Advice, please - Engagement Pictures using Canon Rebel T1i

[oldmacman]

Im saying about the lens because thats what I got for a package deal for my T1i. People shouldn't be buying a camera with kit lens and a zoom lens and start charging people for photos.

If your point is that the OP should practice, that is good advice. If your point is that a good photo cannot be taken with a kit lens, I would have to disagree.

 

[NateWagner]

absolutely, you can. But, the thing is if you don't know your equipment you probably haven't practiced, and you probably aren't at the point to charge.

 

[ToadMum]

absolutely, you can. But, the thing is if you don't know your equipment you probably haven't practiced, and you probably aren't at the point to charge.

I have to agree and I'm a noobie! (under a year of photography under my belt) I take 75-85% of my photos using Manual Mode, I have an understanding of exposure and how to use my light meter. I don't feel that my results are consistent enough to start to charge people, I need to practice, practice, practice.

 

[KmH]

It's ok to charge, even if you have some gaps in your knowledge and skill set.

As long as the photographer is up front about their skill level, it's up to the client to decide if the charge is worth paying.

 

[JaxsMomma]

Thank you for the responses. I've known this couple for 5 years and they are friends of mine. They have seen the amateur work I have done so far and like and trust it enough to have approached me about taking their pictures - especially since the small fee I charge is not even minimum wage for the time put in. I am confident I can produce for them what they are expecting, although it may be unworthy of praise and approval from many people who are more skilled in the art of photography. Maybe I'll achieve mediocrity in 4 or 5 years. I have the utmost respect for photographers and what it takes to be great, as that future for me isn't even a light at the end of the tunnel. I understand there is a lot to learn and know - just hoped someone might have 1 or 2 beginner tips to share. That is why I came to the beginner's forum. Thanks to those who have helped so far.

 

[boyo3221]

I Disagree, I am what you call a Newbie to the photography world as far as equipment goes, i used to use a 35mm in high school a long time ago , but a year ago bought a rebel t1i. I disagree with not being able to charge aspect. I may not have all the knowledge or technical knowledge, but i have always had an "eye" for what good photos are. I have always taken great photos, but they looked crappy, because point and shoots sucked. now with this great camera and better lenses i finally can achieve the photos my mind saw, but was unable to capture with point and shoots. I admit i have tons and tons and tons to learn, and love hearing veterans give advice, but to say i cant with my "eye" not take great photos is silly. i use manual alot to learn and use auto settings to learn as well. when i see the settings the auto programs choose based on scenarios, i learn and grow. but the T1i takes beautiful photos in auto and teaches newbies to become better. as far as wedding photos the auto setting would make amazing photos with the right lenses and "eye". just my 2 cents

 

[KmH]

See http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ry/216625-application-selection-workflow.html.

 

[Taylor510ce]

If your camera is stuck on Manual Mode, will you be able to take good photos? If not, you should not charge people.

Just like if you don't have any L in your signature, you shouldn't be selling prints.:roll:

I couldn't resist, sorry.

 

[Taylor510ce]

The main thing is, learn how to use your equipment so you dont look like a hack. It doesnt matter the mode or type of camera just use what you have and use it well.

Trial by fire.

 

[Whootsinator]

Step 1: Call your 'clients' and tell them you're going to do it for free because you've been friends for five years and you really are not in a position to charge a dime for your 'services'.

Step 2: Read a blog called 'Stop Shooting Auto!' diligently.

Step 3: READ IT AGAIN.

Step 4: Practice in manual mode using what that blog taught you until you get the gist of the results and repercussions of the changes you make in manual mode.

Step 5: Go to aperture priority or shutter priority, whichever is called for, and just GO HAVE FUN with photography. Don't make it a chore or way to make money.

Step 6: KEEP HAVING FUN!

Step 7: Maybe possibly think about trying to charge people, because by now you're at least halfway decent.








I'm not trying to be an ass or anything here, but this thread is a little absurd. "Hello I'm new to photography, I have an expensive camera with lots of extras though, how do I make cool pictures for these people that are paying me?" You've come to the right place to learn how to produce awesome photos, but your priorities are a LITTLE backwards. You're lucky to have anyone that even wants to take time out of their day for you to take pictures of. Accept free and willing models gratefully, don't make them pay for your practice.

 

[astroskeptic]

I'm not trying to be an ass or anything here, but this thread is a little absurd. "Hello I'm new to photography, I have an expensive camera with lots of extras though, how do I make cool pictures for these people that are paying me?" You've come to the right place to learn how to produce awesome photos, but your priorities are a LITTLE backwards. You're lucky to have anyone that even wants to take time out of their day for you to take pictures of. Accept free and willing models gratefully, don't make them pay for your practice.

You may not have been trying, but you succeeded with that insulting and completely unwarranted next-to-last sentence. Essentially, you're telling the OP she's lucky to have her friends, quite an indictment of someone about whom you know next to nothing.

To the OP I offer the following advice:

Charging money is perfectly fine, since at a minimum, they're paying for your time with a presumably accurate understanding of your skill level.

You have little time to work with and you've given us little indication of your skill level. Not knowing your skill level, I'll assume it is very beginner-ish in which case I'd offer up a few basic skill areas to focus on as your time permits: (1) taking sharp pictures, (2) managing depth of field, (3) getting proper exposure and (4) correcting color balance. I leave it to you to assess your skill in these areas and to seek out specific advice on these topics - you'll find plenty of it out there. Good luck saturday and if you're not too disheartened by some of the responses here, post some results for us to critique when you're done.

 

[Blake.Oney]

People shouldn't be buying a camera with kit lens and a zoom lens and start charging people for photos.

That's ridiculous. If someone is unable to take a photo good enough to charge for with the kit lens it's their own inexperience. The kit lenses are good. They're not top of the line, but to say that you shouldn't charge for a photo taken with a kit lenses is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Especially since I've been charging for portraits for almost 2 years now with 0 complaints. Oh, and most of it has been with kit lenses.

However, I absolutely 100% couldn't agree more that someone should NOT just go get a camera and start charging for photo's. I didn't do it, and I would never advise anyone to do it. It takes practice and a lot of understanding what you're doing to get to that point. I honestly feel like I started charging too early, but it worked out. I think Schwetty kind of said something different than he was meaning about the lenses.

 

[pgriz]

Here’s a thought. Given your experience level and lack of practice with the tools you have, you have to keep things as simple as possible. You’re not being paid to produce technical masterpieces, you’re being asked by your friends to help preserve memories. So.. some basic pointers to increase your chance of success – don’t try to get fancy.

First, use a low ISO value (200 would be good). The lower the ISO, the lower the noise in the shadow areas.
In your custom functions, turn on the “highlights priority” setting (c.F6, pg. 186 of your manual). This helps reduce the chances of your highlights getting “blown”.
Other menu settings: set your “Quality selection” to RAW + Jpeg.(shooting menu 1 (red)) It takes more space on the memory card and is slower, but allows you to get photos (JPEG) without going through the post-processing required of RAW. It also allows you to use RAW to correct some of the shooting errors and setting errors that you can make (such as setting the wrong colour balance).
Consider setting the review time (same menu) to “Hold”. Then you can look at your pictures and decide if you like what you see. As soon as you start pressing the shutter button, the back screen will revert to the shooting screen.
I’d set the photo display to show the three-channel histogram. This will be valuable in reviewing your shots. If you have too much on the right, you’ve got blown highlights. If the histogram shows most of the pixels in the middle range, you’ve got a good exposure. If you have lots of pixels at both the left and right sides of the histogram, then the scene you’re shooting is exceeding your camera’s ability to capture (too much contrast), and you are getting both blown highlights and featureless black shadows. You can’t post-process these shots into anything good.
While you’re still setting menu items, I’d recommend you turn the “Beep” off as it can be very annoying to hear the camera beep all the time while you’re focusing, shooting, etc.
Set your white balance to whatever your primary light source will be. If you change from outside to inside, remember to change your white balance. It won’t affect your RAW files, but it will be encoded into your JPEG files.
Consider shooting primarily in Av mode, which is where you set the aperture and your camera sets the shutter speed.
Use low aperture values (such as F2.8 or F4.0) to create a shallow depth of field when you need to isolate your subject from the background. Use aperture values of f/8 or f/11 for group shots and situations where you need to get everything in focus.
If at all possible, keep the sun behind you (well over one or the other shoulder would be better to avoid squints from your subjects) – that way the tonal range of the scene is more or less even. If you have to get into back-lighted situations, use either a fill flash (which you said you knew how to use), or select the spot-meter metering mode and use the spot-meter reading to set the exposure off your subject(s) faces.
Changing lenses can be both dangerous (to your equipment), annoying (to other people), and time-consuming (to you, causing you to miss important stuff). So I suggest you start with the wide-angle zoom, and work with that. Experienced photographers usually don’t change lenses – they have a body for each lens that they plan to use. You don’t have that option as you have only one camera body, but there are good reasons (some stated above), why you DON’T want to change lenses during an event.

As Derrel and others have already pointed out, getting “professional” results takes a lot of time (experience), practice, good equipment, intimate knowledge of lighting, and good post-processing skills. Maybe they make it look easy, but it isn’t. You don’t have the time to acquire all of that. So... do the best you can, remember your limitations, keep it simple. Doing photography in a high-stress situation like an engagement is like participating in a race – you better have the fundamentals ingrained into you and instinctive. You don’t have that level of practice, so to increase your chance of success, KEEP IT SIMPLE. Reduce the number of decisions you have to make, and you increase the chances that the decisions you make will be good ones.

Oh, and get at least two memory cards of 8GB or more. They will hold up to 250 RAW+Jpeg each. If you think you'll be shooting more, get more cards. Also, get a spare battery for your camera and make sure BOTH are charged. If you can arrange it, get (buy, borrow, rent) a grip for your camera - then you can use AA batteries to shoot.

 

[Whootsinator]

I'm not trying to be an ass or anything here, but this thread is a little absurd. "Hello I'm new to photography, I have an expensive camera with lots of extras though, how do I make cool pictures for these people that are paying me?" You've come to the right place to learn how to produce awesome photos, but your priorities are a LITTLE backwards. You're lucky to have anyone that even wants to take time out of their day for you to take pictures of. Accept free and willing models gratefully, don't make them pay for your practice.

You may not have been trying, but you succeeded with that insulting and completely unwarranted next-to-last sentence. Essentially, you're telling the OP she's lucky to have her friends, quite an indictment of someone about whom you know next to nothing.

Really? THAT'S the statement that put me over the top? She IS lucky to have her friends, and she is lucky to have friends that are willing to take time out of their own schedules for her to practice on. Are you saying that that ISN'T something to be grateful and appreciative of? I never said anything about the quality of the OP as a person or whether she should or shouldn't have any friends. I said she's lucky to have free models to practice on, and I have a feeling 99% of photographers would agree.