Thank you for the compliment. I must tell you though that almost all of them were done while I was second shooter/assistant. There is no stress of having to get THE SHOTS, so you can cherry pick. I wouldn't worry about how many shots you are currently taking to cover a wedding. You need enough shots to make the client feel that you've covered it well, doesn't say, "Oh, didn't you get a picture of....." and does say, "There's so many pictures here that I want in my album and I can't decide which to put in.". BTW, your stuff is quite good. Being a great technician doesn't make you a great photographer, but being able to work well with light modifiers/flash, around here, can double what you charge. Light is your friend. The more you can do with it, the more fiends you have. Horses: You needed more light coming in from the shadow side. On camera flash will put light where you do and do not need it. You needed either a reflector or off camera flash to fill those shadows. But before you start adding light, you need to know hopw much you need. To do that you need a good incident/flash meter. You want 1.5 - 2 stops difference between the bright side and shadow side. An assistant holding a large reflector would have fixed that shot. A flash on a light stand, off to the side, firing into the shadow side would also do it. A simple setup of a flash, on a stand, fired into an umbrella would do wonders for your "posed candids". Look through the "Guides" section here: http://www.elinchrom.com/ To get your reception flash shots look better you can bounce it the way Tom does using fast film and low shutter speeds to record as much ambient light as you can, or buy some good looking light. I use a Quantum T2 flash mounted on a bracket. The flash has a very broad even pattern and mounted up on a bracket, so it is 10" - 12" above the lens, gives very nice light without glare and hot spots. There is a reason why Quantum, Lumidyne and the big Metz flashes are part of so many wedding rigs. (The down side is that they are expensive and are heavy to lug around all day).
BR From: "Tanya Mayer Photography" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Those are cool shots, I'll bet that she'll love them! BUT, I think it was Bruce(?) who posted about the different markets etc? I went and looked at the whole album from that wedding, and your shots are sensational (i am totally humbled and feel that my "work" is positively amateur in comparison to yours and also Bruces wedding work...) BTW, whilst you are all looking at that gallery, if anyone has the time, could you please have a look at the shots of the couple with the horse - any idea why my flash didn't fill the shadows on their faces? I was really close, shot with a 28mm and 50mm lens. I'm thinking it is because the flash has exposed for the white of the dress? But truly, I have no idea... Those shots look like absolute crap, and that is what I mean about me having a LOT to learn... Not only are the shadows really bad, major hotspots all over, but they are very poorly composed too. NOT one of my finest photographic moments there... I almost threw those in the trash can before even showing them to the couple, who ironically "love" them. There truly is no accounting for taste sometimes. AND, does anyone have any sure fire tips for preventing shine on faces from flash and reduce contrast for reception pics? No matter what bounce options, softboxes etc I have tried on my flash gun, I have never been able to find what I feel is a satisfactory result...
