[Allison]

t
AF-540FGZ #2 - whats with the smoke?! Flash discharge on full power and close zoom = smoke. everything else seems to be okay. Will we put you on reserve duty for now

Well, that is interesting. Hopefully you won't need it. I take it this was the used one you picked up recently so that is too bad!

Oh, and if you want a sherpa, just get an intern. I picked one up for the next 10 weeks and it is brilliant. Good luck tomorrow! My thoughts will be with you as I shoot a 12 hour wedding potentially in the rain.

[wed7]

Who will bring all those?

Best of luck!

[Zafar Iqbal]

Sync (especially) the clocks and various settings on the cameras. If you keep swapping cameras then you don't want to get confused because buttons or whatever are configured differently - unless you actually prefer it that way.

Photo capture times can be synced/fixed later, but makes life easier to just get it right before the first shot.

[nu12ul]

I don't know much about wedding photography and the tips above are very helpful, but my god that is a lot of gear! I have been to some wedding where you see guys with just 2 bodies, with flash guns and 2 different lenses and that's it. Some only have 1 body and lense that covers a wide range. Maybe i don't get to see their bag or caddy but I now see merit in preparations. Good luck.

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Last edited by nu12ul; 09-23-2012 at 05:46 AM. Reason: spelling

[Wired]

Well guys, it went very well, thanks for all your help. I'm weeding through all 3000 shots right now and just need to take a break. I know 3000 sounds like a lot, but there were quite a few situations where to save time I setup EV bracketing and just let it ride due to the tricky light in certain situations.

We took the photos right around noon, which sucked for the harsh light and shadows, which is why I'm glad I brought my lightstands. I was going to leave 50% of this stuff at home, and in hindsight I could have left quite a bit. Both K5's and the Q were synced for time/date and both k5's are setup the same for buttons/settings etc. (one has a broken screen, so its locked where I like it best!)

It looked like a lot of gear, but it all packed up into 2 bags and 2 tripod/stand bags. But I will cut that down.


here is how it all broke down:
getting ready shots: took about 500, weeding through them now, got about 80 preliminary keepers. just starting to look at the family/bride&groom sessions which I am scared to look at to be honest... My primary here was DA*55mm and FA77mm.

The photo session:
minimum 1000 photos here. I missed a few shots I wanted due to time constraints, but overall happy with the ideas I did get. There was another photographer (who was supposed to be my assistant) there who did steal some of my fun with the bride and groom, so I made sure the time I did have I made good work of. Oddly, the most used lens? DA*50-135. At least 80% of my photos were with this lens. The other lens was the DA*16--50. Made good use of one flash and a lightstand and my elinchrom remote triggers. Do wish those flashes recycled faster.

The ceremony:
Once again, the DA*50-135 reigned supreme here. I got a lot of the shots I wanted to get, but did wish I had just a bit more reach. I left my back pack in the car...could have used my Sigma 70-300 here. Got some nice fisheye shots of the whole church. Man I forgot how much I love that lens. I setup one K5 to do video via tripod as the other shooter forgot her video camera.

The reception:
Here, I think I should have mounted the fish on one of my bodies, but instead opted for DA*16-50 and the FA77. I also mounted my flash with the 1/8 speed grid and a frost filter. Nailed some great shots and the grid helped keep the focus on the couple and not on the background environment. They also did this cool "release of the balloons" thing where all the family got together and released balloons into the air to let their dreams soar. It was very cool, and I made good use of all 3 cameras at this point.

The fun part? My nieces, I let the older one take the DA*16-50 and a K5 and go around and take shots throughout the day. The younger one had the Q. Funny how amazing things are from the perspective of a child. You also get the wedding party in a different mood.


So next time?
Brining my niece as my assistant. Shes too awesome. in fact, I am going to give her my K100D and a pair of old M lenses and the kit lens for her birthday. She loves taking photos, and after sitting down with her and teaching her Av mode and what aperture does, she took it on as a mission to see for herself the DoF effects.
A few more high speed cards, going to go with at least 400x 16gb's and four of them along with my 2 32gb 400x cards. I also want to get a zoom for the Q.
still keep 2 flashes, and all the lenses I took aside from the 40mm and the Sigma.
Only a tripod and one light stand.
I should be able to get that all in one stand bag and my messenger bag.

heres a few sample!




and my niece:



got to get them on Pentax young, or they may end up with a Canikony.

[Ash]

Good stuff mate. Exposure on these two can be toned down half a stop or more to avoid the washed out look of the subjects.

[Zafar Iqbal]

Glad to hear it went well. I do not have half the gear you have (but I do need more) but I'd still say if you by chance did need more of your gear then you would be very happy you brought it along sometimes you need more, sometimes you don't. It's hard to tell beforehand exactly what you will be needing.

[Allison]

Happy to hear it went well.

The number of images you take will go down once you get used to weddings. I usually turn 500-900 images over to clients and take between 800-1400 (it just depends how many hours I am there, how many guests there are, how much time for portraits, etc.).

The fisheye is always fund for dancing shots at the reception. I like the reception for the opportunity to play and experiment a little.

And the gear - I know it was a lot, but it is better to have it than not. I always have extra light stands and strobes in my car. At many weddings they never make it out of the car, but the time I don't bring them will be the time I will need them. Save your back and get a bag with wheels for the bulk of your gear before the next one. I have the jack rolling suitcase from Jill.e for a bunch of my stuff and it makes lugging all of that around easier. The suitcase goes to the ceremony (stationed in the back somewhere) and to the reception. For the portraits, I usually just have a shoulder bad/lens bag that I work out of so I am more portable.

[Dave]

Nice shots

Not sure how you lit the girl with the camera, but if you had your flash straight forward (or slightly up), (I'm going by the giant shadow) you can help that by bouncing off the wall or ceiling away from your shot. You'll still get a shadow of course, but it will be going away from your lens so you won't see it as badly.

Keep up the good work!
Dave

[Wired]

Nice shots

Not sure how you lit the girl with the camera, but if you had your flash straight forward (or slightly up), (I'm going by the giant shadow) you can help that by bouncing off the wall or ceiling away from your shot. You'll still get a shadow of course, but it will be going away from your lens so you won't see it as badly.

Keep up the good work!
Dave

thank you.

was using a honl speed grid. didn't bounce due to the focused nature of the effect. was done on purpose is what I'm trying to say... yes sucking on purpose.

[Dave]

Gotcha -

Yeah you nailed the lighting on your subject... probably a little hot overall, but still work well.