Hello again! Entry #2 is a little late as I’ve been unwell, but I’m back to it now and I hope you’ve stuck with me!
I have been reading a lot of photography blogs over the past few months and I’m eager to make mine stand out from the crowd and gain interest from a wider variety of readers. As a result, you’ll find a mix of personal stories, photographic information and general insight to the photography world in my blog. I hope you enjoy it!
Let me begin with a little personal background. I have always been a keen enthusiast of photography and videography. From a very early age I was entranced by film and spent many evenings either watching or re-enacting my favourite scenes from classics like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. There was nothing more fun that strapping a vacuum to your back and ‘ghostbusting’ late at night.
In my teen years, this passion for the arts was evident in my attendance to John Curtin College of the Arts, where I studied stagecraft, film and photography and was a part of any performance I could get my hands on. As I progressed through school and into young adulthood, I became more and more fascinated with the process behind the lens, rather than in front of it. The creative output was far greater than anything I could muster up in a performance and so I stepped behind the camera and that’s where I’ve stayed ever since!
Now, more than 10 years later I am ready to take the next step. I have been a keen hobbyist for years. Dabbling in more and more advanced photography and developing a stronger understanding of how to best capture a subject naturally. For years I have enjoyed the personal challenge of taking meaningful, passionate photos. Now I hope to share those photos with the world.
I’m about 6 weeks into starting this endeavour and I’m happy to report that I’ve already had my first successful job, with a few more in the pipeline. My first job, ‘Lia & Jimmy’s Engagement Party’ was a great opportunity to get some much-needed experience as a ‘professional’ photographer.
I spoke with Lia numerous times before the event to be sure I had a clear understanding of what was planned for the night, the amount and types of guests in attendance and the general feel she wanted from the photos. Once we were both on the same page I was confident that I could capture the event with a style and flair, while ensuring both Lia and Jimmy get the most enjoyment from the photos.
The event was being held in a local social hall with more than 140 guests in attendance. Given the indoor venue and ‘party’ lighting, I would need to ensure adequate light was available to provide the level of detail I was after for the photos.
I shoot exclusively with a Canon 5D MKII and have a Canon 500D as my back up. Given the lighting situation, I used a Canon 24-70 F2.8 as my primary lens for the event, with a 50mm F1.8 as my prime/fixed lens. I had some other lens on the 500D for the odd occasion (wide angle converters etc). For lighting I used a 580EX with an omni-bounce diffuser. After a few test shots in the room in various lighting conditions I was happy with the quality.
My main focus for the night was ensuring that I was able to capture all the events of the evening without Lia or Jimmy having to worry about what I was doing. We had a chat about an hour before the event and then got the family together for a few photos. This was very helpful as I was able to test a few settings while getting some really nice photos of Lia and Jimmy and their extended families. To be honest, I’m not overly satisfied with the camera position in some of the shots, but this was a learning experience and I’ve taken that as a big ‘lesson learned’ from the event. Some things you just won’t pick up until you’re editing the photos after the event. All you can do is learn and improve. I don’t think any photographer can ever stop learning.
I’m a fairly confident person, and while I didn’t want to constantly interrupt the guests for photos, I found most people were more than happy to have their photo taken. Of course, there are the few at every party that are eager to get in as many photos as possible and provide much of the ‘entertainment’. I’m happy to photograph anyone if they’re having a good time and want to have a bit of fun in front of the camera.
When the speeches started, we bought up the lights and I went into pro-mode. I had assembled my cameras as various locations around the room and had a small stepladder setup at the rear of the crowd. I can’t emphasis how much use a stepladder can be when shooting in a crowd. It came in very handy for crowd shots and capturing the speeches from above the headline.
After the speeches and cake cutting, the party started to kick-off as the lights dropped, the music volume rose and the guests started to hit the dance floor. As a photographer this was a lot of fun as the dancing guests often played to the camera and allowed me to capture some great, fun photos, which at the end of the day is what I was hoping to give to Lia and Jimmy. After about six hours, I wrapped up proceedings. I had burnt through two 8GB CF Cards and had about 1700 photo’s to look through. While this sounds like an impressive number, I was a little disappointed that I had to take so many photos. As it was my first big event, I wanted to be sure I captured everything, but I knew that upon review I was going to find a lot of duplication and clutter between the really great photos. I will definitely try and improve my efficiency when selecting the moments to capture. However for any new photographers starting out, I would always recommend to shoot more than less.
Of the 1700 photo’s I ended up with about 200 that I was a really happy with, and approximately 400 photos that I would provide to the happy couple. At the end of the day, I’m happy to take 1000’s of photos as long as I still get the end results that satisfy the client.
So what did I take out of my first job?
1. Don’t go overboard with your equipment. For events like this 2-3 lens is all that is required. I would have liked to have a 200mm lens in my kit, but it really wasn’t necessary. A multi-purpose like the 24-70 and a prime is more than fine to capture the action.
2. Reposition the camera every few photos when taking portrait shots. I was so busy changing settings that I didn’t focus on the camera position and as a result, I’m not 100% satisfied with the photos.
3. Being trigger-happy doesn’t ensure good photos. When I was capturing the dance floor, it was easy to just click away at times, but that rarely offered any reward. The photo’s that stand out are the ones when you take your time and prepare for that perfect moment. Click!
4. Light can be your best friend and your worst enemy. More than anything you must consider how the lighting conditions can change throughout a course of an event. Consider this and plan accordingly!
All in all, I had a blast during the first event and I’m thrilled that Lia and Jimmy are happy with the output. Thank you again for the opportunity and the privilege of being Shutter Speed Designs first client! I'm also happy to report that the first event has already spawned a few more opportunities that I’m looking forward to exploring.
Hope you enjoyed the latest entry and stay posted. More on the business side of things soon!
Paul @ SSD
