Mind giving a critique?

To many ads? Support ODJT and see no ads!
rickryan.com

rickryan.com

DJ Extraordinaire
ODJT Supporter
Dec 9, 2009
19,252
17,347
59
Hendersonville, TN
www.rickryan.com
I just got shots posted from 7/19/2014. As many of you know, the wife is going to start shooting professionally so I called up my 7/19 bride and asked her if it'd be okay if she did 2nd shooter. As it turned out, the main photog was only contracted until 6p and he left right before cake cutting so these ended up being the only shots the bride has from that point forward. Had to do a lot of color-correcting and these were done with an F4, 24-105mm Canon lens. The Bride is ecstatic with these but I want to make another pass of touch-ups before we submit the final to her. Would appreciate any useful critiques. Thanks.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104949...HendersonvilleTNWeddingReception?noredirect=1
 
BTW, for Steve, Carolyn used the 70-200mm, non-IS this weekend. Loved the before shots but we did notice a decently significant number of shots lost to camera shake. Really missed that image stabilizer. She shot about half the night with that lens then switched over to the 24-105. We'll probably start editing those this week.

Little side story. I was contracted to do Live-Pics at this week's wedding so wifey came along to shoot pics. When the paid photog arrived, it was a couple that I've known for several years. They pitched a little hissy fit to the bride about another photog being there. I walked up and the lady was busting my wife's chops, trying to make her stop taking pics so I simply explained "Oh, that's our live slideshow. It's part of their package but if YOU want me to take it down I will." When she saw that I was going to throw her under the bus she backed down really fast. They finally warmed up to it, later in the evening after they saw how much the guests were enjoying it.
 
The 70-200 non-is is really a great outdoor lens .. indoors, you almost need to use a tripod or monopod or keep the shutter speed above 1/250s (or better) .. main reason I got the new one.

I don't have time to go through the shots thouroughly (I have a tree guy here removing some big oaks) but with a quick look, I'd say the kids shots are great, and there are some very good shots in the rest, but a number are still out of focus and coloring is off on many and jumps around.

Is your wife using a flash? Might need a larger diffused one for some of these. The out of focus is tough, since the cameras have a hard time focusing in a darker environment, but keeping the aperture closed a bit (say f/4) will help keep more of an image in focus (like a couple). She may even need to go to remote flashes or umbrella flashes.
 
That or the 50mm 1.4. I have them both and the 50mm is a tad sharper.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJ Wes
rickryan.com said:
I just got shots posted from 7/19/2014. As many of you know, the wife is going to start shooting professionally so I called up my 7/19 bride and asked her if it'd be okay if she did 2nd shooter. As it turned out, the main photog was only contracted until 6p and he left right before cake cutting so these ended up being the only shots the bride has from that point forward. Had to do a lot of color-correcting and these were done with an F4, 24-105mm Canon lens. The Bride is ecstatic with these but I want to make another pass of touch-ups before we submit the final to her. Would appreciate any useful critiques. Thanks.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104949...HendersonvilleTNWeddingReception?noredirect=1
Click to expand...

Your stories don't add up and are catching up with you. Read the quote above and

The Pic from your Picasa Set: Above
https://picasaweb.google.com/104949...ingReception?noredirect=1#6040989684749339394

IMG_4132-v4.jpg

then read this below from your Previous Thread dated July 20th 2014

http://ourdjtalk.com/threads/photog-from-last-night.43649/

Post #1
Quote
"So last night the photog is hired from 12p until 6p and at 5:58p we finish the shoe game and about to cut cake when I notice the photog isn't at the cake taking pictures. He's in front of my table, fussing at FOB because he wants another check made out (something was wrong). The couple and the coordinator are standing there, waiting on him, awkwardly. He gets his check and walks out of the building, without shooting cake. My wife, Carolyn got a baptism by fire last night and shot the rest of the event."

IMG_4132-v4.jpg

So which one of these stories is true? First you say the Photographer Bailed because of a money argument and your wife had to step in "Baptism by Fire". Today you are saying that you had previous called and got permission for your wife to be 2nd Shooter and you noticed the Photographer had left before the cake cutting. Am I incorrect in surmising this scenario? Maybe I am missing something! Care to clarify? I know I had seen the photo before and that is what jogged my memory.
 
Last edited:
I believe if you read the previous thread, his wife was a 2nd shooter mainly to get experience .. when the main guy bailed early, she ended up by default being the primary from that point on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger
steve149 said:
The 70-200 non-is is really a great outdoor lens .. indoors, you almost need to use a tripod or monopod or keep the shutter speed above 1/250s (or better) .. main reason I got the new one.

I don't have time to go through the shots thouroughly (I have a tree guy here removing some big oaks) but with a quick look, I'd say the kids shots are great, and there are some very good shots in the rest, but a number are still out of focus and coloring is off on many and jumps around.

Is your wife using a flash? Might need a larger diffused one for some of these. The out of focus is tough, since the cameras have a hard time focusing in a darker environment, but keeping the aperture closed a bit (say f/4) will help keep more of an image in focus (like a couple). She may even need to go to remote flashes or umbrella flashes.
Click to expand...

Yes, these are with flash. A Canon 430 speedlite. I just picked up a Yongnuo 565, and it looks to be a much better unit, based on the shots this week. We've got an Alien Bee with radio poppers but she doesn't like how heavy it is. The photog this week used an on-camera flash with 2 speedlites in opposing corners. She really liked that setup so that may be our next purchase. On the focus, we'd been running evaluative (I think that's the wide-area focus term isn't it?) metering which I just changed to a center-point setup. Seemed to have helped on the shots I saw. At this point she's going on pretty much every DJ gig to take shots for portfolio building. Still lots to learn but she's doing well with it.
 
Last edited:
steve149 said:
I believe if you read the previous thread, his wife was a 2nd shooter mainly to get experience .. when the main guy bailed early, she ended up by default being the primary from that point on.
Click to expand...

He just wants to start an argument, like usual. Such a value to the community.

Canute, there's nothing wrong with my story. The week before, I called the bride out of courtesy to offer a "free 2nd shooter". Told her we'd give her copies of the edited images and a print release, free of charge. She was thrilled. When they showed up, the bride told my wife that her photog was only there until 6p and asked if she'd mind taking the balance of the shots (as main photog). Cake cutting ended up being about 5 minutes before his contract ended and instead of taking the cake shots and leaving he chose to go inform the FOB that his check wasn't correct and made them write him a new one. By the time he'd gotten his new check, and made the B&G wait for several minutes, he just left, dropping the ball in my wife's court to step up and take it from there.

I certainly do thank you for your useful contribution.
 
Just an observation could the initial photographer been a little ticked that the bride arranged for a second shooter. it has been my experience that a photographer determines if he/she wants a second shooter and they handle who it's gonna be. That might be like a bride having a 2nd person ready to operate as a DJ if you went to take a leak. Perhaps some advance coordination with the prime photographer could have been arranged. Just wondering if that might be why he seemed annoyed near the end of the event.
 
Ron said:
Just an observation could the initial photographer been a little ticked that the bride arranged for a second shooter. it has been my experience that a photographer determines if he/she wants a second shooter and they handle who it's gonna be. That might be like a bride having a 2nd person ready to operate as a DJ if you went to take a leak. Perhaps some advance coordination with the prime photographer could have been arranged. Just wondering if that might be why he seemed annoyed near the end of the event.
Click to expand...

Could be. To be perfectly frank, I couldn't care less what he thinks or how much of a diva he wants to be. Walking out like that, with clients waiting for him at the cake, was the most un-professional thing I've seen a photog do.
 
you need a faster lens and one with IS. 70-200/2.8 or 24-70/2.8 are good solid lenses that still offer some flexibility in range (later on you might want a fixed 50 and 85). You have got to get rid of the grainy pics! The composition is largely better than the last batch we evaluated. Looks like she needs to get real handy with manual settings on the camera, as well as quickly changing focus point. If you set your focus point to the center, you'll want to zoom out some on pics so you can crop appropriately later; you don't want every last one to be focus center...remember rule of 3rds. Overall, I'd say her improvement is excellent, but these still aren't sale-able prints yet. MUCH closer however. Also, take note of some of the pics with heavy shadow behind the couple due to the flash. With the 2.8 lenses she won't have to rely on the flash much or at all. If a flash is needed, try oh try to get off camera flash rather than on camera for this reason.
 
  • Like
Reactions: steve149
rickryan.com said:
Dang you.
Click to expand...

Down side is that it is a little heavier than the non-is version and a little bigger. With my new 5diii, I need to use a monopod or I have to take a break occasionally or my holding hand gets numb. Up to 5.5 pounds with the battery.
 
Also, your wife should turn on the viewfinder grid, so when shooting at a background with obvious architectural detail (doors, windows, walls) she can get the images straight. It's certainly fine to get creative with angles, but some images need to be crisp and upright and you lose resolution and sharpness if you correct for it later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dunlopj and Valerie Hicks
rickryan.com said:
Could be. To be perfectly frank, I couldn't care less what he thinks or how much of a diva he wants to be. Walking out like that, with clients waiting for him at the cake, was the most un-professional thing I've seen a photog do.
Click to expand...
Rick, oh I agree completely, it was unprofessional of him to behave the way he did, no doubt about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back