A bit lost about my future as a pro photographer

Lorenacevedo · Feb 21, 2015

Hey everyone!
I'm from Colombia I'm 27 and I've been trying to start as a wedding photographer.

It is really difficult because the couples who want to get married also want someone with a big portafolio to photograph their happiest day. I know I can do it though my equipment isn't big yet. For now I'm using a canon T4i, a 85mm 1.8 lens and a 18-135 zoom lens. I tried to second shot but photographers aren't as friendly over here.

I'm working on my website, isn't ready yet, I repeat... Isn't ready yet, but if you guys care to take a look... www. lorenacevedo. com

Any advice? I'll really appreciate it

(Sorry about language mistakes, isn't my native

)

Designer · Feb 21, 2015

Welcome!

Derrel · Feb 21, 2015

The website arrows do not seem to be working, so I had to click on each image, and then hit the "X" to close the window, and select another image...very tedious on that, but I understand, it's not ready yet, not completed.

Here comes my own, honest, direct commentary. I hope this does not hurt your feelings. I think you need to improve your photography skills; a lot of the images appear too dark, with too much contrast in the darker areas, such as the hair. If you want to work as a wedding photographer, I think you need a collection of wedding photos from one wedding that shows that you can cover a wedding from start to finish, and do an adequate job. Lots of individual photos are not as compelling as say, just ONE, complete wedding from beginning to end. The porfolio is what is called "disjointed" in American English.

As far as equipment: slow f/3.5~5.6 lenses, like the 18-135mm, create images that bear the hallmarks of slow, kit zooms. I personally think that people are more looking for the brighter, more upbeat look of full-frame images shot with FAST, high-quality lenses, either primes, or zooms. The way your photos are processed does not look very "professional" to me...the processing looks outdated, very basic. I want to see lighter, more "airy", "prettier" images, shot with GOOD lenses. You desperately NEED a very fast prime lens that can give you some shallow depth of field yet wider-angle and normal shots; something like a 20mm f/1.8 Canon lens, or even the inexpensive new 24mm pancake lens. The 35mm f/2 Canon would be a good lens; inexpensive, and a nice imager on a 1.6x crop body like the T4i.

When the walls behind the subject are almost as in-focus as the people, that says to me, instantly, "kit zoom on crop-sensor image". I can spot that look in a second, and so can potential buyers. You need to improve your pictures' processing, and develop more of a visual style or "look" that is cohesive. Just a few really GOOD, fast lenses would help the kind of pictures you can make; the 85/1.8 is a good lens, but it is mostly wasted when you have a T4i.

Even a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 would be a big,big step up for you. Your photos look like they were made with a very pedestrian lens.

Lorenacevedo · Feb 21, 2015

Derrel said:
The website arrows do not seem to be working, so I had to click on each image, and then hit the "X" to close the window, and select another image...very tedious on that, but I understand, it's not ready yet, not completed.

Here comes my own, honest, direct commentary. I hope this does not hurt your feelings. I think you need to improve your photography skills; a lot of the images appear too dark, with too much contrast in the darker areas, such as the hair. If you want to work as a wedding photographer, I think you need a collection of wedding photos from one wedding that shows that you can cover a wedding from start to finish, and do an adequate job. Lots of individual photos are not as compelling as say, just ONE, complete wedding from beginning to end. The porfolio is what is called "disjointed" in American English.

As far as equipment: slow f/3.5~5.6 lenses, like the 18-135mm, create images that bear the hallmarks of slow, kit zooms. I personally think that people are more looking for the brighter, more upbeat look of full-frame images shot with FAST, high-quality lenses, either primes, or zooms. The way your photos are processed does not look very "professional" to me...the processing looks outdated, very basic. I want to see lighter, more "airy", "prettier" images, shot with GOOD lenses. You desperately NEED a very fast prime lens that can give you some shallow depth of field yet wider-angle and normal shots; something like a 20mm f/1.8 Canon lens, or even the inexpensive new 24mm pancake lens. The 35mm f/2 Canon would be a good lens; inexpensive, and a nice imager on a 1.6x crop body like the T4i.

When the walls behind the subject are almost as in-focus as the people, that says to me, instantly, "kit zoom on crop-sensor image". I can spot that look in a second, and so can potential buyers. You need to improve your pictures' processing, and develop more of a visual style or "look" that is cohesive. Just a few really GOOD, fast lenses would help the kind of pictures you can make; the 85/1.8 is a good lens, but it is mostly wasted when you have a T4i.

Even a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 would be a big,big step up for you. Your photos look like they were made with a very pedestrian lens.

Wow, I can't say I was expecting that, Derrel! haha, but thank you very much! You took the time to look at my pics and give an honest answer!

I'd love to buy better lenses but at the moment I can't afford it, I was expecting to get hired and invest in a better gear.

Two questions:

1. Most of the photographs that I took of that couple in the park I was using the 85mm, I thought it was giving them a nice look... ?
2. Why do you say the 85mm lens is wasted if I have a T4i?...

Thanks again!

Derrel · Feb 21, 2015

The 85mm has a very "tight" angle of view on a 1.6x body. To get an 8.5 foot tall field of view with the 85mm lens, you must be 34.5 feet distant. That means the 85mm lens must be shot from FAR away for any full-length photos of people. You need to be able to shoot from CLOSER-UP, in order to control the backgrounds. With a FF Canon, you can get the same field of view from 20 feet away.

You NEED to have access to a fast lens that is much shorter, so you can make shallow depth of field pictures of wedding people, from CLOSE distances. The first lens I would buy would be the 17mm-50mm f/2.8 zoom lens, and then a 50-150mm f/2.8 lens.

On a 1.6x body, a 50-135mm or 50-150mm f/2.8 lens is MORE-useful than a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is, for events like weddings, receptions, and outdoor events; the 70-200 is again, "too tight" for many events on a 1.6x body.

The 85mm f/1.8 on a 1.6x camera is a medium-long telephoto, so it has limited usefulness in many situations; a 50-135mm or 50-150mm lens is a much better choice for versatility for "people work"; this is not sports shooting here.

The 85mm length, and the 24-70 length and 70-200mm zooms--all three of those are designed to work best on full-frame cameras, at normal distances, in normal places like churches, living rooms, back yards, and at festivals and auditoriums, etc..