wedding lens/first wedding photos

she was using f11 as its the sweet spot for that kit lens.
yes there was abit of camera shake due to shutter speed so had to up the iso to 400-800,
can i ask if she had droped the f stop that would have dropped the DOF,how would you keep everyone is focus on say a head table shot or a group shot ??

she understands she needs more speed and light from the lens.
her package starts from £300 so her customers wonts expect £2000 results.
once she get some depostits she can buy the daddy lens :love:

another question whys everyone use 24-70mm ?
 
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powell7 said:
she was using f11 as its the sweet spot for that kit lens.
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Fair enough
powell7 said:
yes there was abit of camera shake due to shutter speed so had to up the iso to 400-800,
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what did you do to add more light into the shot (reflector, flash etc.?)
powell7 said:
can i ask if she had droped the f stop that would have dropped the DOF,how would you keep everyone is focus on say a head table shot or a group shot ??
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This is a style question - you need to decide - is it important to keep everyone in focus, or just the primary subject(s). Also it depends how you are shooting the shot - perpendicular or transverse to the group of people. If you want more DOF you need more light, or you need to shoot from further away

Have you tried OCF for group shots?

powell7 said:
she understands she needs more speed and light from the lens.
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I think you need to review how you are using flash/reflectors too

powell7 said:
her package starts from £300 so her customers wonts expect £2000 results.
once she get some depostits she can buy the daddy lens :love:
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If you shoot £300 weddings, you will only ever shoot £300 weddings unless you raise your own standard above the bar

powell7 said:
another question whys everyone use 24-70mm ?
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Because on the other back they are humping about, they have a 70-200 and in the bag they have a "something to 24" and a 50mm and 85mm prime and a super wide angle something and something to shoot a macro
 
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Richard King said:
Fair enough

what did you do to add more light into the shot (reflector, flash etc.?)

This is a style question - you need to decide - is it important to keep everyone in focus, or just the primary subject(s). Also it depends how you are shooting the shot - perpendicular or transverse to the group of people. If you want more DOF you need more light, or you need to shoot from further away

Have you tried OCF for group shots?

I think you need to review how you are using flash/reflectors too

If you shoot £300 weddings, you will only ever shoot £300 weddings unless you raise your own standard above the bar

Because on the other back they are humping about, they have a 70-200 and in the bag they have a "something to 24" and a 50mm and 85mm prime and a super wide angle something and something to shoot a macro
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All of that!
 
what did you do to add more light into the shot (reflector, flash etc.?)

flash,bounce.

Have you tried OCF for group shots?

sorry whats OCF ?

If you shoot £300 weddings, you will only ever shoot £300 weddings unless you raise your own standard above the bar.

she has 3 packages starting at 300,she has 3 booking for next year two are for 300 and ones 500.

not too sure how she done the shots as i`m at work at the mo,sorry if it sounds like a 3rd party input
 
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forget f11. you're shooting yourself in the foot. light is scarce for most weddings. you need as much of it as possible. i shoot at f2.8 mostly, sometimes f1.8. that isn't the sweet spot for any of my lenses but i'd rather sacrifice a little technical quality than have to resort to flash or not have high enough shutter speed/iso to capture the moment.
 
ok so what meter setting and auto focus setting are you guys using ?
what setting`s best for group shots ?
 
odd jim said:
Did she do that with the kit lens? TBH I'm surprised she got away with shooting a wedding with a kit lens.
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to be fair i shot a wedding last week with a 450D and a kit lens 18-55 IS (though i did also have a second body with a 90mm f2.8 on it) - i also took other lenses along but didnt use them much

its not the best lens for it in the world but you can do the job so long as you arent asking too much of it
 
powell7 said:
ok so what meter setting and auto focus setting are you guys using ?
what setting`s best for group shots ?
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My settings, camera, lens choice, lighting choice and approach change all day long - as the location and lighting conditions change

Group shots - always if possible in the shade, f4.5 - F8 Often with a tripod, spot focus on the bride. often lit with 2 flash guns, on the diagonals
 
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Richard King said:
My settings, camera, lens choice, lighting choice and approach change all day long - as the location and lighting conditions change
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this

theres no set approach that works as its different depending on where you are shooting.

AF wise One shot - theres no need for AF servo if you are shooting set ups (though i might use it ocasionally shooting candids at the reception)
 
big soft moose said:
to be fair i shot a wedding last week with a 450D and a kit lens 18-55 IS (though i did also have a second body with a 90mm f2.8 on it) - i also took other lenses along but didnt use them much

its not the best lens for it in the world but you can do the job so long as you arent asking too much of it
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Me too - a friend asked me to do their wedding, and I reluctantly used my 18-55 kit for most of the day as I needed a bit more width than my 28-135 and 50mm. I was pleasantly surprised. Okay, they're not going to win any prizes, but the couple were happy.

But, yeah, investing in good glass is invaluable, as you'll find is the mantra on this forum. I'll be doing the same soon. Looking at the Tamron 17-50, Canon 70-200 f2.8, and a ultra wide when I can afford it. I'll also be second-shooter at a few weddings to see if I can really cut the mustard before really selling myself as a wedding tog.
 
powell7 said:
would this be worth thinking about guys ?? :thinking:
http://www.parkcameras.com/15342/Sigma-17-50-f2-8-EX-DC-OS-HSM---Sony-Fit.html
its 2.8 and has a nice range
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Worth thinking about, as is the Tamron 17-50 f2.8, Tamron 28-75 f2.8 and one I just noticed in the classifieds here:-
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=351717

It would be useful to establish which end of the standard zoom is used most frequently, as this will determine how wide you prefer to shoot at.
 
I shot my best wedding so far last Saturday and 90% of the shoot I had a 35mm 1.8 on one body and 50mm 1.8 on t'other.. not swelling my own head or anything but it was a great combo, I have had very very little to do PP..

so I would defo recommend a prime for one of the bodies, I also did the evening do which was pretty much pitch dark best part of the night but a flash pointing straight up with a stofen on and set to around a third power IIRC produced some great results.
 
I really don't think anyone should be shooting someone's big day and getting paid for it when they know so little about photography...

The composition of those images is generally good, but you have to know ** gear. Where it excels and where you are likely to hit it's limitations. You need to know, in any conditions you are likely to face, how best to use the equipment you have. Equipment you have carefully selected before hand in order to produce good results in said conditions.

The very fact you are here asking for this advice, shooting at f11 and getting images with camera suggests to me you are too inexperienced.

Try and gain some experience first, either as an assistant, or in some other avenue of photography where someone isn't relying on you to capture a once-in-a-lifetime event. As you gain experience, you can earn some money which you can re-invest in the right gear, the insurance and everything else that's needed to be doing commercial work off your own back.

And in my experience, it's not just backing up the camera kit, it's backing up everything. Right from the computer you use to do the post-processing, the images you take and even the photographer.

Even at £300, clients have an expectation.
 
i`m asking questions to learn from people in the know,is that not the point of these forums ?
the things iv asked are to see what peoples opinions are and how they approach things.
i`m sure pro`s had to learn somehow :shrug:
 
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I spent 6 years learning photography, and when I started making a wage from it, I refused to do weddings for the first year.

I felt I needed a sound and thorough knowledge of my kit and a reasonable level of experience because never did I want to let a wedding couple down.

Even attempting to shooting a wedding at f11 and using a kit lens really does shoe signs of inexperience. You have taken some good photos, I won't dispute that and clearly your wife has a good eye a great deal of natural talent, but I'd strongly suggest she gets some training and further experience before taking on any more wedding work.
 
powell7 said:
i`m asking questions to learn from people in the know,is that not the point of these forums ?
the things iv asked are to see what peoples opinions are and how they approach things.
i`m sure pro`s had to learn somehow :shrug:
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yep and your photos are okay ,

but look at it from the clients point of view - if you were hiring a photographer would you be happy to hire one who didnt know what settings to use on their camera for group shots ?

personally i'd want my tog to know their camera and feild backwards so as to assured that they'd be able to cope if something went pear shaped.

its laudable to want to learn, and these boards are a great place for it, but its preferable to learn before you start selling your services - the point a lot of people here are making is that if you dont know your camera and settings etc its too early to be going solo - which in itself is a decent lesson.

you are right that everyone was a beginer once , but a lot of togs took the road you are being advised to take ... I'm a WW not a full time pro but I still did several weddings as a second camera before doing one on my own (in actual fact i was lucky because my mate from uni Ben is a fulltime wedding tog so i seconded with him , and the first solo gig I did was one we were suposed to be shooting together but he came down with flu and wasnt available so I had to step into the breach)
 
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good points and thanks for your help guys.
any good training schools in the south east ?
 
there's a lot of training courses arround but i'm not sure of their worth (some will be excellent and some a rip off but I dont know any to advise on)

My advice would be to ask here (in the buisaness forum) show the shots and see if you can get anyone to take your wife as second camera

I'd also suggest she join here in her own right as its hard for someone to establish confidence in her if all communication is done through you.
 
Expectations, whether at £300 or £3,000 are that the photographer will get usable images as a bare minimum. I like the outdoor shots, but the indoor shots look soft to me and they all have an strong colour cast. Not good enough IMHO, and the circumstances didn't look very challenging.

A wedding photographer has two basic assets to ensure they get images of merchantable quality - the rights skills and the right equipment. Sometimes the equipment can bail you out of tricky situations, more often than not the skill can overcome the equipment deficiencies.

If you have neither in sufficient quantity then TBH you're asking for trouble. Whatever you charge, you're responsible for a unique, unrepeatable day in people's lives. Mess it up and aside from the grief you will cause the couple, you could be sued big time.

There's a fine line between encouraging aspiring photographers to move forward and pointing out that they've taken on events beyond their ability.

If all that sounds damming then it isn't meant to be. I'm just pointing out that in my opinion your wife isn't ready yet to be shooting weddings yet. More research, some quality training and perhaps assisting a pro not only would benefit her photography but also allow her to enter the market at a higher price point knowing that she'll be better prepared but also producing a higher standard of images.
 
Hi,

First let me state that I am not a full-time wedding photographer but have done about a dozen weddings in the past year both for friends (unpaid) and others (paid). Plus I do quite a lot of gigs/events so have some experirnce in that area. One thing that I realised pretty quickly is that no matter how much you charge to do weddings whether it be GBP300 or 3000 the expectation is exactly the same ie. the bride/her mum must look great and all the basic shots must be there. It also helps if you do a few WOW! shots as well.

I'm not claiming to be the best wedding photographer but to get the photos I do requires a couple of bodies (FF and x1.6 crop) plus the following lens line-up: Canon 15mm fisheye, Canon 16-35LII, Canon 24LII, Siggy 50f1.4 and Canon 100f2.8L. Over the course of a day I will use all of these all of the time.

So, to answer the first bit of the OP, I very much doubt that the Siggy 18-50 referred to will do much of a job for your wife. The constant f2.8 version (17-50 f2.8) is a MUCH better lens IMHO and I think that would be much more useful for wedding work.

Obviously, I wish your wife every success in this venture, she clearly has a good eye for a composition and that is a great starting point.
 
so what would people buy first the 24-70 f2.8 or the 17-50 f2.8 ?
 
powell7 said:
so what would people buy first the 24-70 f2.8 or the 17-50 f2.8 ?
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that depends on your camera

if you have crop bodies only and no intention to go FF then the latter will do you fine

if you have a FF or 1.3 body, or intend to buy one then get the latter

(frankly you dont need them both - the 24-70 has become a standard lens for wedding togs because most of them shoot on FF cameras like the 5D2 - if you are shooting on a 1.6 crop the 17-50 gives you an effective 27.2 -80 and is probably preferable to the 24-70 which is effectively a 38.4 at the wide end, which isnt always wide enough )
 
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powell7 said:
so what would people buy first the 24-70 f2.8 or the 17-50 f2.8 ?
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Hi Chris

Do not know the Sony body line-up, but if yours are crop then the 24-70 is not wide enough for many purposes at weddings. In the Canon system I used a 24-70L for a biy, quickly realised the above and so got the 16-35L. On FF, it is another matter and I'm sure A LOT of pro wedding guys would recommend a 24-70f2.8 FL/aperture.

Best.

Gary
 
it has a crop of 1.5 so the better bet would be the 17-50 2.8 ?
 
powell7 said:
it has a crop of 1.5 so the better bet would be the 17-50 2.8 ?
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Pretty much

unless your wife is planning to upgrade to FF sensor in the near future (do sony make a FF model ? )
 
sony do yes the a900 and afew of the new modles but for now the bodys we have will have todo.
 
Hmm, judging by this thread im set on the wedding bandwagon. Seriously though before your wife takes on any more work make sure shes got more gear for redundancy purposes, in my nightlife job its not a MASSIVE disaster if my gear fails (not a problem as I take multiple bodies/lenses); but if your stuck not being able to capture someones wedding then theres going to be hell to pay.
 
SamP said:
Hmm, judging by this thread im set on the wedding bandwagon. Seriously though before your wife takes on any more work make sure shes got more gear for redundancy purposes, in my nightlife job its not a MASSIVE disaster if my gear fails (not a problem as I take multiple bodies/lenses); but if your stuck not being able to capture someones wedding then theres going to be hell to pay.
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And a hefty legal bill and compensation claim.
 
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