Ok, hold the laughter ...ME a wedding photographer!???

[ddt0725]

I have been watching a number of videos and reading many forums on numerous sites about wedding photography but I can't really say I am anymore educated than I was to begin with! The more I see, the more questions I have!

Now that Part I "Signing of the Contract" is over with, I am ready to get Part II "Pre-Wedding Jitters" going!

A couple things that came up last night as I was reading a few threads on another site are #1 - A guy had posted a number of his photos from a wedding and one of the comments made was that a little consistency in the processing would be nice because he had done a couple that were processed different than the majority of his photos. So, is it better to have most photos processed the same or is giving them a variety best? I tend to process my shots in many different ways but for this I would most definitely keep it simple for most but would still like to do some in a more creative post-processing fashion.

Whick somewhat leads me into my second question. The complete red lighting for the reception! The venue coordinator did stress that it is going to be intense and definitely will make a statement, which even raised the gtb's eyebrow! Any suggestions on how to handle this so the photos aren't so extreme? A part of me wants to process them in b&w but that takes away from the bride's intent of what she is going for with it.

Last question for now. Does anyone have experience using OnOne's Perfect Resize Pro 7? It came with the package OnOne gave me for free but I haven't really used it until playing around with it some last night. I am wondering if it truly a better way to process their photos.

Any advice as I move along with this is greatly appreciated! Only 33 days left to go!

[HDNitehawk]

A couple things that came up last night as I was reading a few threads on another site are #1 - A guy had posted a number of his photos from a wedding and one of the comments made was that a little consistency in the processing would be nice because he had done a couple that were processed different than the majority of his photos. So, is it better to have most photos processed the same or is giving them a variety best? I tend to process my shots in many different ways but for this I would most definitely keep it simple for most but would still like to do some in a more creative post-processing fashion.

I would keep it simple. First, you are working cheap the first time around, do good post processing that is consistent through the whole range. PP is time and time is money. Second, of course since I am not a wedding photographer my perspective on this is from other ventures I have had in life, but whenever I have done something I had never done before I learned early that it is best to focus on doing the basics of the task very well. You can add extra as you progress.

Maybe at future weddings for particular situations you could expand out. For now you could play with some of the photos to see what you can do at this one, but do it for your entertainment or education not as part of the package. If you have a few you like, pass them on to the client for good advertising. Don't commit to it though.

Don't over think this Denise, keep it clean, simple and basic.

[Joel Eade]

I have been watching a number of videos and reading many forums on numerous sites about wedding photography but I can't really say I am anymore educated than I was to begin with! The more I see, the more questions I have!

Now that Part I "Signing of the Contract" is over with, I am ready to get Part II "Pre-Wedding Jitters" going!

A couple things that came up last night as I was reading a few threads on another site are #1 - A guy had posted a number of his photos from a wedding and one of the comments made was that a little consistency in the processing would be nice because he had done a couple that were processed different than the majority of his photos. So, is it better to have most photos processed the same or is giving them a variety best? I tend to process my shots in many different ways but for this I would most definitely keep it simple for most but would still like to do some in a more creative post-processing fashion.

Whick somewhat leads me into my second question. The complete red lighting for the reception! The venue coordinator did stress that it is going to be intense and definitely will make a statement, which even raised the gtb's eyebrow! Any suggestions on how to handle this so the photos aren't so extreme? A part of me wants to process them in b&w but that takes away from the bride's intent of what she is going for with it.

Last question for now. Does anyone have experience using OnOne's Perfect Resize Pro 7? It came with the package OnOne gave me for free but I haven't really used it until playing around with it some last night. I am wondering if it truly a better way to process their photos.

Any advice as I move along with this is greatly appreciated! Only 33 days left to go!

I would try to find a basic processing workflow and make them all similar to start. If you have time, and the inclination, a separate folder for artistic processing would be cool.

I use On One Genuine Fractals 6 which was renamed to Perfect Resize 7. It is fantastic for making very big enlargements and sharpening, otherwise it doesn't do much.

[clemmb]

I have been watching a number of videos and reading many forums on numerous sites about wedding photography but I can't really say I am anymore educated than I was to begin with! The more I see, the more questions I have!

Now that Part I "Signing of the Contract" is over with, I am ready to get Part II "Pre-Wedding Jitters" going!

A couple things that came up last night as I was reading a few threads on another site are #1 - A guy had posted a number of his photos from a wedding and one of the comments made was that a little consistency in the processing would be nice because he had done a couple that were processed different than the majority of his photos. So, is it better to have most photos processed the same or is giving them a variety best? I tend to process my shots in many different ways but for this I would most definitely keep it simple for most but would still like to do some in a more creative post-processing fashion.

Whick somewhat leads me into my second question. The complete red lighting for the reception! The venue coordinator did stress that it is going to be intense and definitely will make a statement, which even raised the gtb's eyebrow! Any suggestions on how to handle this so the photos aren't so extreme? A part of me wants to process them in b&w but that takes away from the bride's intent of what she is going for with it.

Last question for now. Does anyone have experience using OnOne's Perfect Resize Pro 7? It came with the package OnOne gave me for free but I haven't really used it until playing around with it some last night. I am wondering if it truly a better way to process their photos.

Any advice as I move along with this is greatly appreciated! Only 33 days left to go!

Denise,
On the first, Keep it simple just as HDNitehawk said.

Second, Set your flash on camera with omni-bounce. Set camera to 'M' with f3.2 to f4, shutter at 200. Not sure how intense it may be. Depending on the ceiling hight I shoot ISO 400, f4.5, 200. This washes out most other lights. On the dance floor if the colored lights hit someones hair you may see that color show up some.

[Steve U]

Denise,
On the first, Keep it simple just as HDNitehawk said.

Second, Set your flash on camera with omni-bounce. Set camera to 'M' with f3.2 to f4, shutter at 200. Not sure how intense it may be. Depending on the ceiling hight I shoot ISO 400, f4.5, 200. This washes out most other lights. On the dance floor if the colored lights hit someones hair you may see that color show up some.

Great info Mark.