I Suck...How to Find Someone to Second Shoot For?

[D-B-J]

I'm at an event, and I feel like every photo I take looks like crap. I feel like a newb who doesn't know how to photograph. Portraits, pets, landscapes, I can do that. Events, I cannot... How do I find someone to shoot with? To learn from? I emailed two local wedding photog's and got nothing... I need to learn! But have nobody to learn from. And it's stressing me out. Thoughts?

Jake


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[astroNikon]

check Facebook for your area. There are many professional facebook groups out there.
Also Meetup.com - pros have events to have multiple shooters at weddings, events, etc. or classes on how to learn.

 

[D-B-J]

check Facebook for your area. There are many professional facebook groups out there.
Also Meetup.com - pros have events to have multiple shooters at weddings, events, etc. or classes on how to learn.

That's what I need. And I'm shooting an event at the end of the month. Let's hope I do better then! I insisted I don't do it but the client was adamant that I do... So we'll see...


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[slackercruster]

I'm at an event, and I feel like every photo I take looks like crap. I feel like a newb who doesn't know how to photograph. Portraits, pets, landscapes, I can do that. Events, I cannot... How do I find someone to shoot with? To learn from? I emailed two local wedding photog's and got nothing... I need to learn! But have nobody to learn from. And it's stressing me out. Thoughts?

Jake


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Keep at the local photogs. Go cold call them with samples of you non crappy work. I hope you are not looking to make any $ from them? Hoards of photogs will gladly work for free to learn.

Back in the day I worked as an assistant for a job or two. But I spent years trying to work for free and only got a couple 1 day, unpaid jobs for my trouble. I can only imagine it is worse nowadays. One photog told me he gets calls every few days for assistant jobs. This was in L.A. in the 1970s'. Successful photogs can pick the cream of the crop for free internships. If your really adamant to learn, offer to pay them for the internship. It is cheaper than going to photo school.

I'm glad I gave up all that BS. I shoot what I like nowadays and don't fool with all that craziness any more.

 

[tirediron]

Treat it just like a job application: Knock on doors, show your portfolio (and don't expect to get paid).

 

[D-B-J]

Treat it just like a job application: Knock on doors, show your portfolio (and don't expect to get paid).

I have no intention of getting paid. I need experience. Hell, I'll even pay them for it.


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[The_Traveler]

Shooting with someone makes no sense unless they are willing to take some positive steps to help you.

The common thread ' portraits, pets, landscapes' is that you can take your time, get the lighting and redo shots.
Doing an event, you have none of those and you have to compensate with preparation.

Start looking at scenes and decide where you need to be to get the light right and how you would expose to compensate for what you see.
Learn how to change your aperture and EC without looking - cause in events, you have no time.
Learn to lock the camera into a stable hold with arms tucked against body.
Practice framing quickly and shooting a bit loose to make up for haste.
Review your shots to see what you are doing wrong technically.

I try not to have to change lenses.
I shoot with two bodies - a 24-70 equiv on one and 70-200 on the other and circle the space.
I get general shots first then go back and head hunt.

Look for the shots that typify the event.
Move through the crowd like a man with a purpose.
Don't ask permission, just walk up shoot and walk away, saying thank-you.
If you need a pose or an arm moved, just ask quickly, take your pictures and do it.

Get the picture
You are looking for impact, faces - not perfection.
People and symbols

Example: This is a shoot I did of Dr. Terry Lakin's homecoming for a post on a political site and I wrote one for my own blog. all the pictures and the blog post
Bad overhead lighting, relatively low ceiling, police presence and I was told not to use flash in airport, relatively unfriendly crowd (the PR person walked away from the reporter when the reporter IDed herself)

 

[dannylightning]

ill tell you what, i usualy take about 20-50 pics of something, at all different angles and what not. out of the 50 pics, one or two of those just pop out at me way more than the others

basically its all about getting the proper exposure for the shot you want and getting the shot at the right angle. if you need to put your camera on auto mode for a while while you start working on getting the right angle and what not go for it. i actually really like P mode on my camera, i only need to adjust iso when i am trying to grab some quick shots where i need to shoot and be done with it this is the mode i use. if i have plenty of time to get the shot ill go full manual.

i also notice going in to the neutral, vivid, standard settings on my camera and adjusting the contrast, sharpness and saturation can really change how the photos look, i leave the rest of the settings in those menus stock but i change those 3 settings in the preset color modes, before i did that i was not happy with how my photos were coming out on this D5300, i would imagine your nikon has the same general settings to do that.

just a few things you might want to think about trying.. and just remember you probably not going to like every shot you take so get as many as you can and you will probably get a few that you really like.

 

[D-B-J]

Shooting with someone makes no sense unless they are willing to take some positive steps to help you.

The common thread ' portraits, pets, landscapes' is that you can take your time, get the lighting and redo shots.
Doing an event, you have none of those and you have to compensate with preparation.

Start looking at scenes and decide where you need to be to get the light right and how you would expose to compensate for what you see.
Learn how to change your aperture and EC without looking - cause in events, you have no time.
Learn to lock the camera into a stable hold with arms tucked against body.
Practice framing quickly and shooting a bit loose to make up for haste.
Review your shots to see what you are doing wrong technically.

I try not to have to change lenses.
I shoot with two bodies - a 24-70 equiv on one and 70-200 on the other and circle the space.
I get general shots first then go back and head hunt.

Look for the shots that typify the event.
Move through the crowd like a man with a purpose.
Don't ask permission, just walk up shoot and walk away, saying thank-you.
If you need a pose or an arm moved, just ask quickly, take your pictures and do it.

Get the picture
You are looking for impact, faces - not perfection.
People and symbols

Example: This is a shoot I did of Dr. Terry Lakin's homecoming for a post on a political site and I wrote one for my own blog. all the pictures and the blog post
Bad overhead lighting, relatively low ceiling, police presence and I was told not to use flash in airport, relatively unfriendly crowd (the PR person walked away from the reporter when the reporter IDed herself)

And I think part of the issue is I hold myself to such a high standard that it's sometimes, or all the time, not reasonable.


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[CameraClicker]

Getting the face and the expression is the important part. Try to see the room ahead of time, or come prepared. A dim room and no flash is difficult unless you have a body that handles high ISO well and fast glass. You still need shutter speed because people move.

 

[pixmedic]

check Facebook for your area. There are many professional facebook groups out there.
Also Meetup.com - pros have events to have multiple shooters at weddings, events, etc. or classes on how to learn.

That's what I need. And I'm shooting an event at the end of the month. Let's hope I do better then! I insisted I don't do it but the client was adamant that I do... So we'll see...


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if thats how it works....

what do you do when the client is adamant that you work for free?

 

[The_Traveler]

And I think part of the issue is I hold myself to such a high standard that it's sometimes, or all the time, not reasonable.

That is a way to justify it.
I remember that, when someone I wanted to date turned me down, I figured it was because I was so good looking and so smart that she didn't want to look bad in my company.

If you can't get good pictures in a situation that someone else can, it is not the situation's fault.
Figure out why and fix it.

 

[D-B-J]

And I think part of the issue is I hold myself to such a high standard that it's sometimes, or all the time, not reasonable.

That is a way to justify it.
I remember that, when someone I wanted to date turned me down, I figured it was because I was so good looking and so smart that she didn't want to look bad in my company.

If you can't get good pictures in a situation that someone else can, it is not the situation's fault.
Figure out why and fix it.

Oh I know. I'm trying!


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[D-B-J]

check Facebook for your area. There are many professional facebook groups out there.
Also Meetup.com - pros have events to have multiple shooters at weddings, events, etc. or classes on how to learn.

That's what I need. And I'm shooting an event at the end of the month. Let's hope I do better then! I insisted I don't do it but the client was adamant that I do... So we'll see...


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if thats how it works....

what do you do when the client is adamant that you work for free?

Tell them no?


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[Derrel]

Figure out WHY you suck, and work on fixing any deficient areas through study and preparation. Maybe you need more confidence? Maybe you need more experience shooting close-in people shots? Maybe you are not using the right tools, and everything looks far away and insignificant? I dunno...event photography is a well-defined genre that has not changed appreciably in a long, long time, at least since the advent of the 35mm camera and small electronic flash.

When you say you suck, that's a pretty broad, global condemnation of your skills. It seems to me to betray a lack of confidence. I have photographed a lot of news events, sports events, and so on, and I remember what it was like to feel butterflies before an event. I know that many people are very nervous or hesitant about walking up to people and shooting photos without prior agreement, or volunteering, or consent, or are afraid to walk to the front of a room and shoot photos of a speaker or presenter for fear of being "noticed" or "in the way" or whatever. Not sure how much help can be given to help alleviate the issues suffered by a person who makes a very broad, general "I suck" kind of statement, without any additional explanation of details. So, all I can say is figure out WHY you suck, and work on the deficient areas.

I always thought of second shooting as for people who already know how to shoot a genre and are at least decent at it, not as on-the-job-training.