First paid photo shoot - DATE: 23 March 2013

Note: American that lives on the island of Okinawa Japan

and...


THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

I was asked / offered the job to shoot a
co-worker's / friend's wedding on the 23rd.

I accepted, we talked, came up with a plan,
she's getting me a schedule, sent me the
location (it's a restaurant / wedding reception
place that specializes in small weddings of about
100 people or less), I asked what she was looking for
I explained that I'm not a pro, and I can't guarantee
anything, she still likes my work, so....

If you don't mind, I'd like some positive
support, advice, equipment recommendations
(based on what I have) and tips / examples.


(Sorry living on Okinawa I can't buy
anything, and get it here by the 23rd,
also with the Government furloughs
that are about to hit us I can't afford
anything expensive like an L lens.) *sigh*

Equipment:

Cameras:

1 - Canon 60D W/battery grip
1 - Canon Power Shot 20SX

Flash:

1 - Polaroid Power Zoom Shoe Mount Autofocus Flash (Don't remember the model #)
1 - Canon Speedlite 420EX Flash - Old Version - got for free, missing the red lens cover.

Tripods:

1 - Leupold Trek Pod II
1 - OLD Tripod that used to hold the old VHS tape camcorder :eek:

SD cards:

1 - 16GB Extreme class 10
1 - 8GB Class 10
2 - 8GB Class 4
2 - 4 GB Class ?

Lens:

Canon EF-S Zoom lens - 18 mm - 135 mm - F/3.5-5.6 - Canon EF-S
Canon EF-S Zoom Lens 18 mm - 55 mm - f/3.5-5.6 Is MK II


So here are some ideas / plans that I have:

A) Make an example book, so when I'm shooting
I can run over to the book, flip to any page and see
an example and say, AH-HA, let's try this !

B) I'm going to recon the place, talk to the staff
and see what 'props' they have, i.e. if it's raining,
we need plants, backgrounds and such for backdrops inside.
Oh yeah there is an attached garden to the restaurant.



C) I'm braining some 'items'... a 500W work light,
(To shoot silhouette shots, sort of like this:

(Google search)

bride-and-groom-silhouette(pp_w856_h569).jpg




Some other examples

(Google search)


Taiko-Drum-Preformance-at-a-Wedding-Reception.jpg


0910191704151p1600014_1_.jpg


5500008346_06c03bd20d.jpg


Peace! 8)
 
Re: ▀►◄▀ ▀►◄▀ ▀►◄▀ ▀►◄▀ First paid photo shoot - DATE: 23 March 2013

I'm not a pro by far, but did some receptions, classic concerts and a wedding as favours So what I write here won't give perfect pictures, but hopefully increase the odds of getting good ones.

- take the charger with you, it's always convenient to be able to charge up a spare pack
- go manual mode and take a few shots there before the reception to see which combination aperture (set it high enough so you don't lose it when zooming)/iso (as low as possible)/timing (as fast as possbile) works best without flash. (this prevents lighting differences caused by white dress, black tuxedo)
- When shooting with flash, always bounce, but look which color the ceiling has and if it is not white, put a colored gel over the flash to compensate till it matches the natural light (I've mcgyvered it on occasions and used candy wrappers) (this prevents weird looking colors)
- Set white balance to manual and get it to give a pleasing color. (I;e. not too blue) you don't have this issue when shooting raw, but that depends on how much memory you have left on your cards)
- When shooting the bride with a white dress, go for the AEB function where you have an underexposed and overexposed picture as well. On the off chance that the setting you thought it would be does not come out good, odds are, one of the other two will make a better match.
- When doing the grou portrait, quickly tkae the same picture with F4, F8, F16 (you can do this in under three seconds and it increases the odds that at least one of them matches the foreground/background sharpness ratio you had envisioned. At least you have the material, you can pick out what's best later.
- if at all possible, get the nifty fifte for less than 100 dollar as it is really suited to indoor photography.
 
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Apr 24, 2011
1,105
12
The only suggestion I have is to rent or borrow a bigger flash. Something like the 580 or even 600. You will need plenty of flash while indoors with your lens choices.

Find out which one of your zoom lenses provides a better image and stick with it. The 18-135 may have more design compromises in comparison to the 18-55. I haven't used either.

I can't imagine that you will have the time to put together an "example book" and have time to use it.

If your friend is happy with your work, just roll with it.

Good luck.
 
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This is my first post in CR :D.
I'm not a pro photographer either but I do have couple of dozens weddings in my belt.
I'll give you some do's and don'ts. Your 60D will be sufficient enough to cover the entire event. Make sure just carry the batteries and cards with you at all times. If the light permits, shoot without flash, natural light most times look more pleasing plus people tend to get annoyed with flash a lot. If 420ex is the only flash you can get then use it wisely and be careful of bouncing it. At times it'll bounce unwanted tints to your subject.
If you can get the 50mm 1.8 II before the wedding. Do it. That will be your portrait lens, however since you only have 1 body be ready to switch lenses a lot, or just move a lot.
Shoot at lot of frames and shoot RAW, I don't care what everyone says. It's your first gig, it doesn't matter if you have to go through 1000s of pics, at least for now this way you have a lot of material to use and give to your client.
Learn some posing techniques for couple. This is a must. Your client is expecting you to know how to pose them and tell them if they're smiling correctly or have their eyes closed, check your shots thoroughly but quickly.
Meet all the family members. Get a lot of facetime. They will be pleased that you took shots of a lot of their guest. Theyre gonna be looking back at the album, saying, oh I remember them, blah blah blah.
You can ditch the tripods and other heavy accessories, if you really wanna take em and use em, wouldn't hurt bringing another friend with you to help you carry gear.
Back up your stuff. If you have some downtime in between events, please back up your cards.
Last but not least, have a blast.
 
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Ideally you'd be able to rent a back up body and a lens or two but since that doesn't seem to be in the cards just go with it. If you can go get a properly working flash. You may have trouble using the focus assist with the broken one you currently have. Focus assit will help you lock focus in dim lighting. A 430 exxii would be more than enough and definately bounce it rather than blasting folks directly in the face with it. You should be able to find a good one used in your area for not much cash. I'd also not venture outside your comfort zone. If you don't normally shoot full manual don't. Id say shoot av f5.6-f8 with flash and auto iso. Then fiddle with the flash ec until you get the look you want on the back of the lcd. Heck you may even just shoot full auto with a good flash. Probably better than fiddling with the settings just be prepared for the limitations. I like the idea of trying to get some shots you've seen online, however I would caution you that the set up for some of those shots may take a bit of time (which you may not have) so don't get too grandiose with your plans. sometimes the best advice is KISS (keep it simple stupid). Above all else have fun.
 
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Please refer to some of the excellent advice (and warnings) on this same topic, thoroughly covered here:

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=12589.0

(Without re-debating the issue, I will echo another commenter and say that your zoom lenses probably aren't up to the task and you should consider renting/borrowing/buying a proper portrait prime at the very least. It is also a somewhat reckless idea to shoot without a backup DSLR body of any sort.)
 
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RLPhoto

Gear doesn't matter, Just a Matter of Convenience.
Mar 27, 2012
3,777
0
San Antonio, TX
www.Ramonlperez.com
Please do this for yourself, and your client, and for your reputation.

1. Add a 50mm 1.8 to your kit. You have no fast glass, and you'll need fast glass at some point at a wedding. Its cheap, fast, and quality(to a Point). Ditch the 18-55mm, You already have the 18-135mm and no need for it.

2. Scout all the locations ahead of time, and get a shot list from the couple.

3. Practice basic on-camera flash technique, Fill, Bounce, AF-Assist, Etc... It will be Needed.

4. A second body would be highly recommended in case your 60D dies.

All in all, I would keep the couple's expectations low. If you turn out better work than expected, you'll impress them. If you raise they're expectations too high, you'll never meet them.
 
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Dec 30, 2012
423
0
RLPhoto said:
Please do this for yourself, and your client, and for your reputation.

1. Add a 50mm 1.8 to your kit. You have no fast glass, and you'll need fast glass at some point at a wedding. Its cheap, fast, and quality(to a Point). Ditch the 18-55mm, You already have the 18-135mm and no need for it.

2. Scout all the locations ahead of time, and get a shot list from the couple.

3. Practice basic on-camera flash technique, Fill, Bounce, AF-Assist, Etc... It will be Needed.

4. A second body would be highly recommended in case your 60D dies.

All in all, I would keep the couple's expectations low. If you turn out better work than expected, you'll impress them. If you raise they're expectations too high, you'll never meet them.

Huge +1

If you can get an ETTL cord as well and practice a little off camera flash by holding it off to the side. Works wonders.
 
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May 12, 2011
1,386
1
+1 for renting some better gear. But at the same time I wouldn't rent too much new stuff since you don't want to be working with a bunch of equipment you're not familiar with.

I'll tell you this, if you can only rent one piece of equipment, get the 17-55 f/2.8 IS. It's an amazing lens and will really improve the overall quality of your images. I know you already have an 18-55, but come on it's the kit lens. Lensrentals.com has the 17-55 at $42 for 4 days, go for it. You'll see right away that there is a tremendous difference between that and the 18-55.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
16,848
1,835
Since you cannot get any additional equipment, as you noted, you can make do with what you have, its just a matter of creatively using it. Its certainly not helpful to tell you to get more qquipment if you have already said that you can't.

Millions of weddings have been shot just fine with lesser equipment. I have photos that are well over 100 years old, and they look fine, and they used equipment with maybe 1% of the capability you have. People at the wedding will help you be holding very still if that actually turns out to be necessary..

For example, you will not be able to light up a large room or a crowd of 100 people with just the one flash, and I'm not aware of anyway to synchronize the Polaroid and Canon flashes unless you have a slave trigger.

However, you may be able to setup the group outdoors, it depends on the lighting, so try to get them together when the light is best.

You sound to me like a pretty savvy person, I'd bet that you will do just fine.
 
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Since you're obviously committed to this, only a couple of things come to mind for your situation. Go into it with a joyous and enthusiastic attitude and have fun while doing the best you can. Beyond that, think about this:

1. As others have said, get a 50mm f/1.8 II. I know you said you can't buy anything, but these lenses are everywhere. Someone there has one and will lend it to you or rent it to you for $20 or so. Get one, and play with it in advance. Other than that you have equipment capable of producing fine results. Don't get down by elitists who tell you good work can't be produced without $10,000 worth of equipment.

2. Don't do anything you haven't tried (hopefully perfected) first. That silhouette shot looks great, but creating it may not be as easy as you think.

3. Shoot RAW. That will give you greater latitude for error.

4. Finally, don't do business with friends. Beyond expenses, don't accept money for this job if these people are really friends. So, you should first decide if they are really friends or your first customers/clients.

Just some thoughts, for what they're worth. I promise I won't send an invoice! Have a great time -- no better feeling than seeing a bride tear up at pictures you've taken of her wedding!!!
 
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cayenne

CR Pro
Mar 28, 2012
2,868
796
I didn't see mention about how many battery packs you had...make sure you have more than enough.
Also, you likely need more memory cards....you will want to shoot RAW, and that eats up a bit more space on the memory cards.

I've not shot weddings, but I've been studying and readling a LOT about it, in hopes to branch out on my own doing this too.

You definitely might be well served by renting a 2nd camera, like a 5D3 and a couple of good L lenses. Maybe a 70-200L and a 50L....I know a lot of wedding photog like to have those, good for low light and can be tack sharp, and nice shallow DOF.

Good luck and please report back how it went and post some sample pics!!

If you get some special shots, look into getting them to buy a couple of wall hanging size prints (especially if the rent the higher end camera body)...you can order those, and add a bit of $$ on top for some profit to cover your expenses.

My $0.02,

cayenne
 
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Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
8,246
1,939
Canada
I shoot with a 60D. It can do the job.... obviously other cameras are better.... but if you are renting one, will you have it in time to get enough practice to use it well..... My friend has a 5DII and it takes time to adapt from one camera to another, unless you have lots of experience with both.

I would say that #1 is to get a 32G memory card or two..... you can fill them up in a hurry shooting a wedding.

Shoot RAW (or RAW and jpg).... you can do so much more with a raw file.... like post correct white balance problems.... and there WILL be white balance problems....

If you do decide to shoot video clips, turn of image stabilization or you will clearly hear the camera motors on the video. Hint: a cell phone with a voice recording ap makes a free external mike....

Get a spare battery or see if you can borrow one. The LP-E6 is used in a number of Canon Cameras so it should be really easy to find on short notice...

You are going to need at least one fast lens for indoors.... with a crop camera I would say something around 30mm, but if on a budget there is the 40mm pancake and the 50mm f1.8. The 50 f1.8 has a cheap plastic built and feels like a toy, but it does take good pictures.

And YOU are the photographer... make sure the powers that be understand that this means that some of the time has to go to you to get those special pictures and when they are posing, don't let Aunt Bertha bump you out of the way...
 
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Mt Spokane Photography said:
Millions of weddings have been shot just fine with lesser equipment. I have photos that are well over 100 years old, and they look fine, and they used equipment with maybe 1% of the capability you have.

+ 1 true words


To the OP please do report back after the event and post some images. I am sure you will do just fine. It's always important to remember that if they turned to you they likely weren't going to be spending a bunch of money for a really experienced photographer (not that pricing in any way dictates quality), so they were going to probably get someone to do it on the cheap and not someone with considerably more experience than you. I can guarantee you that you will not only care more than this person, but produce finer images than who they may have hired.
 
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Bruce Photography

Landscapes, 5DX,7D,60D,EOSM,D800/E,D810,D7100
Feb 15, 2011
216
0
Fort Bragg, CA
I'm not doing weddings anymore, but.....

Express mail at least three or four 32 San Disk Extreme Pro SD cards and shoot Raw.

The suggestion that someone else made about a larger flash is a good one with a boatload of batteries and/or a quick charger (minimum of 8 batteries with quick charger). Can you get a diffuser at the same time (I mostly use Gary Fong Lightshpere) when you might get a flash?
 
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