My Latest Photography Project

My friends asked me to shoot their engagement photos. These are taken at Stanford University and Santana Row in San Jose, CA

Feedback welcome.

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Are you doing their wedding too? They'd be stupid NOT to ask you to do the wedding too!!!

There's a saying around wedding photographers...

"The two most nervous people at a wedding are the groom and the official photographer"

With that said, I dunno if I want that kinda pressure. Weddings are sacred and special. Full of emotions and memories. I'd be too scared that I would blow something or make some monumental mistake and I'd look like a fool if I asked for a "do-over".

Well not if they want him to be able to enjoy the wedding and not be working..

wow.. great pics.. what kind of camera are you using??

I have TWO Nikon D70's (the original D70, not the newer D70s). PRetty good for a 3-yr old camera. I never did feel the need to justify spending $$$ to buy the latest and greatest.

Most shots were with a 50mm f1.8D or 28mm f2.8. Some with the kit lens and SB800 Speedlight or gold/silver 42" reflector.

Are those photoshopped at all? If not, that camera has some great saturation settings (I assume it does, unless those colors are just that vibrant).

(I'm still learning the D80, I've got it set to oversaturate colors - which of course is almost useless right now with winter in DC.)

Nicely done.

great work KJ take the job, they'll be lucky to have such nice shots later

Photoshop never touched these. Adobe Lightroom Beta did. (gotta use it while its still free!)

I did crank up the saturation and vibrance in the colors. I'm still learning though and might revisit these for more tweeks since, although I am happy with the colorful walls, I'm not 100% happy with the skin tones. She's not supposed to look that orange.

I shot these in .NEF and used Lightroom to convert to .JPG

I did set some in-camera saturation settings up. - per Kenrockwell's recommended custom settings. (link: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70/d70-settings-menus-shooting.htm )

Set to Color Mode IIIa and Saturation at +

I like the 2nd and 3rd because of the way the light is filtering through the trees to highlight her first and them him. And I love the last one as it looks the most candid to me.

Awesome work all around

Great shots! I would hire you to take my wedding pics but I'm already married.

I HAVE THIS SAME SHIRT AND I WORE IT TODAY! BITCH!



Just kidding. But she's LUCKY she doesn't live in my city!!!!!!!!

P.S. - Those are GREAT slice-of-life pics! I like the one where they are making funny faces. So playful and fun! They really show the couple's personality! DEFINITELY my style of photos. I'd totally hire you to do my wedding/engagement photos.

P.P.S. - See?

From an extreme amateur...
You took really great shots KJ! I think my least favorite are the ones where the couple looks at the camera. I prefer candid shots rathern than posed shots, though I know sometimes poses are needed. My favorite one is the one where they're holding hands. I love the lighting and the colors!

Now the negative... I know others may disagree & I hope my comments do not offend! =)): I would've suggested the couple dress up a little bit. Something casual but comfortable similar to what they're wearing but maybe just less baggy. I dunno why but their pants are distracting. I would've also suggested for the bride to let her hair down.

Lastly, I think you're right about being under pressure as a photographer on their wedding day. My only suggestion is to take your camera and as you mingle take some candid shots of the event. This way you can still party, you're not on your toes or worried about your camera and the couple gets a really nice gift from you later! =D

That sorta happened with my friend. A lot of us had cameras at her wedding and afterwards everyone gave her their pictures. When they showed off their album they showed off the pro pix along with the pix from friends & family. Both the bride & groom were really happy to get all those extra shots!

I agree -- her hair being down might've been a little more natural and flowed better with the photos. More laid back feel. It's like they are dressed totally casual but her hair screams "black tie affair!"

If you look at my photosite - http://www.kjdragon.smugmug.com/Weddings

I have shot candids at (probably) over 20 weddings in the last many years for friends and family. I typically shot between 120 shots (film) to 800 shots (Digital) per wedding. Then I make prints of the best shots, and put them into an album.

This is usually my wedding gift to the couple. If I did this for hire - I could probably charge a few hundred dollars for that I give to them for free.

At my best friends' wedding the brides cousin did all the photography (she's a professional as well) and she had a blast. I am still waiting on digital copies of the pictures she took (both 35mm and digi) because there were some really great ones.

KJ, you are a very talented photographer, keep it up, and I'll keep you in mind the next time I need a photographer.

looks like you are wearing a wedding Cake

Do not talk about my clothes or my fashion sense or I will kick your butt. It's all I have man, it's all I have...

:p

Great pics and great use of the rule of thirds, played well on most of the photos. keep it up!!!
Its great that the photos were not photoshop'd. That's the difference between an amateur and pro. pro's knows their equipment and spend less time editing their images.
Also, taking about equipments you don't get the best images on an expensive camera, i dont like it when people asked what camera did you use sorry, but its not in the camera but on the technic of the photographer and how he compose
his image. The Nikon D70 is a great dslr. one of the reasons that i still have it on my gear is that the D70 has a faster flash sych speed of 500 than my D2xs which is 250.
If you were to add I greatly suggest the D200 lighter than a D2Xs. or for portait a fuji s3 its a slow camera but it takes great images.
I would like to also include this site Blackbox This unit is pretty good and Al Jacobs is a great guy, fast in response. I did 2 weddings and found myself carrying 24+ AA batteries for my speedlites. Now, i have ordered this i can shoot and not worry about my batteries.
Just tell Al, Donnie Villanueva recommended you.

I wonder if you can share the exif informations on the images?

I just just finished 2 weddings last month myself. Its a great experience, i dont charge much and i dont market as much cause i still like having some weekends to relax.
But, even on slow days or relaxation i still shoot, heck i shoot everyday to sharpen my skills.

Keep Shooting!!! and Always on Manual

Had a tough time choosing a favorite 'cause they're all great but this is it for what it's worth...



One comment, meant constructively of course...many of the pics have non-vertical backgrounds due to camera tilt. In some shots it's a little and some it's a lot. It's an effective technique but IMO it was a distraction in a couple of the pics where it draws the eye away from the couple.

All in all, outstanding work and as someone else said, they will cherish these, especially as time passes.

Also, Question were you using the fong on the images? or are you bouncing? The reason i asked is photos have great tones I like seeing good distribution of light.

I think the non-vertical pictures look incredible! I think it adds to the picture and creates more of a sense of actually being there in the shot.

I am really impressed with the range of color in each picture, absolutely amazing!

I like how the couple looks comfortable in the pictures, like they weren't being photographed. You just see a couple that is happy and totally wrapped up in each other, which is perfect for engagement pictures.

Job well done!

Absolutely wonderful pics you took KJ... I personally like the series of pics where the background wall has several colors splashed all around... The choking one is classic... Maybe have both of them choking each other if you had to do a "re-do"... And the sunlight breaking through the trees is definately a keeper...

I did a similar photoshoot for my younger sister... She meet her husband at USC... She decided that she wanted pictures from where they met, had their first date, and where they hung out... All in all, it was very similar to what you shot...

Nonetheless, you did an excellent job... As an amateur photog, it's nice to see how you develop your "craft" throughout the years... And by looking at your smugmug site, you're developing a great eye on what you photograph... Keep up the fantastic work KJ... PEACE!!!

Fellow amateur photog,
Air B

PS. It sure is time to add an "XOC Fotog Forum" here... Xterra related or not, it add a bit of flava to our existing forums...

warlock,
I had the Fong Lightsphere in my bag the whole day and never used it. Most of these shots used only ambient light. Some my GF was holding a 42" reflector that I just got from amazon.com and a few others I used my SB800 with the omnibounce cover that it came with and just bounced the light off a nearby wall or something. The shot with the couple on the grass, I had my GF hold my SB800 to camera left a few ft away and aimed it down at the couple to cast shadows across their features to add depth. The SB800 was connected to my D70 via an SC-17 cord.

I plan to keep my D70 until it dies. If I were to upgrade today, I'd probably get a D80 and not a D200. The D80 has alot of the same advancements as the D200 (AF mechanisms, sensor performance, viewfinder, etc) but not the super advancements that I probably wouldn't use (like weatherproofing). Also the D80 is still in my price range.

As for the tilt, I was inspired by reading this guys blog: http://www.xanga.com/scottrobert/426820604/item.html

Scott Robert specializes in high end wedding photography and recently was hired to shoot Kris and Anna Bensons rededication party (YES guys - THAT Anna Benson) Check out his blog to see pics from that party.

I'll update the original post with exif info later. check back.

The last all day wedding that I shot (800 pics from 9am to 11pm) I went thru 8 AA Energizer NiMh batteries. Not horrible by any means. If I ever want an external battery pack - I'd definetly go for the black box though - it comes high recommended by event photographers everywhere.

cool i do visit his site ( Scott Robert ), and use the same technique.

I wish your close to my area so we can organize a nice photo safari slash xterra excursion.

This weekend ill be up by the Shenandoah mountains or DC area to get more images, depending If im going to be on call this weekend to get more images.

Keep Shooting Mang!!! and dont forget to share the exif when your not busy

Done.

kj i checked out your site. You have awesome pix! I think the ones you posted here are some of the better ones. I must say, however, I didn't get to see all the pix (some were locked). I loved the pix of "Christie & Dave" at the Berkley Rose Garden!

I'm not sure but it seems like you do better outdoors and with still life. You also seem to do well with kids. Some of your indoor action shots seem a little dark to me.

That sounds about right. Alot of those indoor shots are before I figured out how to effectively use my flash. (I'm still tinkering with that part). Also for indoor shots, I tend to use my cheaper/lower quality kit lens and for the "shots that really count" - I tend to use the better prime lenses (like the 50mm). The prime lenses are clearer, and give better colors and contrast.

I also only just started shooting in NEF format as prior to me playing with Adobe Lightroom - I didn't have the time to post-process NEF shots to JPG one at a time - especially when I take nearly 800 shots at a wedding. (yikes!)

For this latest engagement shoot, I knew that there would only be a handful of shots that I really liked so I shot NEF format and took the time to edit them individually. For weddings - the focus is a little different as I am more an observer and am mostly there to document the festivities, so in effect - quantity may be more important than quality.

Thanks for stopping by.

I had another engagement session with some other friends. Personally, this session wasn't as strong as my previous session. I'm learning and sometimes you take a step backwards in your development. This was probably one of those times.

---------------------------------

Saturday, March 17, 2007

First stop: San Francisco, CA
Golden Gate Park
Japanese Tea Garden

This venue was really challenging for two reasons. The garden was busy. Really busy. It was a nice saturday afternoon and the place was packed with tourists who kept getting in the way. Also I had to stay on the paths and not trample on the grass or soil so that really limited the angles and distances I could use. It was sorta neat "camera watching" though. There were alot of other DSLR users exploring the park with us. I counted several D200's, and D80's. No D50's surprisingly. Also a few 20/30D's. As usual when in SF though, the Nikons outnumbered the Canons. So much for Canon's bragged "larger market share". For some reason, whenever I got to SF - I observe that Nikon's outnumber the Canons like 3 to 1. Strange.

The weather was a little chilly and the sky was foggy and overcast the entire time we were there.

D70 | ISO 640 | f5.6 | 28mm f2.8 | 1/200


D70 | ISO 640 | f5.6 | 28mm f2.8 | 1/500
Maybe someday, I will clone out that handrail.


D70 | ISO 640 | f3.5 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/320


D70 | ISO 320 | f8.0 | 18-70 kit lens | 60mm | 1/160
We waited a good 10-15 minutes for this bench to open up.


D70 | ISO 800 | f4.0 | 28mm f2.8 | 1/1250


D70 | ISO 640 | f5.6 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/400


D70 | ISO 400 | f6.3 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/400
A little fun to relax the models.


D70 | ISO 640 | f2.8 | 28mm f2.8 | 1/4000

Final Stop: Foster City, CA - Leo Park. This was a much easier venue to shoot at. Blue skys, harsh sunset lighting, and NO CROWDS to deal with. The main limitation was my sucky skills in these conditions and so alot of would be good shots were blown.

D70 | ISO 320 | f9 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/400


D70 | ISO 200 | f2.8 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/1000


D70 | ISO 200 | f6.3 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/400
See the gold reflector?


D70 | ISO 400 | f5.0 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/800
(used a gold reflector here)


D70 | ISO 200 | f4.0 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/500


D70 | ISO 1000 | f4.5 | 50mm f1.8D | 1/8000
(Why the heck was I using ISO 1000????)


This whole session was a surprise for her. It was their 9th yr anniversary and he wanted to surprise her with a photo session. HE also surprised her by proposing and presenting her with a series of rings (pictured above).

Very cool stuff. Hey, I never knock overcast weather. Nature's best lightbox!

Great Shots Man!!!!Me likes