1st engagement shoot Wednesday 6pm
lisarhinehart
Registered Users Posts: 279 Major grins
Hello friends 
Well, you have all taught me a lot and now it's time for me to take the plunge. Any last minute advice for my first engagement shoot? It's at 6pm at a park and surrounding areas.
I have become comfortable with AV and was planning at shooting at f4.0 or so and using some of the ideas from Cantell/Ghionis if need be, and going with their instinct and mine. Oh boy this is going to be a learning experience. I'm also planning to scope out the locale again in the same lighting ans shoot around a bit to get a feel for everything and find a few locals that look really pretty in that lighting at this time.
I can hear it now all the seasoned pros cringing and sypathetically smiling. I gotta start somewhere, right?
Well, you have all taught me a lot and now it's time for me to take the plunge. Any last minute advice for my first engagement shoot? It's at 6pm at a park and surrounding areas.
I have become comfortable with AV and was planning at shooting at f4.0 or so and using some of the ideas from Cantell/Ghionis if need be, and going with their instinct and mine. Oh boy this is going to be a learning experience. I'm also planning to scope out the locale again in the same lighting ans shoot around a bit to get a feel for everything and find a few locals that look really pretty in that lighting at this time.
I can hear it now all the seasoned pros cringing and sypathetically smiling. I gotta start somewhere, right?
Lisa
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I don't know your gear or lighting but as far as posing, I still find it very helpful to print (or DL to your iPod, whatever) some example shots of what you're going for. Not only does it help with the "brain fog" that sets in for me when I'm under pressure (sometimes, just having printed shots I want to get is concrete enough for my brain to latch on to). More importantly, a picture really is worth a thousand words for your client to envision, and I've found takes the pressure off them when they see what you're going for.
Best of luck!!! Go get em
50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 24-70 2.8L, 35mm 1.4L, 135mm f2L
ST-E2 Transmitter + (3) 580 EXII + radio poppers
I never thought of the DL to the iPod idea though...gonna do that!
www.tednghiem.com
I use stone tablets with written descriptions.....
I use to cut out examples from magizines also......
ADVICE:
1- check all gear and settings...especially your iso and fec (I keep mine at 0 unless I truly need them)
2-double check all batteries.....make sure they are fully charged and so are the extras.......
3- have a drink to calm nerves 1 hour prior to shoot....brush teeth to hide alcohol smell from clients!!!!:D
4- have fun....joke with clients....so all have fun
5-have fun....joke with clients....so all have fun
6-have fun....joke with clients....so all have fun
Make it fun.
Do not tell them you are a beginner and are unsure of what you are doing, sell it.
Shoot where the good light is.
Choose your backgrounds first, then place the couple into it where you want them.
Tell them to get comfortable, if it does not look good adjust them, don't over pose they will look stiff.
If you have to use on camera flash set it as -1 and just use if for some fill.
Relax and have fun, you will do great.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21695902@N06/
http://500px.com/Shockey
alloutdoor.smugmug.com
http://aoboudoirboise.smugmug.com/
Thank you for your encouragement and advice, everyone!!! Urban-- any recs for sites that have inspirational photos that aren't right click protected? --Lisa
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Blogs usually aren't. As long as you're careful not to EVER present them as your own, or print them, I don't see harm in using them for inspiration but others may disagree.
50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 24-70 2.8L, 35mm 1.4L, 135mm f2L
ST-E2 Transmitter + (3) 580 EXII + radio poppers
Good suggestions so far. Mine would be that you may want to start out shooting program mode and get comfortable working with the clients before you venture out into full manual manipulation of your camera. Based on a few posts of yours I have read, it sounds like you aren't all that comfortable with manual settings and not all that comfortable working with clients.
I would suggest you take the f-stop and shutter speeds out of the equation at first and just worry about getting good light through flash compensation and iso adjustment. Your xt is fine up to 400 and OK up to about 800 iso if you nail the exposure. One of the bigger pay-for features in the higher end cameras is high iso performance, so I wouldn't shoot over 800 unless you have to.
Once you get through the initial nervousness, go manual if you are comfortable, but it may all be just too much to think about for your first outing. Chimp (look at the screen on the back of the camera) a lot to make sure you have what you are looking for and take your time between poses. Pay careful attention to both what is in the background of your images as well as your subject. When in doubt shoot a little wide and crop in durring post.
Good luck!!!
Matt
Bodies: Canon 5d mkII, 5d, 40d
Lenses: 24-70 f2.8L, 70-200 f4.0L, 135 f2L, 85 f1.8, 50 1.8, 100 f2.8 macro, Tamron 28-105 f2.8
Flash: 2x 580 exII, Canon ST-E2, 2x Pocket Wizard flexTT5, and some lower end studio strobes
You have a great eye and have no doubt you'll get some excellent shots! Av will serve you very well for this, but try not to look for absolutes in the settings - f4.0 may be great for some things, but for others you may WANT to open up to selectively blur certain areas, or WANT to stop down to include details behind the subjects or set up your subjects behind one another or... any number of other variables which you won't know till you see them. Be flexible! This is one of the reasons I take lots and LOTS of shots - I can experiment a little more and still be pretty sure of getting enough keepers.
I would spend today experimenting with your flash settings some more. Let it use ETTL (the flash's automatic mode), but figure out how to make it do what you want using the FEC in your camera (as discussed in your thread in people - tons of info there for you this morning). If you're shooting outside, this time of year you will very likely need a litle fill.
I'd definitely play around with a reflector too (you have time and it's not scary - honest!) Buy a real one if you like (they're not that expensive for the smaller ones), or just get one of those "popup" car windscreen shades (they're exactly the same as a reflector although not quite as robust, but since you get TWO for about $10 at Walmart they certainly won't break the bank and do the job 100%!), or even a piece of white foamboard. It's a GREAT way to scoop up some of that beautiful late light (I see you're shooting at 6pm) and put it on their faces and add beautiful catchlights in their eyes, and it doesn't require you to change a single setting on your camera.
Here's a grab shot of my daughter during "golden hour" sunlight - she was reading on the porch (shaded) and I just angled the gold side of my reflector till the light was on her face. The light was spectacular!
FYI, this was shot at f2.5 - note how the rear eye and her mouth are fading outside the sharp DOF area and starting to blur. I don't mind that as long as the main eye and enough of the face are sharp; some people find that too shallow. YMMV!
All the best - I'm sure that they'll be thrilled with what you get!
ETA: One final thing: when shooting two people, make extra sure your focus point is where you want it! This would be a scenario where I probably WOULD change focus point rather than using the center - nothing worse than the camera focusing on the space between them and getting sharp trees and blurred faces.............
Thanks for your help everyone. I was hoping to post a few of the engagement shots aroudn this time today, but alas it rained
I agree with matt about not trying to do too much too fast, it is afterall my first time working with clients (very observant of you
I actually am getting used to AV, and was using f4.6 as my starting point-- I would move up or down depending, and am getting a lot faster at moving focal points around-- and a couple should be more predictable than kids and kittens, lol. Now that I have more time maybe I will play with the different recompose methods, too. So much to learn! Thanks for helping me along in the process. I think I'm getting better
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Nice!
plan to use both tammy and the 60mm.
when using the 60mm - compose for a close up make sure you fill the frame.
take the first shot straight on - square. Then turn the camera a little and grab another shot.
If you have stairs around - walk up and have couple look up at you and play w/ one looking away.
if the couple is a little overweight - shoot from above to help stretch neck out.
don't delete any photos unless just horrible or a known test shot. you never know a little out of focus B&W can be moody.
Can't wait to see the pictures......
I'm not sure where you are located - but i would offer to shoot your SIL wedding w/ you if are close to the Big "D".
Later,
_Mark
This is actually my SIL's engagement shot? By D do you mean DC? --lisa
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Big "D" is the big Dallas Texas..... everything is bigger in texas!
So it's re-scheduled for this wednesday at 6pm. I'm really excited!!! Any other last minute advice? 30% chance of rain again, though
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www.tednghiem.com
lol-- the thought actually crossed my mind
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So here are a few shots:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=1136161#post1136161
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