My autofocus is WAY too slow. FYI, I shot with 2 K10D's, a sigma 70-200mm 2.8, 24-70mm 2.8, and the Pentax 12-24 lens. Granted Pentax is known for having slower autofocus than Canon and Nikon (begin debate here)... but I've never seen this become a huge factor until Saturday... maybe because I mostly take pictures of waterfalls, landscapes, and my son who can't walk or crawl yet. Anyway, I missed a lot of shots while the camera hunted for something to focus on.
my one (wow! count it, one!) experience with an autofocusing lens was similar. Even though I don't have tons of experience, I know I can focus faster manually a good percentage of the time, and I'm sure that if I can, everyone else here can do better :o) rg2 On 9/3/07, Rebekah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I think you've got some pretty great pictures there; I like your > perspective. The cake picture is my favorite :o) > > > "What comes across > > to me is the people involved - they seem real, not just props in a > > staged wedding." > > what he said > > rg2 > > > On 9/3/07, Stan Halpin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I think you have a good eye. I enjoyed your photos. What comes across > > to me is the people involved - they seem real, not just props in a > > staged wedding. > > I see what you mean about the white dresses. But didn't you shoot in > > RAW? Can't you easily adjust for the exposure and color balance issues? > > > > Disclaimer: I have been groom and best-man (total of five times) more > > often than I have tried wedding photography (as a back-up volunteer - > > four times). > > > > stan > > > > On Sep 3, 2007, at 8:45 AM, Jerome wrote: > > > > > [impatient? scroll down for the link] > > > > > > I shot my first wedding this past Saturday. Luckily, I was *not* > > > the paid > > > wedding photographer. Instead, some friends of mine who have a > > > videography > > > company let me tag along under the guise of their "still-shot > > > assistant". > > > In any event, I thought I'd share my experience in hopes of any > > > helpful > > > comments, criticisms, etc. Long story short, I learned that I am > > > not ready > > > for "prime time" just yet. But the practice was invaluable. > > > > > > To state the obvious: shooting a real wedding was a whole lot > > > different > > > than sitting around the house thinking about it! And getting > > > practice in a > > > situation where there was almost no pressure was great0, especially > > > given > > > the fact that I'm not all that thrilled with the results. If I was > > > getting > > > paid as the main photographer, I would definitely be stressing > > > right now > > > over the quality of the pictures. But one thing I will say is that I > > > LEARNED A LOT!! For example... > > > > > > 1. My autofocus is WAY too slow. FYI, I shot with 2 K10D's, a sigma > > > 70-200mm 2.8, 24-70mm 2.8, and the Pentax 12-24 lens. Granted > > > Pentax is > > > known for having slower autofocus than Canon and Nikon (begin debate > > > here)... but I've never seen this become a huge factor until > > > Saturday... > > > maybe because I mostly take pictures of waterfalls, landscapes, and > > > my son > > > who can't walk or crawl yet. Anyway, I missed a lot of shots while the > > > camera hunted for something to focus on. And many of the shots I > > > did fire > > > off were blurry beyond salvaging due to my shutter speed being too > > > slow. > > > In the end, I ended up having to switch to manual focus for almost > > > everything just for insurance purposes. > > > > > > 2. My #1 objective was to not be seen or be a distraction to the > > > other > > > photographer, and with that I thought I could get away with not using > > > flash for the entire ceremony. Big mistake. This particular church > > > is on > > > television almost every day, and so they have great tv lighting. I did > > > some test shots the night before and the light temp seemed perfect > > > w/o a > > > flash. Well, I don't know what happened from one day to the next, > > > but all > > > of my photos in the sanctuary came out with the worst reddish > > > yellow hue. > > > Example here: > > > > > > http://exposedfilm.net/wwsmith/yellow.jpg > > > > > > I haven't a clue how I didn't pick it up during the ceremony, but I > > > didn't. So of course it was a fight to neutralize everything in > > > Photoshop. > > > > > > 3. Probably the most important thing I messed up... I blew the > > > exposure > > > on all of the brides dress photos (d'oh!!). I think this is the one I > > > would've got murdered for if I was the "real photographer". > > > Absolutely no > > > detail in her dress. Just a big white mass. My guess is that I > > > should have > > > exposed for the dress and let everything else fall into place. If the > > > tuxedos ended up pitch black, I think that would've been better. But a > > > bride expects to see every trim line, lace, and bead on her dress > > > in the > > > photos. So I messed up big time on this one. According to all of my > > > photos, the bride just had on a big bright white sheet. > > > > > > But the tuxedos look sharp! (ha) > > > > > > 4. This is the only one that I couldn't do anything about. Being > > > 5th in > > > line behind 3 videographers and a paid photographer, I didn't want > > > to move > > > around too much, so my angles were limited. To be honest, even the > > > paid > > > photographer was in a number of spots that I don't think I would've > > > been > > > comfortable in (seemed a little intrusive). The funny part is, I've > > > got > > > about 5 shots that would've been great... but they've all got some > > > body > > > part of the other photographer in them (head, arm, shoulder, etc.) > > > It's > > > actually kinda funny. But hey, at least I know I stayed out of his > > > way. > > > > > > > > > 5. My flash recycle time was unbearable. I used the AF 540FGZ on both > > > bodies, and switched batteries on each one during the wedding. I > > > missed SO > > > MANY shots because the flash was recharging. The first thing I did on > > > Sunday was to order the Power Pack III from B&H. Hopefully that > > > will make > > > a huge difference the next time around (which is next Saturday, I > > > think). > > > Obviously I really need two, but alas there *is* a budget. > > > > > > And without further ado, here are the wee bit of keepers I managed to > > > salvage from the shoot. As always comments and suggestions are > > > welcomed > > > and encouraged. > > > > > > http://exposedfilm.net/wwsmith > > > > > > I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to see if I improve. > > > > > > Thanks for reading. > > > > > > -- > > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > > [email protected] > > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > > > > > -- > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > [email protected] > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
