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Well its all done... My sister has just been married and I have just finished loading all the images

BIG thanks to Birddog for lending me his precious lenses... all I can say is WOW!!!!!

Things I learnt:
*Bright sunny days means very hard to meter (but I knew this already)
*Using primes give a superiour result but you have to do a lot of leg work and will be swapping lenses frequently
*One fully charged battery just lasted me the night (600 odd pictures... not bad eh?)
*Being a back up photog is difficult as you play a creative second fiddle to the primary photog, however it gives you more room to experiment as you are not the primary responsible person... This was great practice for me!!
*I shot 600 odd images and I think I have 100 keepers and a couple of WOW shots

here is a sample straight out of camera with no post proccessing (I love the Boke)



I will post more images and discussion later (time to watch the new lord of the rings DVD)

Oh and Thanks once again Birddog...

Done well mate

Looking forward to seeing the rest of them

Did you get much chance to have a yack to the photographer doing the job????
I’m interested is hearing what he had to say about the D70

Cheers
Ray

Scott, you should have got ASTOUNDING pictures at the wedding - with the use of Nikkor's finest f/1.4 prime lenses!

That is certainly a "wow" one.

Congrats to your sister on her new prison termmm... ahh, marriage.

All I can say is I am VERY glad I shoot digital!
She (the photog) was catious with every photo she took... While I could watch people's faces and just go "NOW"

I didnt get much of a chance to talk to her... I know she does some band shoots and shoots film (Eos 30)...

I am in Awe of those two lenses... and my 50/1.4 performed superbly as well...

For much of the night at the reception I was going flashless with the apeture wide open..

Let me say it now: The D70 can do weddings with EASE! I liked my camera before... now I am genuinely impressed... Did not miss a beat all night!

Great to see the cam is still pleasing you mate.
I'm the same, the more I use the thing the more I love it

Cheers
Ray

here here! Got out today and photographed the lights out of this part of the country. Man I love it.

This is a great shot MHD. A little side business to satisfy the lust perhaps? (I've never heard this word used so often until this forum)

Perhaps... I had some one ask how much I would charge after the wedding... Unfortunately it will be while I am in NZ...

I gave him the forum Addy... he might check it out

time to watch the new lord of the rings DVD

I have to wait until Christmas for my extended edition....BAH!

Good Job MHD.

I have to photograph my sisters wedding next weekend and am quite nervous.

I am not really that confident in my portrait work. Do you suggest just leaving the camera in P mode or should I try and get creative in A mode

I will also have my SB800 set to TTL BL permanantly outdoors for fill flash, good idea or bad?

W00DY

What f stop were you using for that picture? The leaves on the right hand side are too much in focus for my mind.

This is an f2.8 shot showing some shallow depth of field.

W00DY wrote:Good Job MHD.

I have to photograph my sisters wedding next weekend and am quite nervous.

I am not really that confident in my portrait work. Do you suggest just leaving the camera in P mode or should I try and get creative in A mode

I will also have my SB800 set to TTL BL permanantly outdoors for fill flash, good idea or bad?

W00DY

Once again, what glass are you bringing with you, the kit lens won't help you all.

Birddog114 wrote:

W00DY wrote:Good Job MHD.

I have to photograph my sisters wedding next weekend and am quite nervous.

I am not really that confident in my portrait work. Do you suggest just leaving the camera in P mode or should I try and get creative in A mode

I will also have my SB800 set to TTL BL permanantly outdoors for fill flash, good idea or bad?

W00DY

Once again, what glass are you bringing with you, the kit lens won't help you all.

Ummm that is the last thing I needed to hear as I am taking the kit lens

Unfortuantly that is the only lens I own (well my father has a telephoto lens, not sure of the range?)

Woody,
Are you the main photographer or a backup?
Your kit lens will work but it won't help you much!

Birddog114 wrote:Woody,
Are you the main photographer or a backup?
Your kit lens will work but it won't help you much!

Sort of both.

It is my sisters second wedding and they are just havinf a small family affair (only 25 people). She has asked my father, a friend and myself to take photos.

Being such a small wedding will make it much easier as it is very relaxed (the bride is even going barefeet )

She is not anywhere near concerned as I am about the photos, she wants nice ones obviously but will be happy with what we get.

I am relying heavily on my PP skills

You'll be fine Woody.

Just remember that wide isn't flattering, anything under about 30mm focal length (=45 mm with dx multiplier) is for impact or effect.

Keep head shots at the long end of the zoom and enjoy yourself. Don't be afraid to step in and direct. Second weddings are good, the bride is likely to be very together and more relaxed.

Just some thoughts.

Petal: Yes.... I did use a slightly tight apeture... 'bout 4.0 from memory...

I was backup, ie the "pro" was doing the posed shots...

This was a "quick on the draw" shot...
I saw them look up at the same thing -> compose -> shoot

I will post some real shalow DOF beauties in a tick

Ok, this one does not make a good wedding picture... But I should sell it to the club...




Thats the 85/1.4 open wide

This is a great commercial shot. I would be talking to the club about that one and perhaps making a few suggestions about what else you could do for them.

Can't wait to see a few more of your pics from the day - looks like you did a great job - it is always very hard as the back up photog.

Woody, feel free to borrow my 50 1.8, it will give you the ability to do shallow DOF portraits, if you want.

JordanP wrote:This is a great commercial shot. I would be talking to the club about that one and perhaps making a few suggestions about what else you could do for them.

Can't wait to see a few more of your pics from the day - looks like you did a great job - it is always very hard as the back up photog.

Yep... I'm think of doing the same as Darb... Showing them the photo (after consultng the subject) and saying how about dinner for the family in exchange

Ask for money - then you can eat anywhere you like

I've started putting a few images up here
http://potofgrass.ath.cx/gallery/krw

Please let me know what you think!
(It will grow with time)

Love the shot of the women going for the bouquet. The two in the front, very focussed and determined (and a bit scary), the tall girl using her height and gracefully reaching above the pack.

Nicely caught.

I am deliriously happy with the Bouquet and garter shots...

The garter shot has an arty feel to it and the expressions are very intense!


Fellas, were on to a winner here with our cams...

JordanP wrote::D Ask for money - then you can eat anywhere you like

Let's not get too carried away here. There is waiter in the background carrying another plate of food and that catches my eye before the foreground food does.

Hmm... for me I see Nathan's (the guy) face first and then my eye is drawn to the food... I never really noticed the waiter

True they are a little distracting. But if you can capture that shot in the midst of a busy wedding reception, what could you do in a controlled environment?

It is also worth remembering too that the value is in the eye of the potential buyer. We can do ourselves a real injustice by presuming they think like us. I have seen many people laugh at award winning shots (as percieved by other photographers).

petal666 wrote:
Let's not get too carried away here. There is waiter in the background carrying another plate of food and that catches my eye before the foreground food does.

To be perfectly honest, I really didn't even notice the background until you pointed it out.

The image would be better without the waiter in the background (now that I have noticed it) but I still think it is an excellent image.

As JordanP pointed out this could at least demonstrate MHD's skills and imagine what could be produced in a controlled photo shoot.

W00DY

As a photo, I think it's great even with the waiter in the background, but I'm not sure it works as an ad for the reception house mainly because the expression on the face seems confused. You really don't know if he likes what he sees in front of him or not. It's as though he's trying to figure out what it is.

hehe... Its not a shoot for the reception place

I bet the bride would be annoyed that this photo has generated the most discussion

so tell me what you think of this:


I post this one as it is one that I was waiting for the pro to set up but when I saw she wasnt I butted in and made them do it!

oh and to see how SHARP this lens is go here and view the full size
http://potofgrass.ath.cx/gallery/krw/cert?full=1

MHD wrote:hehe... Its not a shoot for the reception place

I bet the bride would be annoyed that this photo has generated the most discussion

so tell me what you think of this:

I post this one as it is one that I was waiting for the pro to set up but when I saw she wasnt I butted in and made them do it!

Now that's a good photo.

And for Geoff, taken with the 50/1.4 natural light indoors stopped to f/1.8

and to apreciate its amazing sharpness you should view the full version
http://potofgrass.ath.cx/gallery/krw/rob_t?full=1

You are giving us excellent samples here MHD. I can see that you and these (speedy) prime lenses have a wonderful future together.

Absolutely awesome Scott...awesome indeed! Well done matey. My next lens I think will be the 24-120 VR...I like it a lot!

Geoff.

hehe... Its not a shoot for the reception place

Sorry MHD I must have missread earlier in the thread something about a free lunch.
The certificate photo is very good, I may also have tried one with the certificate the other way round so that you could read the writing.

I like the certificate photo however I might have liked it witout the bit of leaves in the frame.

I also agree with phillipb regardign the certificate the other way around.

I love this thread as I am getting lots of good ideas for my sisters wedding

Are you the primary or backup?

Either has its merits... Being backup is good because you can play and experiment and it does not matter if you miss a shot, being primary you get to compose the shots and tell people where to go but you have to get the shot....