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I have had a fascination with cameras since I was a wee little one. I remember my parents getting me a camera when I was fairly young. One of the first things I did got the camera taken away from me for a while. I took several pictures and then opened the back of the camera to play with the film inside. Of course being the smart shit that I was I made sure to do it in shadow since I knew the sunlight would be bad for the film.
Fast forward several years and you see me at my friends wedding of course taking pictures. By then I had a decent Canon film camera and a monster flash. I took pictures over 50 feet away with that flash and had them turn out. Well that worked out well and now here I was taking pictures at my friends wedding. Not professionally but just to have something to give to them as a gift. Well that and the weber grill that we all chipped in on for them.
One thing I managed to capture at the wedding was the bouquet and garter toss. With that fancy flash I was able to take many pictures very rapidly. The first picture was the side of the groom. He was looking ahead getting ready to toss the garter. That was followed by a picture after he tossed the garter with it flying in the air and the bachelors looking at it as it flew their way. Then a picture of them scrambling to come up with the garter and finally a picture of the lucky bachelor triumphantly displaying his trophy. That went pretty wall so I decided to try the same thing for the bride.
A picture of the side of the bride as she was getting ready to toss the bouquet. Another as the bouquet is flying through the air with the bachelorettes intensely focused on the object of their desires. This was followed by the mad dash to snatch up the bouquet and finally a picture of the lovely bachelorette and her prize.
When I took this I had no idea what I was going to do. As things came together I ended up putting together two pages in the wedding album I put together for them. The page on the left was the grooms page, the one on the right was the brides.
The grooms page had the groom on the right side of the page centered half way down the page. On the left side of the page was three pictures. The top was the garter flying, the middle was the scramble for the garter, the bottom was the bachelor and his trophy.
The brides page had the bride on the left side of the page centered half way down the page. On the right side of the page was three pictures. The top was the bouquet flying, the middle was the scramble for the bouquet, the bottom was the bachelorette and her prize.
Perfect except for one thing. When I took the picture I had no idea what I was going to do with it. As a result I was standing on the wrong side of the groom. When I would have liked the groom and bride facing each other instead I had both of them facing the same way. Funny thing is now a days I could have taken care of the with the click of a button and drag down of a menu.
This all occurred back in August of 1980. I have been trying to duplicate that ever since and have never come close. During that time I had the idea of possibly getting into the business of shooting weddings as a side job. I did not know what I was doing but figured I could get some advice from my friend on what to do and what was involved. Well that idea went out the window when I shot pictures at a friends wedding and blew almost 3 rolls of film as I had the shutter speed set wrong and the flash did not sync up. I got some mighty good pictures of everyone’s feet but somehow I did not think anyone would want to see that so I scrapped the pictures and the idea of shooting weddings for a side job. What would I say to a bride if I had ruined the pictures of her special day. How do you do them again.
So I continue to take pictures at the weddings I attend and give the resulting pictures to the bride and groom. It is funny what goes around comes around or is that even appropriate here? My best friends whose wedding I took pictures at back in August of 1980 have their youngest son getting married in June of this year. I, of course, will be taking pictures of the event, unofficially of course. I have been working on getting tools together. I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT and a decent lens. I will be getting another lens to help round out what I need to do things up properly. I wish I had a second digital camera to use for the wedding but by old digital just will not cut it. I have a nice flash to make a lot of the pictures I would like to take possible. I have Photoshop to help me fix the problems I may have in the pictures and to add some sparkle and pizzaz to the pictures I do take and once again I have a chance to attempt the same series of pictures I took at his parents wedding almost 27 years ago. Either way I know I will have a great time taking pictures and being around for the events. Now if only I could get better at taking pictures between now and then. I have several books ... we will see. Wish me luck!
$50? Hey, $20 gets you an apartment! $50 gets you a photographer! A $100 gets you no photographer. –The Drew Carey Show
Fast forward several years and you see me at my friends wedding of course taking pictures. By then I had a decent Canon film camera and a monster flash. I took pictures over 50 feet away with that flash and had them turn out. Well that worked out well and now here I was taking pictures at my friends wedding. Not professionally but just to have something to give to them as a gift. Well that and the weber grill that we all chipped in on for them.
One thing I managed to capture at the wedding was the bouquet and garter toss. With that fancy flash I was able to take many pictures very rapidly. The first picture was the side of the groom. He was looking ahead getting ready to toss the garter. That was followed by a picture after he tossed the garter with it flying in the air and the bachelors looking at it as it flew their way. Then a picture of them scrambling to come up with the garter and finally a picture of the lucky bachelor triumphantly displaying his trophy. That went pretty wall so I decided to try the same thing for the bride.
A picture of the side of the bride as she was getting ready to toss the bouquet. Another as the bouquet is flying through the air with the bachelorettes intensely focused on the object of their desires. This was followed by the mad dash to snatch up the bouquet and finally a picture of the lovely bachelorette and her prize.
When I took this I had no idea what I was going to do. As things came together I ended up putting together two pages in the wedding album I put together for them. The page on the left was the grooms page, the one on the right was the brides.
The grooms page had the groom on the right side of the page centered half way down the page. On the left side of the page was three pictures. The top was the garter flying, the middle was the scramble for the garter, the bottom was the bachelor and his trophy.
The brides page had the bride on the left side of the page centered half way down the page. On the right side of the page was three pictures. The top was the bouquet flying, the middle was the scramble for the bouquet, the bottom was the bachelorette and her prize.
Perfect except for one thing. When I took the picture I had no idea what I was going to do with it. As a result I was standing on the wrong side of the groom. When I would have liked the groom and bride facing each other instead I had both of them facing the same way. Funny thing is now a days I could have taken care of the with the click of a button and drag down of a menu.
This all occurred back in August of 1980. I have been trying to duplicate that ever since and have never come close. During that time I had the idea of possibly getting into the business of shooting weddings as a side job. I did not know what I was doing but figured I could get some advice from my friend on what to do and what was involved. Well that idea went out the window when I shot pictures at a friends wedding and blew almost 3 rolls of film as I had the shutter speed set wrong and the flash did not sync up. I got some mighty good pictures of everyone’s feet but somehow I did not think anyone would want to see that so I scrapped the pictures and the idea of shooting weddings for a side job. What would I say to a bride if I had ruined the pictures of her special day. How do you do them again.
So I continue to take pictures at the weddings I attend and give the resulting pictures to the bride and groom. It is funny what goes around comes around or is that even appropriate here? My best friends whose wedding I took pictures at back in August of 1980 have their youngest son getting married in June of this year. I, of course, will be taking pictures of the event, unofficially of course. I have been working on getting tools together. I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT and a decent lens. I will be getting another lens to help round out what I need to do things up properly. I wish I had a second digital camera to use for the wedding but by old digital just will not cut it. I have a nice flash to make a lot of the pictures I would like to take possible. I have Photoshop to help me fix the problems I may have in the pictures and to add some sparkle and pizzaz to the pictures I do take and once again I have a chance to attempt the same series of pictures I took at his parents wedding almost 27 years ago. Either way I know I will have a great time taking pictures and being around for the events. Now if only I could get better at taking pictures between now and then. I have several books ... we will see. Wish me luck!
$50? Hey, $20 gets you an apartment! $50 gets you a photographer! A $100 gets you no photographer. –The Drew Carey Show
Posted by barman at 8:25 AM::
Photography is so interesting.
I love the idea of capturing moments in time.
I love the digital age, being able to upload them into the computer instead of having old photographs in envelopes or albums which deteriate over time.
Of course some of the old pictures are pricless.
tc
It all sounds so interesting and something that I myself would love to be doing!!! I wish you the best of luck. I need to get gutsy enough to actually try my hand at something like that.....hmmmm...now who do I know that's getting married....(no one)...BUT..my daughter is getting ready to give birth again real soon....that should be interesting to photograph...(not the actual birth ofcourse)but several shots of the new born!!!
TC, it is amazing where things have gone. The things you used to have to do yourself in the darkroom and pay someone a lot to do before are not easy to do and they turn out so good. And yes old pictures are great too. I need to get a scanner so I can work with those too.
Jan, how about taking a few pictures and putting together an announcement or a keepsake for your daughter. You know she would love it. It is not that hard to do and if I could be of any help (not that I am an expert) let me know.
Barman don't be so modest. Your like the Ansel Adams of blogland!
Mornin son..
Mornin' G-Man. I have lots to learn which I try to do all the time but thank you. Maybe some day I will measure up to that.
I still have to take the pic I need you to touch up.
You're my talented hero.
I hadn't thought about ruining rolls of film as a wedding photographer. I'm glad I didn't think about this for our wedding.
You definately have a talent for photography.
I haven't had the time to properly thank you for the awesome CD you sent me. I know how much time that took you. Your work amazed me. Thank you!!! You inspire me!
very cool... I'll make sure I invite you to my next wedding!
You do have some awesome pics on you blog :) I pretty much suck at taking pics lol
Sign, with digital it is a lot less likely. I take several pictures up front to make sure I have things set up properly and check every now and then to make sure everything is OK. If I would have checked my settings with film I would have been OK but no! Thank you, you are to kind and you know what, I learned so much on doing that CD. So I am the real winner with hearing a great symphony and learning so much.
Chrissie, I would love to be your second photographer. I do pretty good candids. :) I feel the same way about what I can do. My Brother in Law is much better than I and so is my best friend but I am always learning. While I am OK seeing the photo ahead of time, they do better. Hence one of the books I am reading is how to see what you are taking a picture of in a different way.
Manny, any time. I am ordering some add-on stuff for Photoshop that should be useful too. But then there is not need to improve perfection. :)
You could always come over to the UK and practice on me. ;)
Oh Suze ... I need lots and lots and lots of practice. ;) I best get me an adapter so I can keep my batteries charged and ready.
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