Camera Labs

BACKGROUND INFO

A colleague had seen some of my formal and candid portraits and, being on a budget, asked if I'd take the post-ceremony group shots of her daughter's wedding at a local church for £100. Although many people here would have advised against it, I jumped at the opportunity of shooting a wedding and offered to take pre-ceremony shots as well, in order to gain the experience and build-up my portfolio.

Cameras were not allowed during the ceremony and photos at the Reception, the throwing of the bouquet and the send-off were to be taken by the bride's father using his Nikon D40. Therefore, I was there from 9.30am - 1.30pm.

Being an amateur, I began reading many wedding photography books for instructions and ideas. I summarised the key points and printed them onto pocket-sized cards to act as prompts.

EQUIPMENT

Canon EOS-450D
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8
Tamron 50-135mm f2.8
Speedlite 430EXII
Velbon Tripod

13 SELECTED SHOTS

I thought I'd post ten shots, with a link to the full gallery, but as it was difficult being so selective, here's 13 (even though it's regarded as an unlucky number by some):

7706


7782


7970


7976


7993


7996


8008


8016


8028


8073


8011


8083


8085


LINKS

The online Wedding Gallery, which I also created for the family, can be viewed at:

http://www.tufalphotography.co.uk/amyan ... 09wedding/

The pre-wedding shoot, when I met the couple, discussed their requirements, bounced ideas off them and got to know them can be viewed here:

http://www.tufalphotography.co.uk/amyandrussell2009/

If anyone would like to download original size images in order to analyse them, do ask. All processing for the wedding shoot was done in Canon's DPP, apart from the polaroid style photo.

CONCLUSION

I know that not all of the photos are perfect but the family know I'm an amateur and were so happy that they gave me a cheque for £150 along with a "Thank You" card for taking some great photos. Also, I certainly learnt a lot from the experience.

Just the other day, my colleague brought into work a large canvas print of one of my shots (IMG_8016, a pose taken at the couple's specific request) that will go on her living room wall. It was about 30x20" and I was impressed with how sharp it is.

Any comments and/or advice are most welcome, as are any questions.

Regards,
Asif

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Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, Tokina 50-135mm f2.8, Sigma 18-125mm DC OS HSM, 2 x Speedlite 430EXII, Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2, Radio Triggers and Panasonic DMC-TZ7.

The brides father sounds like a bit of a wally, only he can take great shots with his D40, your photos are ok and guess the couple will decide what is good as long as they are in focus.

I did something similar for a nice and she was very happy with mine, I don’t like formal shots, that’s why they have a pro, I love shooting just before and after the formal shot at a different angle to the pro and I got some great candids That was with a P&S..

To make them more interesting, I make a picture move, add music that was played in the church and the couple’s favourites, then produce a DVD and everyone loves them.

After saying that, I don’t believe I would get encouraging comments on this forum on my candids. It's all about improving, guess that why a lot of newbies like me visit this forum.


Cheers

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Nikon D7000, D40X, Nikkor 18- 200 VR II, f3.5-5.6, 70-300 AF non VR, Kit Lenses.

You have some very beautiful & energetic photos there.
Honestly,I saw a lot of pros with formal & boring photos from weedings...You on the other hand,captured the essence of that event,which is happiness. Congrats!

p.s. excellent combo of lenses for such an event

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

I think that they are very good. The only criticism I would offer is the people in the background in picture #7976. Maybe you could just zap them in photoshop. It would be hard to crop them out because you would cut the right most bridesmaid's arm off.

Nice work overall.

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Canon 7D/350D, Σ17-50/2.8, 18-55IS, 24-105/4 IS, Σ30/1.4, 50/1.8, 55-250IS, 60/2.8, 70-200/4 IS, 85/1.8, 580ex II, 430EX II, 270EX II.

Those are awesome. People would pay £400+ for that easy.

Stupid father, I'm sure you could have got much better shots than him had you been allowed.

Anyway mate, great job, i'd say if you could produce results like this every time you'd be able to get an assistants job no problem!

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Thank you for your kind words. If anyone's interested in the lenses that I used, there's over a thousand images in my Flickr set for the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tufal/sets ... 432199749/

There's over 200 images in my Flickr set for the Tokina 50-135mm f2.8:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tufal/sets ... 821811259/

Regards,
Asif

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Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, Tokina 50-135mm f2.8, Sigma 18-125mm DC OS HSM, 2 x Speedlite 430EXII, Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2, Radio Triggers and Panasonic DMC-TZ7.