. So I can shoot pretty wide and not have to stop at 250th in order for the flash to expose for the couple..... Right?<br>

I have a sleeve that is suppose to go over the 580ex in order to help with the frequency issue. Is this what you are referring too?<br>

This is an average to small yacht as well. They said there is only thirty guests and it will be packed!!<br>

There is also a situation where another yacht is going to pull up beside ours and still the B&G away it the Pitch Darkness, but i'm not done settling the nerves on that one. The Brides has no Idea!!<br>

I think I will see if i can rent something wider.</p>

<p>Hello all,<br>

Tomorrow I have a wedding to shoot on a Yacht in leaving from San Diego Ca. I just had two questions that have been bouncing around my head. Ill give you a run down of gear first.<br>

Canon 40D<br>

Canon 50D<br>

Tamron 17-50 2.8<br>

Canon 50 1.4<br>

Canon 100 2.0<br>

Canon 430exII<br>

Canon 580exII<br>

Pocket wizard Mini Tt1 & Flex Tt5 <br>

Justin Clamp<br>

Question 1<br>

The ceremony will be on the bow of the yacht facing directly into the sunset. What is the best way to sync your camera for the background and the Flash/TTL for the couple. I've seen some suggestions to take a photo in P mode then switch back to Manuel mode, punch in the shutter speed and aperture, then let the flash take care of the rest. But being that I'm not limited by synch speed, is there an easier way? Especially being that this ceremony might go by really fast.<br>

Question 2<br>

The dance floor is out on the deck with no ceiling at all. With all of that "Darkness" would you use direct flash and just try to drag it as much as possible? I'm afraid that if there isn't any ambient light that it will look Horrible. Oddly the B&G requested no large lighting equipment. Usually i think i would just put the 430ex on a light stand and stick it off to a corner. I'm hoping the Justin clamp will be able to latch on to pole somewhere. With the gear listed what would you do? Doesn't a moving boat make dragging the shutter a little difficult?</p>

<p> </p>

 

<p>Hello Forum,<br>

I've just booked a wedding at a beautiful location in San Diego Ca. It’s called the Immaculata, and the inside is absolutely amazing. My worry is that from what I can tell from photos, it borders on being pretty dark. The equipment I will be wielding in this shoot is.<br>

Canon 40D and 50D<br>

Tamron 17-50mm 2.8<br>

Canon 50mm 1.4<br>

Canon 100mm 2.0<br>

Shooting Raw</p>

<p> Now my usual set up for ceremonies is 17-50mm on the 50D and 100mm on the 40D. I would like to stay below 1600 ISO whenever possible. If it ever comes down to going higher I do what I have to but I would rather not. So here are my questions.<br>

1) Should I replace my zoom for the 50 1.4? I fear that on the crops I won't be able to go wide enough to capture the "Grandeur" of the venue.<br>

2) If I do switch to the 1.4 should I shoot wide open? As you all know the DoF is paper thin and I hate having super sharp brides and fuzzy grooms. Should this take a back seat to proper exposure and low noise?<br>

3) When my 100mm in on the 40D a lot of times i cant get the shutter speed more then low 100s when I’m maxed on ISO (1600). I know there is the option to expand the ISO to 3200 but the ISO on the 40D is already way worse then my 50D. Is it time to buy a new body?<br>

4) What are your personal thoughts on ISO limits for the ceremony?<br>

If you would like to see the venue you can Google image search Immaculata San Diego. Any and all thoughts will help. Thank you all in advanced</p>

<p>Hello All,<br>

I have an engagement shoot up in Julian Ca this weekend and just wanted to know if there was anything I shoot watch for (other then yellow snow). I've never shot importtant shots in the snow before and i just want the shoot to be a great addition to my portfolio.<br>

Gear:<br>

Canon 50D<br>

50mm 1.4<br>

18-50mm 2.8<br>

100mm 2.0<br>

Shooting RAW, and Usually Auto WB.<br>

any and all tips welcome.</p>

 

<p>Man, what great information.<br>

For the first group image, the family requested that I not "line" them up. They wanted candid, non staged group photos of 14. Lets just say I it was a really long hour and a half. When groups are that large its really hard to do anything other then to line them up.<br>

Here is another one from that same day that kinda made me thing darn it. I really need to get this down. This is one of the good ones, but i didnt know where to focus my center AF point. I plan on doing some DoF excercises over the next week. Any one have any suggestions to use with the DoF calc.?</p>

<p><a href="../" target="_blank"><img src="http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae245/BrandonHeathPhotography/Moehlenpah-28.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br>

As for the second photo i also think the shutter speed may have been to slow.</p>

<p>Photo 2 f/4.5</p>

<p><a href="http://s976.photobucket.com/albums/ae245/BrandonHeathPhotography/?action=view&current=xcxcxcx.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae245/BrandonHeathPhotography/xcxcxcx.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></p>

<p>Hello World!! <br />Ok, I have a few questions concerning AF Points, DoF, and Apertures and their relationship to group photos. I would like to hear how everyone approaches these issues and your thoughts behind it. I've been running into wall where I don’t get everyone in focus once I look at pictures at home but can’t tell when I zoom in on the LCD at the location. For wedding I keep the AF point dead in the center. But for group photos like photo a what should be my thinking? Use a large aperture and focus on the nearest subject because DOF works better backward then forward? This doesn’t seem to be working for me. <br />For like pictures should I use a center af point and put it in dead in the middle of the couple? Or should I use the auto af point? What about when their heads are apart? (PHOTO 2)Which do you focus on? I was always told to focus for the subjects’ eyes, but if one are farther back or closer then the other... then what? or like when a bride is walking down the Isle and you want a full body portrait, do you focus on her center or do you move the AF point around to one side to focus on her face?</p><div></div>

<p>Thank you all so much for you answere. I've learned that in this post there is only one wrong answere BLUR!!! Whether i expcept the grain or try th DR. it both are leaps and bounds better then blurry pictures. I know im going to start trying to get my shutter speed guidlines stuck in my head (more importantly the understanding of why to use XXX shutter speed) Thank you so much once again</p>

<p>Ok so William would you suggest hicking up ISO in order to insure stopping motion? according to the guidelines? I think im still figuring out if i can get over the noise or not. I think i need to do some experiments like Nadine suggested.</p>

<p>So in the examples above do you use your noise reduction software to improve the photo or are you say that the noise in them is ok with out? Does anyone have a before and after photo with some of this software applied to it?<br>

I think they way I’m leaning is just getting over my fear of 1000-1600 iso's. So if i could see some examples and may some more software ideas.<br>

I've considered faster glass (a prime in place of my zoom) but my only options would be a 50mm or a 35mm. I fear on the crop I would miss the wider side of the zoom........ but now that I think of it, I’m usually racked out anyway. I guess with a 35 i could use my feet. </p>

 

<p>Im really am glade both Matt & Nadine both answered i feel relief from the stress of not understanding what im doing wrong already. <br>

I usually Shoot Manual with no tripod, the one event im talking about though i was shooting AP. I switched because the site had giant windows with desighns all over them, so when people were walking down the Isle i could never get a proper exposure before the light would change again so i thought this would make a choice faster then i could in order to expose properly. Big Mistake, after reading your comments i realize it was dropping the shutter speed much to low.<br>

Now i realize that if i would have shot with both bodies even just at 1250 it would have been a world of difference. I was taught to stay away from 800+ ISO like the Black Plague (or swine flue in our day and age)</p>

<p>Hello all,<br>

ok my problem is that im getting blurry photos in low light situatians such as churches that dont allow flash. I shoot with pretty fast glass usually a 100 f2 on a 40D and a 17-50 f2.8 on a 50D. My problem is even with the iso at 800 there is so much noise coming from both crop bodies, alot mor on the 40D. So my question is should i just go with the noise in order to keep my shutter speeds up? Is the noise so bad because of the bodies i have? and whats the best remedy for noise if im just using PS? what ISO for these Bodies is the POINT OF NO RETURN? (or i mean no fixing)</p>

<p>Wow, everyone has some really great points on here. I think I'm going to invest in some larger CF Cards. I don't own anything over 8Gs but im considering 16 or 32. I always here warnings about larger cards. So i will stick with RAW. Anyone have in 32g CF card tips or warnings?</p>

<p>Hello everyone,<br>

I am still trying to figure out whether i would like to shoot RAW or JPeg once I begin to shoot my own wedding. I currently shoot Jpeg when i assisting the pro photographer im working under at the time. Whenever i shoot by myself though i shoot RAW. I like that i can still make slight changes once i get home when shooting RAW. I also appreciate that JPeg forces you to get it right in the camera the first time. I also like that in jpeg i don't have to check my image count every 20 min. So this is why i started looking into other options such as sRAW. I think i would be able to get more images per CF and still be able to tweak a few key things later. I am worried about the ending quality of the image as well. Any one have any thoughts?</p>

 

<p >Hello Everyone,</p>

<p >Ok not sure how to start this. I’m trying to decide the best way to run a wedding business. From what I can tell there are two schools of thought concerning selling the finale product to the customer. There is what I will call the Disc Method, where the photographer provides all images to the customer along with the copy rights. And the Ala carte way where you meet with the customer about three more times after the wedding to go through the images and due wedding album stuff ext. What im trying to decide is which would be best for me. I feel that the ala carte road might yield more profits but at the expense of more time (which equals money). I feel the Disc method fits my photography better because I usually highly edit my images before providing them to the customer, so I choose the B&W and the images to leave out. I’m currently assisting a pro photographer who does it the cd route. Though he Takes about 3000 images per wedding takes 1000 he feels are the best, batch edits them in Light room and sends the disc off to the customer. I don’t like that route, first because he what he show in his portfolio doesn’t match what he delivers. His portfolio has masterly edited artistic images with multiple mask layers and grains and textures. But he only delivers images that are batch color corrected in LR. I don’t wish to be like this I want to deliver the time consuming beautifully edited images that my site will some day show. But I don’t feel I can do this the al a carte route, First reason is because I don’t take as many images. If I take 1500 at a wedding I will usually use 300-450 but I pull each one into Photoshop and spend a good couple of min…. ON EACH. Is this the right way… I don’t know. I want to sell albums and packages eventually but would I just edit my 400 then have the customer choose from those? Or would I just create the album myself? </p>

<p > </p>

<p >Ok so my what im looking for is:</p>

<p > </p>

<ol type="1">

<li >I would love to here from photographers from both Camps. So I could get a idea of maybe how it could/should be done. Since I only have one example from the photographer I assist. </li>

<li >Maybe hear from some of you who deliver highly edited images, how do you edit? Do you batch edit the whole lump then pick a few for serious in depth voodoo working? Do you also highly edit and use al a carte method. </li>

<li >Do you create your own albums or do you sit with the customer and create each and every page? </li>

<li >Which is more profitable? </li>

<li >Do you offer CD option and Al a Carte options ( explain) </li>

</ol>

<p > </p>

<p >I know I sound crazy but this has been bugging me for some time now. Any and all information is greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>These have been some awesome responses. I have been looking up both 20D and 30D and for the price of one 40D i could get two 30D. I was looking for used bodies on sites like Adorama and the classifieds here. Can anyone suggest any other reputable sites that sell used equipment? <br>

Also William W. you mentioned that i need to understand the AF on the 20D/30D also you mentioned them being suspects in low light and back light. Can you or anyone else expand on these two topics?</p>

 

<p>Hello<br>

Im at the time assisting a wedding photographer and have finally come to the point where i need to start purchasing back up equipment of my own. I currently own a 40D that i use with a Tamron 17-50 2.8 and a 50 1.8. I also use his equipment which he allows me to use as long as he doesnt need it. I am leaning towards carrying 2 bodies with different focal lengths. So i wanted to buy a 2nd body before i bought any more glass. He suggested starting to make the jump to FF but i really dont have the money for that and i am kind of use to the crop bodies already (not to mention i hate how heavy they are). So what i was thinking is getting another 40D, but then the 50D is around the same price now, which either way i would need to save a little bit more for. Then i thought of finding a used rebel, but in that case i might a well find a used 20 or 30D right?<br>

So my question to all of you is would this be a good step. I mean it wouldnt be forever and i could just sell it when im ready to move on. Ive read about the the 10, 20, and 30D and the only one with bad negative reviews is the 10. So i was thinking 20D and possibly thirty. I want to carry a 85 1.8 on one body and my 17-50 2.8 on the other. My concerns are<br>

- Mega Pixel difference<br>

- Auto Focus speed and accuracy<br>

- Reliability<br>

- Picture quality<br>

Thanks you fr taking time out of your day to read my post, and any input would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>

<p>Hello<br />Ok so I just got cs4, I also signed up with lynda.com so I could learn some things first. I still have little questions that Lynda.com is able to answer in their videos. Also I’m using a new computer and screen. This computer has vista on it as well which adds to the fun of this circus! I have old pictures that I shot in RAW and want to practice on. So I will list the questions to try and keep everything clear. Any help would be appreciated.<br />1. When viewing Raw photos on my new Screen the pictures brightens and darkens without me doing anything. What is this?<br>

2. Does anyone have a suggestion for a Good download to calibrate my screen to make sure I’m seeing what would be printed?<br>

3. I’m trying to figure the best way to breeze through work flow. I can’t get light room right now so I can use Bridge right? So do I just open the raw file in bridge and do some settings for Bulk? Can this be done? Then would I pull them into Photoshop one by one?<br>

4. What can be changed in bridge and what changes do you usually do to the bulk of the files before Photoshop?<br>

5. If Jpegs can be worked on in photo shop just like Raw then what are the reasons people say you should or must shoot in raw?</p>

 

 

 

 

</p>

 

<p>Well I’m trying to break into the wedding field; I shoot with a Cannon 40D at time. I guess I never really noticed a difference between my 80x or 233x that I could tell right away. Last week frys had a special on Kingston 8GB 133x for $12.99 I almost grabbed two of those but am really glade I didn’t because this week they have their 16gb $22.99 I believe I’m going to invest in two of them I’m a little scared but will be sure to try them out a lot before my next gig. Is 133x Fast enough for PJ style wedding shooting you think?</p>

<p>Hello All,<br>

I recently found some of these Kingston 16GB 133x Compact flashes for a great price at a Frys store. I know these are not name brand which made me just think twice about if i should invest in a few. I’ve read about people buying Kingston CF cards online and getting horrible knock offs, but those were with non reputable online stores. I trust that frys at least makes sure they are carrying the real version of the none name brand cards. So if any one uses these cards with no problem or if you think I should stay away please let me know. I currently use one Lexar 8GB 233x, and a Lexar 4GB 80x. Which brings me to my next question, what speeds should i be buying. Is 133x to slow? Any info on this would be great.</p>