Help, been asked to be photographer at nieces 21st birthday

[robt350c]

Well, I survived :-)

Went through all the pics the morning after and selected the best, had about 200 useable. First few whilst trying to sort the external flash required a bit of tweaking but overall ok. Shoved them all into a slideshow and uploaded to YouTube complete with some elevator music and jobs a good'un, all were happy with them. My 12 year old then deflated my balloon somewhat, saying why are they all blurry :-) Cheeky git!

It was fairly hit and miss on absolute sharp focus, despite using single point focus and mostly still / slow moving subjects. Used the 50mm and 18-55 kit lens which probably contributed to that. But all in all not bad at all for a camera dating back to 2008.

It was pretty stressful though, not just because the flash self destructed, but many of the people there I didn't know and it's quite an art getting people to engage in a way that has them all smiling for some random bloke taking their photo!

Few of the pics to follow, for you all to to pull to pieces, straight from the camera with no editing.

Simpo Two said:

robt350c said:

Bought the cheap flash YN565EXIII, for a bargain £56 from Amazon

robt350c said:

And it's all gone to sh.. External flash will not work.... Been working all the time and go to use it now and nothing.... Changed batteries everything.. Zero!!!

I think those two statement might be related. Too late now of course but in general whenever there's money involved - or in this case personal pride and the desire to do a good job - buy the proper unit not the cheap one. On the plus side, it came from Amazon so send it back and stump up for the Canon equivalent. I shoot Nikon but my SB800 works fine after nearly 20 years. The only thing I do is clean all the contacts with meths before a shoot.

I knew I had that coming, right at the moment it went to crap on the night :-)

[robt350c]

Pistonheads image upload appears to have absolutely butchered the sharpness/quality on these but anyway gives an idea:

Edited to add, if you click on them and view full image size in thumbsnap then look ok.

Edited by robt350c on Wednesday 18th October 22:31

[Simpo Two]

robt350c said:

I knew I had that coming, right at the moment it went to crap on the night :-)

They're a decent start considering the lighting issue, but they look a bit dark. You can get the exposure looking better (in this case brighter) using levels and curves. The colours look right which is important.

Engaging with strangers is all part of the fun of being a wedding/social photographer... having a camera round your neck gives you a certain advantage. You make 80 friends in a night then never see them again...

ETA:

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 19th October 10:01

[Simpo Two]

robt350c said:

It was fairly hit and miss on absolute sharp focus, despite using single point focus and mostly still / slow moving subjects. Used the 50mm and 18-55 kit lens which probably contributed to that. But all in all not bad at all for a camera dating back to 2008.

There are two things here, focus and camera/subject movement.

A 450D with kit lens could struggle to find focus in low light. If it has an AF assist light that helps, but only up to a certain distance. Fast lenses also help cameras to find focus so you should have found that the 50mm (presume f1.8) was better than the kit lens.

Camera/subject movement is down to the shutter speed, subject movement is down to the subject - but flash helps a lot.

The hard part, when you're in the thick of it and your photos don't look right, is working out what to change to fix it whilst looking like you know what you're doing as 80 people look at you expectantly...

So that was the baptism of fire; well done for getting out alive and your next one will be even better

[robt350c]

Simpo Two said:

robt350c said:

I knew I had that coming, right at the moment it went to crap on the night :-)

They're a decent start considering the lighting issue, but they look a bit dark. You can get the exposure looking better (in this case brighter) using levels and curves. The colours look right which is important.

Engaging with strangers is all part of the fun of being a wedding/social photographer... having a camera round your neck gives you a certain advantage. You make 80 friends in a night then never see them again...

ETA:

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 19th October 10:01

Yes, I shot them in RAW as well so I'd be able to play with the exposure levels afterwards. I'm just pushed for time so sent on straight from camera. To be fair it was naturally a dimly lit environment so I think the camera did pretty well with the internal flash only.

There's life in the 450D yet :-)

[robt350c]

Simpo Two said:

So that was the baptism of fire; well done for getting out alive and your next one will be even better

Who said anything about a next one! :-)

I think I aged about 5 years when the flash failed to work......

[Simpo Two]

You did infinitely better than than the 'professional photographer' I had the misfortune to meet at a black tie film award ceremony recently. I had misgivings when I saw he'd turned up with an entry-level DSLR and kit lens, and that instead of photographing people arriving he was just chatting and drinking prosecco. I gave him the benefit of the doubt until I saw the results he had the audacity to upload. Indescribably awful! Out of focus, not level, badly lit, camera shake, wrong colours - not one photo he took was fit for purpose. I noticed that there wasn't one of me collecting my award, and asked if he had it. He said no, because he was 'on the other side of the room chatting to friends lol', and thought that was OK because he was doing it as a favour for someone. FFS, 14 awards, 14 shots, how hard can it be? A child with a phone could have done better. That man should not be allowed to own a camera

[DibblyDobbler]

Hang on... 'collecting my award' ?!?! Do tell!

[Simpo Two]

Oh just a little something

[DibblyDobbler]

Well it's one more award than I've ever had!

[robt350c]

Congrats on the award!

And it sounds like I may have a future as a photographer given what you say below :-)

Thanks for all the advice and feedback from everyone!

Simpo Two said:

You did infinitely better than than the 'professional photographer' I had the misfortune to meet at a black tie film award ceremony recently. I had misgivings when I saw he'd turned up with an entry-level DSLR and kit lens, and that instead of photographing people arriving he was just chatting and drinking prosecco. I gave him the benefit of the doubt until I saw the results he had the audacity to upload. Indescribably awful! Out of focus, not level, badly lit, camera shake, wrong colours - not one photo he took was fit for purpose. I noticed that there wasn't one of me collecting my award, and asked if he had it. He said no, because he was 'on the other side of the room chatting to friends lol', and thought that was OK because he was doing it as a favour for someone. FFS, 14 awards, 14 shots, how hard can it be? A child with a phone could have done better. That man should not be allowed to own a camera

[C n C]

robt350c said:

Congrats on the award!

And it sounds like I may have a future as a photographer given what you say below :-)

Thanks for all the advice and feedback from everyone!

As has already been said, well done for at least getting some photos in a stressful situation when your flash failed.

IF you were to do another similar event, or even just look to explore flash photography, I'd really recommend you look to pick up a used Canon 580 EX 2 flash. As they are no longer a current model they are readily available for well under £100. I'd go for the 580 rather than a smaller 430 as you can never have too much power when it comes to flash.

I have 2 of these, and they have never let me down. Newer models, such as the 600 EX-RT which are also no longer current are also available, but at a higher price, and the 580 EX 2 will be more than enough flashgun for you, as when current it used to be Canon's top of the range speedlight.

Also seriously look to get an additional diffuser, such as a "Rogue Flashbender" - they really make a massive difference in producing more diffuse light and avoiding harsh shadows.

Good luck with your future flash adventures!

[reggie747]

Just swerve it or your head will be done in on the day.
You can't be a guest and a photographer at a wedding.
Tell them to put their hands in their pockets and get a proper 'tog.
Job's a good 'un then (as will be your stress levels before, during and after.

EDIT to see that I'm late to the party with a reply....

[Simpo Two]

reggie747 said:

You can't be a guest and a photographer at a wedding.

That's a very good point. When a cousin of mine got married about 10 years ago I was asked if I could take the photos. I wasn't really prepared to work for nine hours almost non-stop for free when it was my livelihood. So we had a chat and I said 'I can either be a guest and take maybe 100 snaps, and that will be free, or I can do it properly, to the standard everyone else gets, but I will offer a chunky discount.' That worked fine.

I now enjoy being a guest at weddings as I can lounge about, eat, drink, natter and watch the PBP (poor bloody photographer) at work

[jjones]

Simpo Two said:

Oh just a little something

Thought it was going to be something good, like darts.

Congratulations on whatever it is though