Canon Rebel & Weddings. . .help!

[photo4u]

Greetings:

I'm new to the digital world and have many questions.
1. Should I shoot in RAW or JPEG?? What's the advantage?
2. If I'm giving the client 100 photos on a CD, like I see some photographers do, what format do I use. . .do I crop them all and save them to a CD. . .oh, please help.

:cry:

[robertwgross]

1. Shoot RAW images.
2. Use a good flash and flash bracket, probably on a tripod.
3. Use a lens of 50-100mm or so. Wider if you are going for large group shots.
4. Once you get them home and onto the computer, convert to TIF, and edit them for consistency (color balance, etc.). Once all edits are done, then convert to JPEG and burn the JPEGs to the CDR. Save all of the RAW files one place, and save all of the TIF files in another place, and save all of the JPEG files in yet another place.

---Bob Gross---

[René Damkot]

RAW offers highest possible quality, theoreticly. I very much doubt if anyone can see the difference whithout side by side comparing though.... in RAW images you can change white balance (and other parameters like contrast, sharpness) later, and you can easier/better correct exposure faults. If you're sure your exposure, WB and parameters are dead on, there's no problem using jpg if you use the highes quality setting. Might save time in post processing.
A jpg degrades in quality every time it's saved. (open -> change -> save). Therefore it might be a good idea to convert all jpg's to TIFF for processing. Depending on your client, you deliver him/her photo's as jpg or Tiff, in desired resolution / colour profile. I would defenitely crop the pics to the desired cropping, not to a specific size. Always keep a maximum resolution or RAW for backup. (If the client wants a 4x6" now, doesn't mean he won't want a 10x20" later...
I'm going to assume you're not new at photograpy, just digital ;)

[photo4u]

Thank you all so much. . .Your reinforcing what others have told me, but it didn't quite sink in. I'm readlly doing my homework and reading all the technical manuals and talking to people. I have the basic understanding, it's just familiaring myself with my new digital camera and uploading the files. Do you think I'm crazy shooting my first "Digital" wedding in 3 months. . .

[Columbus Photo]

I've got my first digital in 3 months also..As long as I know my equipment I am confident with the out come!

[robertwgross]

Do you think I'm crazy shooting my first "Digital" wedding in 3 months. . .

Try one experiment, just to see if you are ready.

Get one friend to wear mostly solid white, like a bride's gown. Get another friend to wear mostly solid black, like a groom's tuxedo. Get your two friends to stand next to each other, and then you shoot the pair. Use your flash and other gear, just like what you think you would use for the real wedding. When you get results, then report back here.

Hint: Getting that entire black-to-white dynamic range perfectly exposed in one shot is difficult. If you can't get it, then keep practicing.

---Bob Gross---

[cactusclay]

So, what's the trick Bob?