bertonsierens

<p>Thanks for the much needed info all of you</p>

<p>Hi William<br>

Yes i kneeled before the bride. No pun intended. Intuitively actually.<br>

I definitely want to shoot at the right exposure, I dont like spending my nights fixing things that I could have shot right in the first place, and probably will not be recovered well.<br>

Yes it was centered metering indeed, and I get your logic on the metering. Next time I will definitely try manual, focus on my hand is a great idea and fast. In that sense, a D600 would be nice since it has 2 U modes that I could use e.g. one for manual and one for av.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Here you see my shot of the bride and groom coming in. I took my shot vertically (not good i guess), with the 35mm 1.8 dx lens. It was matrix exposure, and the bride and groom were underexposed. I managed to get them back to acceptable in LR. No flash used.</p>

<p><img src="http://bertonsierensphotography.smugmug.com/Weddings/Weddings/i-f2nLsc5/0/M/smugmug-37-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>And the original one totally underexposed. Amazing actually I was able to pull that detail out of the shadows....</p>

<p><img src="http://bertonsierensphotography.smugmug.com/Weddings/Weddings/i-Lx6XtcW/0/M/review-1-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

 

<p>Hello,<br />What would be some techniques to ensure that the picture(s) taken in front of the bride and father coming into the church, turn out well. Image you have not had the chance to check out the church before, but you see that the light coming through the doors behind the couple are very harsh. I suspect there are many roads leading to Rome, but please share your experiences. I have done one wedding, and this shot haunts me because i underexposed it cause of the matrix metering and it turned out horrible. I guess that fill flash is a must? Manual setting of the flash to - 1 2/3 or the likes, and take the exposure on the brides face?<br />Thanks in advance for your welcome suggestions.</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the valuable input I'm getting here. Before anything else, I'm going to focus on my current gear and getting to know it as well as I can, to the point i can make shots without even needing to look at the histograms.... Making the adjustments as automatic as possible to enable to react quickly and get those important moments. That plus reading these forums, books, etc.<br>

I'm also going to get my best pictures on a website, so that I can refer to those in my applications. I'm also thinking of having my best pictures printed out so that I can show them to the photographers.<br>

Thanks again for the info.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hello Craig<br>

I have shot one wedding recently as primary for a friends wedding. I used the 35 1.8 lens for bride shots during make-up session and in the church. I used a 18-200 + the 50 Metz flashon loan to shoot reception group pictures, and for other shots during the remainder of the party following. I failed miserably at the reception group photos, not the picture itself, but getting people to stand still and look at me :( The entry of the bride and father in the church I didnt compensate exposure and of course the bride was underexposed. For the rest, I am pretty happy with my pictures considering I only had the 35 1.8 and an 18-200 lens.<br>

I will post some pictures of latere of the wedding so you have an idea of what i'm capable of.<br>

So I do not have experience at weddings, but i am very eager to learn, and one has to start somewhere. I have read good reviews for the 70-200 F4, and considering the D600 low res capabilities, would that not be sufficient to capture, say, at 1/50th or less considering VR?</p>

<p>Thanks for all the comments<br>

Berton</p>

 

<p>Hey thank you all for the great answers and the effort you put in to give me advice. My plan is to gain as much experience as possible as 2nd shooter or assistant to learn the business of weddings, baptisms, communions, etc. <br>

I'm biased to full frame because of the shallow depth of field, low light capacity and the big viewfinder (find it hard to view through my D5100 viewfinder). So the D600 would be a good choice (although not as big as the D700). <br>

I'd really like to shoot candid shots from distance without bothering the guests, as such the 70-200 would be indeed be for me a very good idea. The new F4 70-200 perhaps? Anyone that has used this lens, feel free to comment.<br>

Indeed, I also think it best to find out what is available on the market for me, I will get started right away at doing some research.<br>

In short, my gear will depend of course on the needs of the persons that will have me, but with your input I think of something like this:<br>

1 D600 new<br>

1 70-200 F4 (need to see reviews first though before buying - maybe rent it first)<br>

1 24-70 tamron 2.8 ( about 500 euros less than the Nikon)<br>

1 50mm 1.8<br>

1 85mm 1.8<br>

Etc.</p>

<p>I'll let you know how it goes with my research :)</p>

<p>So, my gear set</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi<br>

I'm planning to work as 2nd shooter in weddings during the weekends. I'm willing to spend up to 5000 euros to get the most basic gear and take it from there and see how it goes. Thinking of buying the following items</p>

<ul>

<li>1 D700 body second hand</li>

<li>1 Nikkkor 24-70 2.8 lens</li>

<li>1 50mm 1.4G lens</li>

<li>1 SB900 flash</li>

<li>1 set of flash triggers + 1 stand and accessories</li>

<li>memory cards, batteries for flashes</li>

</ul>

<p>I would use the D5100 as backup camera and the 35 1.8 DX, 28-75 3.5 and 70-300G lenses as backup for my 24-70. I also own a Metz AF-50 flash, and a Tamron 90 macro for close-ups.<br>

Is this an acceptable setup for me do you think?<br>

Thanks<br>

</p>

<p> </p>

<p>And as a lens I would take the 12-60, which almost covers all my needs at first</p>

<p>Thanks for all the input everybody<br>

@Akira and Gerry: I have learnt that I cannot restrict myself to one type of photography and that I like a little bit of everything. For this reason, I had thought that Olympus could be the ideal solution for me: lightweight, small, 2 small and light fast zooms to cover my needs (high quality at that). I don't find these qualities in Canon unless I pay lots of euros for the zooms. I was thinking perhaps of a 620 or E30 or even a E3, I would need to use them first in the shop to see which I like most.</p>

<p>I'm trying to find a digital camera and assortment of lenses that fits my shooting style and budget. For now, photography is a hobby that I tend to take seriously (perhaps too much sometimes), and I have also learned that the camera body is not what counts, but rather the lenses that you can put on it. My goal is to become as good as I can be at making photographs and in the long run perhaps make perhaps some money by putting my pictures on stock sites or in galleries. With this in mind I am looking for a nice lightweight DSLR and assortment of zoom lenses and primes that would give me a good start set up. I have currently a 400D canon with 18-55 kit lens and 70-200 F4 zoom. So changing to another brand at this time would not be a problem. I like particularly Olympus' small dslrs combined with lightweight zooms that take advantage of the 2x crop factor giving me a full range with very few lenses. I have a tripod but I do not like to use it much. I seem to be more of a spontaneous photographer as opposed to one who sets up the shot with great patience and care. <br>

I have not found yet what my particular type of photography is yet. I tend to a lot of nature pictures and architecture, but street photography is also nice. Taking pictures of faces close ups is also appealing to me. Black and white photography is also one of my goals. I used to take a lot of airplane pictures (that's why I bought the canon and 70-200), but after doing this for months in a row, my interests faded and I realised that this was not my real passion (although I go to airshows and quite enjoy them).<br>

I do not like to be the point of attraction when shooting, rather I prefer the shadows. Small dslrs and lenses are perfect for me there it seems.<br>

There is no doubt in my head that Olympus is equal in quality to its competitors. What would you recommend to me considering I would have a €1500 like budget.<br>

Thanks in advance for reading my post</p>