jamesdorsey89
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2012
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Euclid, Ohio
- Website
- www.jmarshall-photography.com
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
Well for starters I just want to say hi because I am new to the forum! I picked up photography as a hobby about 2 years ago and really only got serious about it for the past year. I have done most of my work for my family with some of it being paid. I just enjoy taking photos so that people can hopefully enjoy them. Before the wedding I had only taken pictures at baby showers and other low pressure events. Then I got my first wedding gig. This was for an aunt of my cousin in-law. I felt pretty good in my ability to provide good photos for the price of $500. Well, she laughed and thought that was way to much! I couldn't believe it because I thought it was a fair price. So we settled on $200.. For one, it then meant that there would be hardly any pressure on me and second, it was my first wedding.
The whole wedding was rushed and completely unorganized! Despite all of the hectic mess, I was able to get some shots and adapt to it. I got through the ceremony and pictures outside and then the nausea kicked in... I had taken Vicodin the night before and morning of to help with the pain from my two herniated discs. They had made me ill despite not having any problems with them weeks before. So long story short, I didn't make it to the reception.. It was not a huge deal to the couple because it was the third wedding for both of them! I was so embarrassed and felt horrible and wanted to only take half of the money they had paid me, but they insisted that they still pay the full amount because they were happy with what I did provide them. So below are a few of my favorites from the day. The rest can be seen here
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
Then there was my second wedding that was only a month after my first! I learned a lot during the first one and also learned how unprepared I felt and knew I needed to change that. I also had another cushion for this wedding because I was pretty sure they were only going to pay for my lens rental and then a tip on top of that. So I was not expecting much and was doing them a favor because they were my brothers friends and did not have a lot of money to spend.
Learning from my last mistake, I did some more research to find some more tips and advice. Even though I still had a lot to learn, I felt better prepared for the second wedding than I did for my first. Although this one was also a little rushed, I was able to get the shots I needed. For this wedding, I did not take the pain meds for two reasons, first because of my last experience and second because I ran out and the doctor did not supply me with more. So I took ibuprofen to help me get through the day. I rested the best I could two days prior to make sure I could make it through the day. Boy was it a long day! Started at 9:30am and left the reception around 11:30pm! I know this is normal for a lot of you, but it was a long day for me! By the end of it, I could barely sit in the car on the way home because I was in so much pain! I don't think my butt touched the seat the whole ride home!
So as far as how the wedding went, I felt much better about this one than the last. I employed a tactic that I read about the night before and that was putting a speedlight in the corner of the dance floor as a secondary light. I was pretty happy with some of the results that I got from it when it worked! I quickly found the limitations of the CLS system! I didn't think it would be a problem because I have used the system quite a bit before in different scenarios. I could only get it to go off when the commander was pointing straight at the remote and even then, sometimes it would not fire. It was probably from there not being any nearby walls for the light to bounce around and get to the remote flash. Even so, I was able to make it work and get some good shots, but will invest in radio's for my next wedding! Despite the tremendous back pain at the end of the day and the few days after, I had a blast and look forward to the next! Below are some of my favorites and the rest can be seen here!
I would appreciate any advice, tips, criticism, or anything else that any of you would have! I still have a lot to learn and figure out. I hope you enjoy!
Thank you,
Jim
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
The whole wedding was rushed and completely unorganized! Despite all of the hectic mess, I was able to get some shots and adapt to it. I got through the ceremony and pictures outside and then the nausea kicked in... I had taken Vicodin the night before and morning of to help with the pain from my two herniated discs. They had made me ill despite not having any problems with them weeks before. So long story short, I didn't make it to the reception.. It was not a huge deal to the couple because it was the third wedding for both of them! I was so embarrassed and felt horrible and wanted to only take half of the money they had paid me, but they insisted that they still pay the full amount because they were happy with what I did provide them. So below are a few of my favorites from the day. The rest can be seen here
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
Then there was my second wedding that was only a month after my first! I learned a lot during the first one and also learned how unprepared I felt and knew I needed to change that. I also had another cushion for this wedding because I was pretty sure they were only going to pay for my lens rental and then a tip on top of that. So I was not expecting much and was doing them a favor because they were my brothers friends and did not have a lot of money to spend.
Learning from my last mistake, I did some more research to find some more tips and advice. Even though I still had a lot to learn, I felt better prepared for the second wedding than I did for my first. Although this one was also a little rushed, I was able to get the shots I needed. For this wedding, I did not take the pain meds for two reasons, first because of my last experience and second because I ran out and the doctor did not supply me with more. So I took ibuprofen to help me get through the day. I rested the best I could two days prior to make sure I could make it through the day. Boy was it a long day! Started at 9:30am and left the reception around 11:30pm! I know this is normal for a lot of you, but it was a long day for me! By the end of it, I could barely sit in the car on the way home because I was in so much pain! I don't think my butt touched the seat the whole ride home!
So as far as how the wedding went, I felt much better about this one than the last. I employed a tactic that I read about the night before and that was putting a speedlight in the corner of the dance floor as a secondary light. I was pretty happy with some of the results that I got from it when it worked! I quickly found the limitations of the CLS system! I didn't think it would be a problem because I have used the system quite a bit before in different scenarios. I could only get it to go off when the commander was pointing straight at the remote and even then, sometimes it would not fire. It was probably from there not being any nearby walls for the light to bounce around and get to the remote flash. Even so, I was able to make it work and get some good shots, but will invest in radio's for my next wedding! Despite the tremendous back pain at the end of the day and the few days after, I had a blast and look forward to the next! Below are some of my favorites and the rest can be seen here!
I would appreciate any advice, tips, criticism, or anything else that any of you would have! I still have a lot to learn and figure out. I hope you enjoy!
Thank you,
Jim
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
Last edited: