I just found out my sister is getting engaged. I want to snap a couple pics of them, I will not be paid and I just want some practice. Tips? How about poses? Thanks guys!

I am starting to get into flash photography using my speedlights, and I've run into some problems using the on camera flash as a trigger. My wife has eyelids with an incredible reaction time, and even when I try to time it right, she still ends up with her eyes mostly if not completely closed. I also noticed that on the rare occasion her eyes are open, and I zoom in on her eye, I can still see a catchlight coming from my on camera flash, even if I have it only set to commander mode. This among other reasons has caused me to start looking into a pocket wizard. That being said I'm really not sure what I need, or what would be the best option for a guy on a budget. I was looking at the PocketWizard Plus III Transceiver, but I was wonder if I have to have a separate pocket wizard on each flash, or will the radio wave just trigger the speedlight without it (I'm using SB 700s). To my understanding it will still trigger it, but will anybody elses flash (Say you're shooting a wedding) trigger your speedlights just be seeing a flash?

So over the past few weeks, I've been trying to work with light and learn how to use it to my advantages. The biggest challenge for me is working with mid day harsh light. I watched a few kelbytraining.com videos and started to really look deeper into my compositions and highlights.

For the most part, I tried to keep my subject between me and the sun and use highlights from the sun rays to help bring more life into the photographs. This is the first attempt on working with this technique, so I was looking to get some feedback on what I can do to make this type of light work for me.

Thanks for looking and hope you enjoy.

its not letting me upload some of them so I put them on Imgur here Jessica Aston - Imgur

Thanks in advance

This topic has probably been discussed before so apologies for that :/

I may have an event to shoot and it's gna be at night. I have a canon 7d along with the 24-70mm L lens. Also one external flash 430ex. With the equipment I have would anyone have tips on how to shoot?

Generally I shoot with a tripod at night. But would like to shoot without it. I'm somewhat new to the flash and would especially like tips on the best ways to utilize it. Thanks guys!

I've been shooting RAW for some time now and really do appreciate the benefits of getting more control in post processing especially when it comes to white balance adjustments. I did notice recently however that I'm having issue with noise in my RAW processed images when shooting at ISO of 800 or greater. Even at 400 there are slight issues sometimes. So I've done a comparison and in general, when shooting at higher ISOs my RAW processed images look much worse than my JPEG processed images. Below is an example of what I mean (RAW image first followed by JPEG). I programmed my camera to shoot this image in both RAW and JPEG. As you can see below, the RAW image (which was later converted to JPEG) has significantly more noise than the JPEG version. This is after trying to iron out the noise in post processing too. Now I know that when you shoot JPEG your camera automatically corrects noise for you but I always thought I could make a better (or at least comparable) correction myself. As it turns out, I can't do anything to the RAW image which would make it look as good as the JPEG. I've exhausted all the PSE 11 noise reduction tricks and still it doesn't look as good as the JPEG spat out from my D7000. The only thing I can think of is that my in-camera noise reduction does a better job at reducing noise than PSE 11 which is hard to believe. If that's the case, I don't know if I should even bother with RAW at higher ISOs, which is a shame because I like the options it gives me. Any thoughts guys? Am I missing something?

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Hey, I was just reading through some old notes on composition and it inspired me to take a look at some of my photographs. Then I tried to mark what I did right, and what I did wrong. I thought the people here might like to see what I did, and maybe share their own examples.

The first photo is labeling things I did right, and the second is of things I did wrong. (btw I'm not trying to say there is an objectively "right or wrong" way to take photos).

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1) The human eye can't even see all of the colors possible with an 8-bit jpeg.
2) Considering #1, the only real advantages of RAW are to be able to do edits with the full data range (thus avoiding banding, etc.), or for LOWERING the dynamic range (e.g., you took a photo with almost entirely midtones, and wish to stretch it out to have full contrast).
3) The issue with lowering of dynamic range can be fixed in-camera in most models by selecting desired contrast settings, etc., and the camera will use the RAW to do this simple calculation without any extra loss.
4) For more complex edits like curves, dodging, burning, etc., Photoshop is able to convert an image and perform all edits at 16 bit, and many types of edits at 32 bit. This does not magically create data that isn't there, but it DOES prevent things like banding quite successfully, even if the original image only has 8 bits of data. Pretty much no matter what edits you do within the remote realms of reasonableness, it will not degrade visibly in quality.

Conclusion: There shouldn't really be any technical reason why it is more useful to edit a RAW than to edit a jpeg after first converting it to 16 or 32 bit.

The only reason I can think of for why RAW would have an advantage would be if people have just bothered to write better software for RAW converters than Adobe has done for 16 bit mode filters and adjustments. But I somewhat doubt this is the case, since Adobe is a company with vastly more experience at this sort of thing than random proprietary RAW software developers.

I tried this myself just now, shooting several sample images with RAW + JPG save mode, and tried editing some with RAW software, and others with photoshop (converting first to 16 bit mode). I was unable to do any sort of normal edits that yielded results where I was able to visually tell the difference.

Can I tell the difference between RAW edits and 8 bit unconverted jpg edits? Yes. But not with the 16 bit edits.

I even went to various websites that explain the difference between RAW and jpg, and I used their demo images: the very images that they took specifically to show the difference between the two formats in the most dramatic ways possible (things like pure gradients, and images over or underexposed by several stops), and again, was able to achieve quite comparable results either way. (Note that this is WITHOUT the benefit of being able to set appropriate contrast settings, etc. in-camera) Differences were noticeable in the shots that were poorly exposed by 2+ stops, but not slightly badly exposed ones.

I am curious as to how I might be proven wrong, in reasonable situations where you didn't completely fail your photo?

When I use a speedlite in TTL with ISO 100, the image gets darker. With ISO 400, the exposure seems to be right, but with slight noise with post processing. Is it better to set to ISO 100 or 400?

I have a friend who'd like me to take some pictures of her. I've worked with plus sized people before, but not as big as her. I can't find *anything* in googling to show me how to pose someone between 250 and 300 pounds. I want her to look pretty, not awkward and fat. I know that the pose is huge for that. I can slim her or make her look way heavier than she really is. What would you recommend for poses? I really want to make her look her best in these.

I'm at the beach for vacation. I am in need of some help for camera settings to expose for the sunset and the people in front of it. I don't have external flashes, only the built in on my d5100.
I think this is how you do it....this is how I DID do it.
i set my camera to P mode with the flash stowed away and took notice of the cameras automatic settings. I used f/11. I then switched to manual mode and popped up the flash and took the picture.
I tried a couple flash power settings such as 1/2,1/4, 1/8 power.
The results were not spectacular.
I also put the white balance in a slightly warmed cloudy setting.
I spot metered on my people subject. Should I focus before composing, then Recompose the shot using focus lock so the scene doesn't re-meter the lighting? Should be spot focus be on the sunset to "expose for the sunset"?

Is there anything you can add or suggest differently?

Thanks a bunch!

sorry, I can't post my first attempts. I don't have my laptop with me.

hi there,

This past Saturday I was the photographer at a cousin of mine's wedding. We aren't close, he is my second cousin so it's not like he tricked me into with family bonds or something. He just approached and said his fiance loves my photography and would like me to do their wedding. I told them I have never done a wedding, and that even though my photos of sessions she likes, I don't have the experience to pull off a wedding.. but they also are very humble people and couldn't afford to hire even the most basic professional at $500 so I did do the wedding despite every thing I've ever read advices you not to.

I don't regret doing the wedding. It was a very humble and plain event, as far as scenery, decorations, location etc went. Out in the country, nothing but mosquitos, a brown river, and lots of green trees. The bridal party looked VERY GOOD! I was happy to see that! I think that's where the entire budget went. Now I don't judge people who do not have money for things like a professional and I don't look at this as a black and white scenario, the advice is to say no but remember that's in general. If I hadn't of done their photos, who would? They deserve wedding photo's too, but I don't have the money to hire a pro for them! So, I did it.

I studied hard. I practiced harder! All that practice taught me so much about my camera. I shoot in manual now and prefer it over AP which is what I always shot in before. Now that I understand the relationship between the three elements so much better the manual mode makes me feel more secure over what I am creating in camera.

Anyway it went good, bad and got down right ugly. I knew that they wouldn't be as invested in the photography as I myself am. It was difficult to get everyone to group together when nobody pays attention to my little voice, but, I did bring an assistant and the brides sister is a photographer herself and they both tried to help out gathering up people.. why is this part so difficult? I did prepare myself reading to have the maid of honor and best man to help out with different things, but they were so busy themselves..

I did ok. I did bad. I did good.

What went bad and good at the wedding.. please read if you've never done a wedding and are planning to, this could help you. Please read if you're experienced in weddings and would like to shed some light on these things.

Slight issue: What I kept forgetting was to switch from my outdoor settings back to manual when I would go indoors. I couldn't really save any one setting for indoors on u2 (outdoors was on u1) because there were a variety of lighting situations indoors.. yet I'd have it on u1 and totally forget for a few frames. Luckily nothing was so underexposed that I wasn't able to fix it in post, thank you raw.

My goal is to always get it right in camera of course.

My first worst issue is composition. I may need some help, when we tried to pose them at the bottom of the hill for the river to be in the bg there were too many mosquitos, bride wasn't having it and moved halfway up the hill. Where did my basic posing knowledge go, because I forgot that posing on the side of a hill is a HUGE ugly thing to do.. is there anyway I can salvage these photos? Either the horizon is tilted or if I straighten the horizon they look like they are standing crooked wah. I can't believe I did this.

Slight issue: I did bring water but didn't drink enough and became dehydrated. This might not be an issue for most people, but I have a very sensitive bladder and if I am not constantly drinking water I am in PAIN. (I have ulcers in my bladder sorry for so much info) so part way through I got hit by the pain and had to take a moment to myself, this was when people were just milling about, and I downed water quickly and then bared through the pain until it passed.

DONT FORGET TO DRINK WATER. I didn't see that on ANY advice articles I read.

My second worst issue was where to stand and take photos during the ceremony. I gave my friend my 70-200mm lens to take photos from the front, and I went behind them and took photos. They turned out ok. I feel pretty badly, they are just above snapshot quality in my opinion.

My third worst issue was trying to get the bride and groom to get along.. after the best man said 'you look so lovely in your dress you can't even tell you're pregnant' for his speech, that was his whole speech, they were livid with each other. They wouldn't do any more of the traditional activities.. they did cut the cake but with angry faces, and so I am going to have to crop those in. They wouldn't do the dance even, but I finally talked them into it. They asked me to leave after that because they were not in the mood. Ok.. so I left. Mistake on my part, I was already there for 8 hours though, but it looks like on facebook people took camera phone photos of them doing all the things they wouldn't do for me.. so I was glad to see they patched it up but disappointed in myself for missing those photos of them. (bouquet toss, garter belt, they redid the cake thing, and people finally started dancing where before the DJ was there for 2 hours and nobody danced).. I did get the bride to do a few poses with her leg and garter out, since they were not yet getting along. She was more pliable, the groom was like stony faced and told me they were DONE with photos and that was it.

My fourth worst issue was taking prep shots. How does one go about this in a crowded, cluttered, messy room, of people wearing pajama's and not even cute ones, with stuff all over the place.. how does one get such lovely photos? Mine did not look lovely, creative cropping is going to have to come into play here. Any advice on this?

My fifth worst issue I had was dealing with impatient parents of the children in the wedding, not wanting them in their nice clothes for too long, rushing the photos because of it, and over my shoulder every 2 minutes asking me how long it will be. I told her.. look this is her wedding, we need to get more photos.. but because of that the bride/groom photos were cut short.. and I didn't get nearly enough variety. I also went blank on poses, I read advice to take photos of poses you like with the memory card you plan to use, then when you get a blank just look at the images and you'll refresh yourself. I should have done this. PLEASE do that if you are going to do a wedding for the first time!


My sixth worst issue was not knowing how to make a very inexpensive wedding in a very dirty venue look good. I did ok. Like the cake was in a concrete garage type room, with spiderwebs, old plastic chairs, beat up equipment, etc etc


What went correctly:

1. I felt confident with my camera and lens, prepared with batteries, back ups, memory cards etc
2. Having an assistant was good just for moral support alone so bring one!
3. I did manage to get many nice photos and I will be able to create a story type album for them.
4. People skills were very good other than my soft voice.
5. I didn't forget how to work my camera or freeze up or forget the exposure triangle or anything like that. I knew how to compensate for the glaring sun at the 3:00pm outdoor ceremony. Some hot spots that were unexpected did show up in one set of photos though.

I think this is a thread to help those who are in the same position I was in. Can people with more experience give some input on the things that went wrong, and how others in the future can handle it (myself included) if I ever do a wedding again. Yes, I would like to one day be a professional wedding photographer, but I know my limits.

Thanks for reading, I'll share photos later. Still processing them.

I’d love to get some advice and tips from you guys concerning a first-time weddingshoot (yep; another “Help me, I need to shoot a wedding and I've never done that before”-question). Allow me to explain the situation:

I’ve been asked to take photos at the wedding of my brother and law and his girlfriend.
The thing is I mostly (if not only) shoot landscapes, cities and macros. Hardly done portraits, people or events. So this is new territory for me. Hence the request for some tips.

Music is a big part of their life - she sings and he plays guitar in the same band. That is why they had the idea to take some weddingphotos in a small music venue before the ‘ceremony’ (hmm … maybe they’re not that ‘demanding’ but meanwhile they do have a notion of how it should look like). It’s going to be on stage with spotlights on and he’s going to bring his guitar.
So I can already think of numerous poses; that won’t be the issue. The issue is taking good quality photos under these circumstances. Low light and the light that will be available is coming from harsh red, blue, green, yellow spotlights which you can hardly call flattering light. I’ve already told them that these are not ideal circumstances and that unless they want to look like devils, smurfs or the incredible Hulk I’ll probably have to convert the photos to black and white in pp. They’re fine with that.

The gear I have at my disposal is a Canon 5d MIII (since a few weeks after using a Canon Rebel XTi for the past 5 years). Lenses are all Canon: a 24-105mm L f4 / 50mm f1.8 / 100mm f2.8 / 17-40mm L f4. And recently I got a Speedlite 430EX II (and a standard stofen) but I haven’t used it a lot yet to be honest. I always shoot in RAW and most of the time I use the AV mode. Also it’s basically permanently in AI Servo mode since I use back button focus.

I know of course that I’ll be needing a fast lens so the 50mm is probably the best starting point but obviously too wide an aperture will result in a depth of field that is too narrow to use. And I need a fast enough shutterspeed to avoid motion blur. I’m concerned about ending up with photos which are out of focus or have focus where it shouldn’t be. Another risk is of course noise because of the high ISO values but hopefully I can fix that in pp (up to certain point).
I can’t really estimate how effective the flash would be since there’s nothing really to bounce the flash from. A friend of the bride will be present during the shoot so of course I could have her hold a piece of white paper for example. Or should I point it directly at the couple (both will be dressed in light clothing) with the stofen on?

I’d love to hear how you would handle this. Or at least how would you start out? Which lens would you use, flash or not (and what settings or ETTL). And how would you set your camera (also in terms of light metering mode and AF mode etc.).

Thanks for ‘hearing me out’ and I will appreciate the feed-back!

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In low light situations, would it be ok if I were to underexpose and image and then compensate for the underexposure by adding a flash in manual mode? For example, if the proper setting for the inside of a room are 1/125 @ f/3.2 ISO 2500 and instead choose to put my ISO at 800 and put a flash in manual at 1/32 power, would that cause any problems in the images? Also, could this be accomplished using TTL? I have a Canon 60d and a Yongnuo 568.

Tinker tinker fiddle.....

What a lot of parameters there are in the shooting menu; picture control, auto distortion control, active D lighting, high ISO noise reduction and so on, what the manual doesn't tell me (that I can find anyway) is whether these in camera fixes apply just to JPG or if they also have any meaning to raw output.

I guess what I'm asking is how raw is raw? are any of these levels of processing actually being applied to the raw files and if so what is the advantage/disadvantage of that?