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Archive 2013 · Photography newbie ...

jbj107
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Photography newbie ...

More than a few years ago, I got into photography while playing tournament paintball . However, when I returned to school (as an adult) I didn't have the time or money to keep up with either hobby. Fast forward approx 7 years and I decided to drag what was left of my photography kit out of the closet.

I currently have a Canon 350d, a nifty fifty 1.8, a sigma 18-50 3.5-5.6, one light stand, small shoot through umbrella, cheap 5-1 reflector, old Vivitar flash and a couple remote triggers. I also have two daughters who are a little less than enthusiastic about being my models.

I like portrait photography and would love to get into wedding photography at some point, but i recognize that my equipment and technique need to improve before I consider trying to capture someone's 'special day'.

This where you wonderful people come in. I hoped to start a thread and hopefully get some constructive (or destructive as the case may be) criticism. I will be trying to improve my lens selection and get a better camera in the next few weeks. If you read this far, let me just say thank you in advance.

Now for some of my first few photo's. I've been using Lightroom to edit and correct them, but alas, I don't exactly have a color corrected monitor.

1.

_MG_1108 by JBJ Photo, on Flickr

2.

IMG_0797 by JBJ Photo, on Flickr

3.

IMG_0671 by JBJ Photo, on Flickr

4.

IMG_0786 by JBJ Photo, on Flickr

My wife and sister in law got our kids together to paint pumpkins, so I drug my meager photo gear outside and tried to take some shots.

5.

_MG_0992 by JBJ Photo, on Flickr

6.

_MG_0989 by JBJ Photo, on Flickr

Edited on Oct 19, 2013 at 03:04 PM · View previous versions

Oct 19, 2013 at 02:03 PM

friscoron
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Photography newbie ...

dup post, not sure what happened.

Edited on Oct 19, 2013 at 02:53 PM · View previous versions

Oct 19, 2013 at 02:52 PM

friscoron
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Photography newbie ...

JB, welcome to FM! Hope to see you in here a lot.

First, what the heck is tournament photography? Never heard of it. Second, you can post your pictures larger, from 800-1000 pixels long or wide. That will help us get a better look at your images.

It's great that you're using OCF, that's one of the first steps. Your main light looks one step too hot on 1, 2, 5 and maybe 6. But you're off to a great start. Step back more, let your pictures breathe. And lastly, if you're using a cloth background, try to not let it be so wrinkled. The wrinkles really draw the eye.

Overall, you're off to a great start. Just keep practicing!

Oct 19, 2013 at 02:52 PM

jbj107
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Photography newbie ...

Ack! Tournament paintball.. brain is mush apparently.. and sorry about the size.. wasn't exactly sure what would be best. Didn't want to have huge annoying images. Thanks for the feedback. I was trying to move my light set up around but 4 children all painting pumpkin wouldn't hold still

Oct 19, 2013 at 03:00 PM

popinvasion
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Photography newbie ...

Yeah your off to a good start. Pull subject more away from your backgrounds.

Oct 19, 2013 at 03:12 PM

Jim Rickards
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Photography newbie ...

Nice bright expressions, sharply focused eyes. Yep, good start.

Now a few comments.

#1. We see every wrinkle and detail in your background. You can place her farther away to get some blurring going on as well as shooting wide open or near that.

#6 Cropped a tad tight. Usually you don't want to cut off fingers and elbows.

BTW. As far as equipment goes, it seems your 350D still works and the lenses you mentioned will still produce fine pictures. It might be hard to set your sigma on f2.8,

and you may want a faster lens that goes longer than 50mm in the future.

Keep shooting and posting.

Oct 19, 2013 at 03:30 PM

SargentRay
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Photography newbie ...

Hello jbj107, i agree with everybody you're certainly off to a good start, especially taking into account the off time doing photography, your basic equipment and the inherent difficulties of trying to shoot kids who don't really want to be models. If you go the length of upgrading you rig and start spending more time again in our common passion i suspect you'll get up to par in no time at all.

Your pictures are very acceptable and they will only get better once you get the hang of it, you know using a little more powerful lenses for portrait, letting you pictures breathe, and mostly let them tell the story they're suppose to tell in the first place.

Lastly i am quite impressed with the way you mixed ambient daylight with strobes, that alone can become quite challenging at times. Very well done for a first attempt. :-)

Oct 19, 2013 at 03:56 PM

gome1122
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Photography newbie ...

Posing and lighting are good, but backgrounds.

Oct 19, 2013 at 05:02 PM

dmacmillan
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Photography newbie ...

These are fun shots. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. I imagine you're getting compliments from family and friends, which is great. At some point, if it hasn't happened already, a friend or family member might even say your photos are as good as the "pros". That's very flattering, but don't be lured by the siren call.

You didn't say, but I suspect part of your motivation to do wedding photography is to help finance your hobby. Well, you and a gazillion other guys and gals have had the same bright idea. That's resulted in a horribly over-saturated market. Those who try fall victim to the "Amway Syndrome". They spend a boatload of money and things look pretty good until they run through their family and friends.

We all love gear, but remember that Henri Cartier Bresson's career was shot with a simple rangefinder camera and a couple of lenses. Buy what you can afford and build your gear list slowly. I think you should put an 85mm 1.8 at the top of your list. It is relatively inexpensive and crazy good. For portraits, I often reach for it and leave my 70-200 2.8 in the bag.

Oct 19, 2013 at 05:24 PM

jbj107
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Photography newbie ...

Thanks for the input and suggestions! I'll work on the backgrounds and a 85mm 1.8 was on my short list of 'I want' lenses. Its funny but I wanted to try wedding photography for the challenge more so than the money, but if money happens.. heh. But I also know that my rig and experience are no where near up to par for that kind of challenge at this time.

Thanks again for the helpful comments and I look forward to continuing to improve. I have to admit its a little intimidating to post here with the caliber of talent that usually posts. I am forever in awe of your collective talent!

Oct 19, 2013 at 08:12 PM

dmacmillan
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Photography newbie ...

jbj107 wrote:
Its funny but I wanted to try wedding photography for the challenge...
I started assisting at weddings when I was 17 and shot my first solo wedding at 18. I went to college and got a B.F.A. in photography and became a full time professional photographer, specializing in commercial/industrial. I didn't advertise for wedding photography but got work by word of mouth. Before I changed careers, I had photographed a hundred or so weddings.

I found wedding photography to be stressful, especially in the days of film when you couldn't chimp to make sure the camera was set properly and you had to trust the postal service and a film lab. Maybe some of the stress came from my anal nature regarding wedding photography - I bought film by the case to have the same emulsion numbers for all the shots and took at least four bodies and three flash units (plus monolights) to every wedding.

I can think of any number of photography challenges that would be more rewarding and wouldn't put capturing someone's once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) event at jeopardy. I see way too many posts by folks who venture into wedding photography under-equipped and woefully under-prepared. The results are usually horrid and the bride is disappointed.

The reputation of wedding photography is lower than it's ever been because so many MWACS and GWACs are jumping in half-cocked.

Oct 20, 2013 at 12:19 PM


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