Multi application use.

[bethmeyer]

Hi everyone. New person. Found you cause I was looking for info on my 10d, and I think I found the people that I want to hang with. :wink: . I have three questions.

1) What would you recommend for a multi purpose lense. I dont have three digital cameras, I have one, so until I improve on the amount of my equipment what lens and flash would you recommend I get for all applications. My idea is for a wedding. Im shooting my first wedding with my 10d and I dont think the lenses I have are a good all around use lense. I have alien bees in my studio, and Im used to having controlled light so what do you recommend for a flash.

2) When you are doing a wedding what settings do you use? It's not like in a studio where you can stop and change your settings, what do you do at "functions" where you have to be right all the time? Do you use apperature priority or all auto settings?

3) Does anyone recommend a book that I can buy that will give me the ins and outs of my camera. Ive read the manual that came with it front to back and I know it does more than that.

Ive had this thing almost a year now, but because of my pregnancy, useing it and learning it went to the way side. So any advise would be great, Im ready to get my lab going again.

Thanks again, and cant wait to share and interteract with you all.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Welcome :)

1) A SINGLE lens for weddings? EF 24-70mm f2.8L

2) I would shoot AV


& 3 Some one else should have better answers :)

[Scottes]

3) There's an PDF or printed book out there called "A Short Course in Canon EOS 10D Photography" from http://www.shortcourses.com/10D/contents.htm. I got it a long time ago and it's good, but not extensive enough to be great. It's certainly better than the Canon manual but you may still have questions. For $20 PDF or $25 printed I think it's well worth it. But I was still left wanting to know more.

Again, I can recommend it, but it's not the answer to every question you'll have.

[billsh]

Congratulations on being pregnant and your first wedding. I shot several weddings on film and had great luck with my 35-135. I used medium format for the formals. Most of my shots were in the 35-100 range. Use fill flash whenever you can. Be sure and get some creative shots of the bride and groom. This will please them more than anything else. That way if you miss a shot of "aunt bertha" they won't care. One of my favorites was to take a shot of the couple backlit, kissing under the vail. You want the couple to be semi silhoutted. This works great in B&W.

With digital, you should be able to use AV. Check your histogram on a couple test shots to be sure. Remember the money shots, (ring, kiss, etc) and they will be happy. I always shot a lot of reception pictures. This seemed to please everyone as there may be people attending they haven't seen for a while. Black and White is a nice touch also. You may want to convert a few in post production.

One tip a wedding photographer gave me which helped me a lot. " Act confident. If you seem unsure of what your doing they will be unsure of the results. " Being confident makes them feel better about the experience. I would always go home worrying if I lost a shot, which I didn't, but I would never let them see me worry.

There are several web sites with lists of shots to be taken. I will try and post a link if I can find the one I used. I would always go over the list with the couple to be sure what they wanted taken. This will prevent being embarrassed later. (ie aunt bertha and mom don't speak so don't ask them to be in the same picture) This will also give the couple a chance to input any shots they wanted.

Hope this helps. Have fun.

[robertwgross]

"Act confident." Yes, I will agree with that.

If you are staring around the church, then somebody in the pose will start to offer suggestions about what to do for the pose. They will get about halfway into saying something when you snap the shutter, and that gets poor results.

The medium length lenses are best for most wedding shots (like 40 or so to about 80 or so). For large family group shots at the wedding, I have had to go wide to 20mm. Once in a while, I shoot from the back of the church, so I use something longer, like 150-200mm or so.

A wedding photographer can get a lot of use out of an assistant. The photographer stays at the camera, and the assistant kind of ushers the people into and out of the shot. The assistant can straighten out that crease in the groom's tux, or can straighten out the bride's dress where it curls around on the floor.

The best way to learn is to work one as an assistant for somebody else who knows what they are doing on weddings.

---Bob Gross---

[bethmeyer]

Thanks guys for all the advise, but I have done weddings before, this is just my first one using my digital. This will be my 6th wedding this year. LOL.

Thanks Bill for all the great advise, but you mentioned medium format formulas. Which is one of the reasons I bought the 10d because I was told I could program it to do "medium" format. How can I do that? I asked if anyone could recommend a book, and the one Ive been recommended so far is the short cut one. Can you help with with the formula or another book?

Thanks again.