lighting!
yooperdooper
Registered Users Posts: 231 Major grins
hello:i may shoot some weddings.i have a canon eos 30d. my friend told me to get a battery operated potable flash.im not sure what this is?does the flash mount to the camera?or is it placed separate from the camera?would anyone recomend a model? thanks
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I would suggest holding off on doing any weddings at all until you:
-Get some better professional equipment AND backups for all of it
-Learn how to use it
-Have practiced with each and every component until you can run it and make gorgeous images in the dark (weddings are usually pretty dark. It takes quite a bit of finesse and technical skills to pull them off)
-Shoot under another shooter to see what the flow of a wedding day looks like and how to handle tricky situations.
Even the most artistic person needs technique in order to create the vision they have in their mind. Weddings can't be redone. Make sure you have the technical foundation and equipment before you agree to cover the most important event of a bride's life.
A wedding is a once in a lifetime opportunity for most people. Before you take on shooting a wedding by yourself, you should shadow a real pro wedding photog. Sort of an apprenticeship if you will. Please don't ruin someone's special day by shooting their wedding.
Now to answer your question. Yes a battery operated portable flash is a flash that can be used both on the camera and off the camera depending on your camera body and the flash you buy. I know nothing about Canon equipment since I shoot with Nikon. There are many Canon owners here that may be able to help you out with a Canon specific flash education.
This may be the single best answer to this kind of question/scenario that I have ever seen.
I could, but I won't. Why? Because I won't tell someone that has no clue how to end up ruining someones wedding with a flash they just bought.
Why people think weddings are "simple" to shoot and you can just walk into with any old crappy camera and shoot is beyond me. Would you want a surgeon operating on you with a kitchen knife after reading a book on how to do open heart, never having done one before? Anesthesia? A little vodka should help.
Think about it, really.. before you really mess someones pictures up and probably end up loosing a friend or two over it.
Edit: You know I'm just funnin' wicher, Yooperdooper.
Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
is the draw. People have a camera. Take a picture. Someone says "wow, that's good". Now they think they can do a wedding or a Mitzvah. It takes good equipment, then good backup equipment. Knowing the routine of the events. What has to be taken, when it should be take, what you can or cannot do in a church or temple, how to pose, how to light, handling the crowds, pricing, finishing special effects, good working knowledge of Photoshop, liability and performance insurance, correct pricing schedule, ad infinitum....
As said previously, best bet is to get a job as a photographer's assistant or light person and learn how to do it. It will take longer than two weeks also.
“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
That said, this IS a field that requires a LOT of technical knowledge and practice. When I thought about getting into weddings, I spent a ton of time researching, practicing, and researching some more. Many of the stickies at the top of this forum are really great resources. Some other really helpful resources are the Digital Photography School site and blog, as well as the Creative Live webinars. These things are amazing. They are free when you watch live and then you can buy the course after the fact if you like. They just finished one with Zach and Jody Gray that covers off-camera flash and working weddings, so if you're interested in spending the $150 or whatever, it might be a great place to start.
Good luck
Spread the love! Go comment on something!
Suffice to say I agree wholeheartedly.
OK, but to bring my own experience into it, I didn't shoot weddings until after almost 10 years of freelancing and newspaper photography experience.
But did you know what the speedlite was, and how to use it? That's the question.
Let me put it this way: weddings are a damned hard, pain in the ass. And there are invariably sixty bajillion things that can go wrong with a wedding shoot. (Like the couple that rented a place I knew well, and gave me several shooting options .... but neglected to inform the photography people that the site was being used to shoot a movie the day before, and was an utter cluster &#&# of leftover set crap that made us shoot in alternate locations we hadn't scouted ....) A photog has to be reative, proctive, capable of planning and above all -ruthlessly efficient.
Or let me put it this way. I've got pictures captured of people at weddings who are now dead. The images I captured were the last of the deceased relative with several people who knew her well. The last thing you want to do is tell your client, "Yes, I know you wanted me to cpature a picture of Aunt Millie with Uncle Ben and Cousin Felicity ... but I have two. One has a lightpost growing out of Felicity's head, and the other is out of focus. Sorry."
Forum for Canadian shooters: www.canphoto.net
I bet if he would have put he has Canon 5DMK II and need some help with understanding how lighting works the response would have been lot different. People are forgetting fact that not long ago 30D was acceptable camera for doing pro work. Yes this guy is not a pro and just starting but no point in putting people down like this.
He didn't ask how lighting worked, he asked what a battery operated flash was. I'd wonder why he'd even have an MKII if he didn't know what the flash was yet.
Agreed, but let me tell you there are other websites that does pretty good job of letting people down without providing any input and I hope we at DGRIN dont want to stoop to that level.
It is so funny at times to see a post like this one and see all the people that come to just tell the op to not do this or that especially if you have no clue as to what a portable flash is......DID ANY OF YOU ACTUALLY LOOK AT HIS sm SITE OR EVEN HIS PUBLIC PROFILE...HE HAS REALLY GOOD IMAGES ON HIS SITE, INCLUDING PORTRAITS...he doesn't list a flash and does only list a 30D...he is also an engineer....hmmm...could this have been a prank post just to see the hostility that sometimes lurks in the bowels of all forums...hmmmm...hmmm
It would be a really great surprise to me that someone that has been a member here since 2008, has no clues as to what a portable flash is......
Seriously ...Methinks...you been PUNKED ! ! ! !
Ofcourse there is the off chance that I have just been punked and he really has no clue as to what a portable flash is....but methinks naught ....
I went to his website and couldn't find one photo????? ANYWHERE!
Also much of the writing, (rambling) seemed semi incoherent to me.
Just saying....................
Sam
Exactly, this is what i want others to know that we were once a rookie. He is asking advice from us just like we did when we were starting. I guess some ar just mean-spirited towards him.
“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”
Sam,
he has a SmugMug site....Just Sayin also... may need to look a bit deeper...
If this was a prank post, I would say it was US who won- we didn't start an all-out flame war; instead we just stuck to giving solid and honest advice.
I happen to agree with the general consensus that if you barely understand flash and have "just" a 30D in today's age, then you probably shouldn't be shooting your first wedding as the primary photographer just yet.
Yes indeed, we all started somewhere. Yes indeed, the 30D was once a great camera. But that doesn't mean we should risk some bride's wedding photos TODAY. There is a time and a place for "we were all once a rookie", but that is NOT an excuse to go into a wedding in-experienced and under-equipped, as the lead photographer... I'm not trying to be elitist and say that all beginners should stick to less important events than weddings. Only the OP can decide when they are truly ready, and indeed we all have our FIRST big wedding job. But just because "you gotta start somewhere", ...doesn't mean it isn't smart to turn down a request if you're not ready.
BTW, I don't mind the 30D so much as I mind the potential for a lack of experience with flash.
The fact is that we're still very under-informed on the situation, so we can't pass judgment just yet. Like you said, MAYBE he's a great photographer and already knows how to handle a wedding day, but just had a question about external flash power. It just didn't seem like that to most of us, which is why we replied the way we did.
But since this is a REALLY friendly community, (obviously since we didn't crucify the OP!) ...I would really welcome their return to this topic, for some more clarification on their general experience with weddings and with equipment in general.
My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
At the risk of adding to this thread....... I am not about to go do a wedding, but I will get quite a bit of practice at my sisters wedding. What are some of your favorite resources for learning flash photography, primarily wedding oriented and/or low light type. I picked up a D7000 couple weeks ago, but I only have an Sb700, and do have a wireless trigger to bring it off camera. There's a TON of resources out there, but it's overwhelming trying to find one to follow, at least for me it is. I'd be curious to what sort of things people recommend, books, workshops, websites etc...
Also, if this should be in it's own thread, and probably in the Technique forum (maybe?) let me know and I'll do so!
www.zblackwood.com
Try Strobist... do the tutorials. He starts out VERY basic (including equipment lists and etc) and grows your knowledge from there.
http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/
Well.. news to me. Sorry, I'm not searching the message archive. Far as I'm concerned, if you don't put it in your profile, or your signature.. it doesn't exist.
is really that hard to do a google search???
But why? The OP hasn"t even bothered to check back into his/her own thread.
Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
We do not really know that he isn't watching, do we??? He has been a member since 2008 and has 113 posts....could be a hard core lurker ... and could be he felt attacked by some of the posts ...or as I said he could have just posted for a prank ... just to see who gave friendly advice without the attack tone....
I have no Idea....but I for one, will look at a persons profile and also go do a google before I answer questions a lot of times...that is how I know he has a Smug acct... unlike some that say if it isn't in sig or profile it doesn't exist...its that extra 2 sec it takes to research a bit....just my thing...
Yes, it is. Why the hell didn't he put it in his profile? :P
And sure.. there are some nice LANDSCAPES... but that's not what he's asking about.. or I sure hope not...
I think it's actually pretty fair to "speak our piece" without doing that kind of "reconnaissance" whenever someone doesn't make their work immediately available. If you ask such a question without much background info on your work or your skill, you are bound to get people taking you at face value, and replying based on that.
I love this community for it's friendliness and quality advice, but I think people in general need to tip-toe around things a little bit less. I'm not talking about the completely un-productive flame-war forums that are a waste of everyone's time, but I think people should be able to speak their mind if what they see gives them an initial gut reaction. I'm sure the OP can understand how we might be tough with our replies, when we've got a "one-liner" question.
If the OP is still reading this and feels 'attacked' in any way, well, I hope they'll consider what I just wrote- we mean no harm, we're just speaking our minds based on an initial gut response. If we "caught the wrong vibe, please feel free to let us know!" If this was a "punk", well, then while the joke is sort of on us, it's also kind of a "fail" for you, since in my opinion we handled the responses pretty nicely / gently. :-P
Take care,
=Matt=
My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
After reading some of the posts, I don't recall any asking, or suggesting, what kinds of wedding he could be shooting with the D30. The 30D as well as the Nikon D70 are perfect for shooting some weddings. I used my trusty D70 back in 2005, about the same time that the Nikon D200 was released, to shoot a beach wedding. The resulting images were wonderful. The couple loved them.
I agree that training and experience is paramont...obviously more so than the grade of your equipment.
Whatever the case, he's not responding to your posts. He's been a member since 2008. He must not be much of a reader.
Educate yourself like you'll live forever and live like you'll die tomorrow.
Ed
Here's the thing. There's a lot of good pro photogs out there struggling to make a business in large part because grampy and Aunt Fran's new boyfriend have digital cameras. When people who don't have the capability to shoot weddings ... shoot weddings as self-titled "pros", it degrades the marketplace for those who DO have the skills to blow away grampy and Aunt Fran's Rebel-shot, hand-held, ambient-lit snapshots.
I shot weddings with a 10D, but I knew what a freakin' flash was, and had even dabbled in dual-flash setups ... If you can't handle lighting basics (and that includes speedlight use), don't shoot a wedding. You'll piss off the client, and damage the industry for those who are left.
Forum for Canadian shooters: www.canphoto.net
I whole heartedly agree with what you are saying. Last summer, my daughter wanted me to quote a price for a beach wedding and party afterward. It was going to be late afternoon, possibly bright sunlight, then a reception at one of the local clubs with a band and dancing. My price $1500.00...for good images, post processing, and the skill to get the beach images right...because, I've shot beach weddings before.
Their response...hmmm...never heard from them. My daughter, who was in the wedding, reported the wedding to be a big success...and when I asked about the photographer, I was told that they found someone. When I asked who, I was told, "I don't know, a friend of the family. Okay. So, what kind of a camera was she using, I asked. I was told, a small point and shoot."
These were not people without means...multiple property, and business owers...income in the low to mid six figure range...and yet...they settled for this type of photography. And, I guess they are happy. Go figure.
Well, we're off topic. These kinds of posts can certainly generate a lot different feelings. So, that's it for me.
I hope the OP gets a flash...and does the right thing. What else can I say.
Educate yourself like you'll live forever and live like you'll die tomorrow.
Ed