anyone can buy a DSLR and be a wedding photographer these days

[Lighthouse]

Thread title and post processing aside, I think these are great photos done by TS. The treatments done on these photos may not be everyone's taste, but I believe TS has processed them according his taste. The fake lens flare are a cheesy though for me.

The pros, on the other hand, I shall not comment.

 

[derricksony]

Dear derricksony,
EiRiK is being sarcastic... you have really put a dent in his ego.

Anyway, if the couple in the pictures like your work... what can any photographer say?

Keep shooting!!!

Thanks KillShot,

The couple have seen my previous works before and have seen how I shot 2 of our common friends wedding, that's why they have requested me to shoot from an alternative view.
I am sure they do not want a repeat shot like what they seen from the "pro" photographer that comes in the bridal package.

Thanks for your visit and encouragement, i love experimenting photography and sometime i do take out of focus shot intentionally too... I guess it is just another form of how i express what i feel about the subject, the event at that moment.

cheers!

 

[derricksony]

Nice Series you got there, but I'm not agree with that statement. An event photographer is not as easy as anyone think. Good photograph comes with good composition, good lighting, good post processing, etc etc and all of these needs experience. This is why people are spending few thousand dollars to get a good photographer as their success rate in getting a good image is higher. Not every one with a DSLR can be a wedding photographer. Not sure how much you have spam your camera on this event, but you can use that as a benchmark to calculate ur success rate. If you are able to produce 100+ good picture then you can consider oneself an event photographer. Anyone can own a DSLR these days but not anyone can unleash its full potential at every magical moments. It needs lots and lots of practice. Its not about the camera but the people behind it. Your statement might cause someone to ruin their photos of their once in a lifetime event.

Hi Unagidon,
I did have more than 100 good shots (much more in fact) for this wedding...I enjoyed this wedding shoot and i even torn the back part of my jean when i tried to climb up a stool to takes some top down shots.

 

[derricksony]

Agree with Unagidon. It's a once in a lifetime for the wedding couples and a professional wedding photographer with years of experiences, better camera and backup equipments will be in a better situations to capture that special moment with much better color, composition & quality results.

If that was my wedding i be quite disappointed with those pics...too soft, not sharp focus, cannot see clearly brides faces in some shots, etc...

Well if the wedding couple don't mind those pics and does not have a budget to paid for professional wedding photographer i guess those pics are ok.

Just my opinion. No offence to you.

When i shoot for friends' wedding, i usually only agree to shoot for them if they already have a pro photographer shooting for them. Then I will have the liberty to shoot whatever i feel I wanna capture the moments and mood in that occasion. I hate taking group shots and hence, i will happily stand behind the professional photographer do their job.

I guess what my friends like about me shooting is i will usually surprise them with my pictures cos most of the professional photographer wouldn't dare to do experimental shots in clients wedding...haha.

No worries, I don't feel offended, in fact, i have asked a lot of my friends to see this thread after you guys starting commenting your view...i told them they are very interesting and also spark some level of learning for many. I guess photography is like music, you can have country style music, R&B, Jazz, classical, techno etc... I am always open to new ideas.

 

[derricksony]

Thread title and post processing aside, I think these are great photos done by TS. The treatments done on these photos may not be everyone's taste, but I believe TS has processed them according his taste. The fake lens flare are a cheesy though for me.

The pros, on the other hand, I shall not comment.

Thanks Lighthouse, I have a few version on PP these pic but I like this series hence I have choosen to edit this batch of picture with common color tone ( my lightroom preset).

One of my friends told me it is refreshing that i changed my style as my past pictures , I usually make my pictures more contrasty. If you have time, you can see my previous post in CS or flickr.

Cheers!

 

[derricksony]

#2 and #3 are nice, but the flare is like a alien laser gun aiming at you.
If amateur phg can shoot like that, the pros got to be careful, luckily he is untrained and might remain so.

Love all the comments, ppl are free to say what they want, that is the beauty of democracy

Thanks Zane80,

I was hoping to catch a flare when i tried to shoot direct at the video cam light, but i was disappointed that my lens didnt catch the flare...maybe i should use some old age minolta lens next time...

 

[derricksony]

nice moment captured, but i'm not really a fan of the washed out look in the photo. would prefer more natural skin tones,
e.g.

Thanks for helping me to editing the style that you like! I have this version too, but i choose to have it washed out on purposely. Some of my friends like it too and had asked me for the preset.

Again, thanks for viewing!

 

[derricksony]

Hei mind to share what lens u use ? : )
Do u use external flash ? : )
Your pic v nice : )
As my friend ask me help on photograph on his wedding .

Hey Meilingchong85,

Glad you were invited to help your friend to shoot at their wedding, you should feel honored.

I was using 50mmf1.4, 85mm f1.4, 16-35 and borrowed my friend's 28-70mm from the second half of the wedding onwards.

Happy shooting and i look forward to see them!

 

[derricksony]

Exactly, maybe thats why you have no love for this industry and even feel the need to stir sh*t with this thread. You dont make a living in photography, but many others do.

To say a word of fairness, amateurs are really the people who are making breakthroughs in photography, they are the real people behind the photography movement, not the pros. Amateurs are actually the people who constantly do experimental and interesting things with photography, and are generous in sharing their methods and techniques. They are the people who bring photography to new levels, they are the people who feed Nikon and Canon. The Pro on the other hand, are restricted by market norms, pay packets, expectations of clients, deadlines, feeding a family... and thus often produce repeated work, without much breakthrough.

But don't forget pros were once amateurs and photography lover just like you Derrick, just because we make our living with photography doesnt mean you can belittle our craft. You don't know sh*t and donno what you are talking.



You do not have the right equipment but boldly states in your title anyone can buy a DSLR and be a wedding photographer. Man, I will be very very worried if my wedding photographer dont use the right equipment for my wedding.



You showed your own underexposed pics and then and complained 'some pro' pictures boring. Its like a fat guy telling another fat guy his overweight.



See? Does it require skill and knowledge to properly express what you saw into photos and result? Or 'anyone can buy a DSLR and be a wedding photographer'? The camera do the thinking for you?



Photoshop is the industry standard software. If you tell the bride and groom you donno photoshop, do you think you can make the booking and become their wedding photographer? or do you tell them the 'anyone can buy a DSLR' line again? And are you sure you used Lightroom to put in those (ugly and fake) lens flare? Those were done with Photoshop. You are not very honest aren't you?



That is IF the couple really likes, but they hired a real wedding photographer for a reason right? They probably got through portfolio of several photographers and interviewed them before choosing isn't it? A lot of people take pictures at wedding, what makes you think the couple care for the pictures taken by any other guest? The fact is that wedding couples in reality cares most about the photos they paid for.

And yes, he needs all the support he has, even if the supporter only have one post.




At least you got 8 posts.

The pro photographer was included in the bridal package actually. I wasn't, but i was invited

I only know how to use the filter in photoshop to create gains or reduce noise and maybe play a bit of creating lens flare, actually I just found on last week. I still dunno how to do layers and change the tone of the picture to my liking using CS5, that's why i relied on lightroom.

Those picture were intentionally bring down to underexpose using lightroom. I wanna that mood. I still know how to set my camera to expose correctly and i still think it is easier to learn than CS5...haha.

For equipment, even though i dont have those top of the range nikon and canon , i believe, it doesnt means with those top of the range equipment, you have sure nice picture coming out. I have seen many of those pic in Flickr that using Canon 500 and Nikon D90, Sony A350 and still can shoot very very nice pic..

Anyway, thanks for returning to comment again.... I would like to learn more from you someday.

 

[killshot]

And yes, he needs all the support he has, even if the supporter only have one post. /
At least you got 8 posts.

One post, 8 posts, 100 posts... comments are comments.
I see that you are really affected with this thread.
You even took a swipe at poor meilingchong85.

From your post earlier, I can tell you have put in a lot of effort, heart and soul to be where you are today,
and I respect that.
So I can understand why you get upset when you think that people are trying to undermine the industry.

But with the number of positive and negative comments almost being the same tells a lot.
This is after all a forum, a place where Masters and students, pros and amateurs, old birds and newbies can share and learn.


I know exactly what sparked the '1 post' remark.
But it's ok, we are human.
Keep the constructive comment at the photography level and let's not get too personal..
Old school or new school... time to share.

2 posts.

 

[Ah_K]

Thanks KillShot,

The couple have seen my previous works before and have seen how I shot 2 of our common friends wedding, that's why they have requested me to shoot from an alternative view.
I am sure they do not want a repeat shot like what they seen from the "pro" photographer that comes in the bridal package.

Thanks for your visit and encouragement, i love experimenting photography and sometime i do take out of focus shot intentionally too... I guess it is just another form of how i express what i feel about the subject, the event at that moment.

cheers!

I guess the couple made a nice decision here to get you to be a "non-official" photog because the main photog came with the bridal package and from experience, you are right that they usually do not experiment too much. And you returned their faith with some decent shots. Good job there. I wouldn't say the shots you posted are super creative because those are stuff we have certainly seen before here on CS on many occasions. But it's a start, considering you don't shoot wedding much and I must say if you work hard at it and respect the craft, you might get somewhere some day.

When i shoot for friends' wedding, i usually only agree to shoot for them if they already have a pro photographer shooting for them. Then I will have the liberty to shoot whatever i feel I wanna capture the moments and mood in that occasion. I hate taking group shots and hence, i will happily stand behind the professional photographer do their job.

I guess what my friends like about me shooting is i will usually surprise them with my pictures cos most of the professional photographer wouldn't dare to do experimental shots in clients wedding...haha.

Like I said in my previous post, there's much more you need to know about the industry as you seem to have alot of misconception about our work, especially that of a true mid to high end professional photographer. A good photographer will not only constantly take risks and create but also do the mundane/boring stuff like group shots (love it or hate it) and do them really well, because that's what's required of them from the couples. Couples nowadays are really market smart and if you can't produce innovative, top quality works, there's no way we, as professional photogs who charges for a living, can ever survive if anyone that picks up a DSLR can shoot like us.

For eg. in my case, alot of my couples actually asks me to roam and innovate while they get a friend/relative/less-costly-photographer to cover the group shots and standard shots, even though I do not ask that of them.

Really do hope your view lightens up a lil bit and pls do share more images here rather than discuss about whether or not it's easy to be a wedding photog. As this is a portfolio section and discussions like these would be much better served in the other sub-sections like maybe Kopitiam or The Photo Biz.

 

[derricksony]

Thanks Ah_K

You are one of the better wedding photographer that I have seen as some of them from friends wedding, they shoot like what my title suggest. I will take the suggestion and advice and those of that had replied in the thread. Opening to new ideas is what i found more interesting in photography.

Anyway, I will continue to post some of the "not creative shots" from this same wedding just for sharing

The last shot taken in this wedding which was closed to midnight. I use high ISO as it was very dark and requested the bride to turn around. The shot has very high ISO noise, but the picture turned out to almost exactly what have pictured in mind...it was a pure experiment.

 

[sjackal]

When i shoot for friends' wedding, i usually only agree to shoot for them if they already have a pro photographer shooting for them. Then I will have the liberty to shoot whatever i feel I wanna capture the moments and mood in that occasion. I hate taking group shots and hence, i will happily stand behind the professional photographer do their job.

I guess what my friends like about me shooting is i will usually surprise them with my pictures cos most of the professional photographer wouldn't dare to do experimental shots in clients wedding...haha.

No worries, I don't feel offended, in fact, i have asked a lot of my friends to see this thread after you guys starting commenting your view...i told them they are very interesting and also spark some level of learning for many. I guess photography is like music, you can have country style music, R&B, Jazz, classical, techno etc... I am always open to new ideas.

The shots are nice, good composition and moments, but the processing are way too heavy. Just think of it rationally; if its a photoshop action or lightroom preset, if you can do it, any pros or non-pros can also do, so its not special or 'experimental'. Its just another post processing effect. You don't see real wedding photographers processing their pictures this way is because they are probably delivering pictures of the whole day and if every pictures look like this the wedding couple are locked to this look. While it may look cool when you first see it, how will it look next year? And then 5 years later, and then 10 years later? Processing is just like fashion, extremely vulnerable to changes in trends, 10 years later people are going to say 'Yeee, that is so 2011, hahaha'. On the contrary it is the photos with clean processing and honest colors that will stand the test of time.

Saying most professional photographers wouldn't dare to do experimental shots is quite too assuming. Those just starting out maybe, or those at the lower price range, but you actually see a lot of creativity and mind blowing work from those pros at the top of their game; just look at our local favorites like William Chua, Joe Teng, Brian Ho, JOHO, etc, or look at the contest winning photographers at ISPWP or WPJA, etc (where many S'pore wedding photogs won). Maybe then you will respect the industry more.

I admire your staying cool after taking all those blunt postings. But you probably expected it with your provocative thread title.

 

[derricksony]

 

[derricksony]

nice moment captured, but i'm not really a fan of the washed out look in the photo. would prefer more natural skin tones,
e.g.

Thanks for helping me to edit this pic, but when you post the picture in flickr, can let me know please so that i can check with the couple to seek their consent. thanks and have a nice day.

 

[killshot]

i guess the couple made a nice decision here to get you to be a "non-official" photog because the main photog came with the bridal package and from experience, you are right that they usually do not experiment too much. And you returned their faith with some decent shots. Good job there. I wouldn't say the shots you posted are super creative because those are stuff we have certainly seen before here on cs on many occasions. But it's a start, considering you don't shoot wedding much and i must say if you work hard at it and respect the craft, you might get somewhere some day.



Like i said in my previous post, there's much more you need to know about the industry as you seem to have alot of misconception about our work, especially that of a true mid to high end professional photographer. A good photographer will not only constantly take risks and create but also do the mundane/boring stuff like group shots (love it or hate it) and do them really well, because that's what's required of them from the couples. Couples nowadays are really market smart and if you can't produce innovative, top quality works, there's no way we, as professional photogs who charges for a living, can ever survive if anyone that picks up a dslr can shoot like us.

For eg. In my case, alot of my couples actually asks me to roam and innovate while they get a friend/relative/less-costly-photographer to cover the group shots and standard shots, even though i do not ask that of them.

Really do hope your view lightens up a lil bit and pls do share more images here rather than discuss about whether or not it's easy to be a wedding photog. As this is a portfolio section and discussions like these would be much better served in the other sub-sections like maybe kopitiam or the photo biz.

Respect!!!!

 

[lifestyle1881]

Not that most professional wedding photographer won't dare to experiment shots in client wedding, it is because most of the time they do not have this luxury of time as what the 2nd shooter or guests have as too many things happenning at the same time and main photographer need to focus on the wedding plan itinary. Most of the time, they are capturing the most important shots that what the client expected and paid for (be it group shots, cake cuttings, etc...). Only time for experiment i know from experiences as a main wedding photographer is during the couple meal times (which is not long also).

Off course if the wedding couple request a certain type of pictures they would have informed the photographer way ahead of the wedding day so that the photographer can prepare and plan those shots.

Open to new idea is good but if that execution of the shot in the wedding is making the couple nervous or frustrated then it will make the couple uncomfortable (and usually it will show in the pictures...smiles are not there, etc..) and that is not what you want during the wedding day as the couple are already very stress with this big event already.

Usually i would take the couple for a pre-shoot to make them comfortable with my style of shooting & communication so that the couple would be more relax & comfortable on the actual day of wedding.

....I guess what my friends like about me shooting is i will usually surprise them with my pictures cos most of the professional photographer wouldn't dare to do experimental shots in clients wedding...haha.

No worries, I don't feel offended, in fact, i have asked a lot of my friends to see this thread after you guys starting commenting your view...i told them they are very interesting and also spark some level of learning for many. I guess photography is like music, you can have country style music, R&B, Jazz, classical, techno etc... I am always open to new ideas.

 

[derricksony]

The shots are nice, good composition and moments, but the processing are way too heavy. Just think of it rationally; if its a photoshop action or lightroom preset, if you can do it, any pros or non-pros can also do, so its not special or 'experimental'. Its just another post processing effect. You don't see real wedding photographers processing their pictures this way is because they are probably delivering pictures of the whole day and if every pictures look like this the wedding couple are locked to this look. While it may look cool when you first see it, how will it look next year? And then 5 years later, and then 10 years later? Processing is just like fashion, extremely vulnerable to changes in trends, 10 years later people are going to say 'Yeee, that is so 2011, hahaha'. On the contrary it is the photos with clean processing and honest colors that will stand the test of time.

Saying most professional photographers wouldn't dare to do experimental shots is quite too assuming. Those just starting out maybe, or those at the lower price range, but you actually see a lot of creativity and mind blowing work from those pros at the top of their game; just look at our local favorites like William Chua, Joe Teng, Brian Ho, JOHO, etc, or look at the contest winning photographers at ISPWP or WPJA, etc (where many S'pore wedding photogs won). Maybe then you will respect the industry more.

I admire your staying cool after taking all those blunt postings. But you probably expected it with your provocative thread title.

Yes, I do expect these blunt posting.

For the PP, yes, I wanna make them look 2011...cos when the couple check out these picture again in 30 years later, they will say, hey see, this is what happened in that era.

At least that's how i feel when i see my 12 years old wedding pic..i enjoyed the "old fashioned" thingy then.


Yes, there are truly talented wedding photographers out there that inquires many of us...but there are also some pro that are not so inspiring. Lets encourage each other for improvement of our works.

Cheers!

 

[derricksony]

Not that most professional wedding photographer won't dare to experiment shots in client wedding, it is because most of the time they do not have this luxury of time as what the 2nd shooter or guests have as too many things happenning at the same time and main photographer need to focus on the wedding plan itinary. Most of the time, they are capturing the most important shots that what the client expected and paid for (be it group shots, cake cuttings, etc...). Only time for experiment i know from experiences as a main wedding photographer is during the couple meal times (which is not long also).

Off course if the wedding couple request a certain type of pictures they would have informed the photographer way ahead of the wedding day so that the photographer can prepare and plan those shots.

Open to new idea is good but if that execution of the shot in the wedding is making the couple nervous or frustrated then it will make the couple uncomfortable (and usually it will show in the pictures...smiles are not there, etc..) and that is not what you want during the wedding day as the couple are already very stress with this big event already.

Usually i would take the couple for a pre-shoot to make them comfortable with my style of shooting & communication so that the couple would be more relax & comfortable on the actual day of wedding.

I agree, taking preshot and having the couple seen your portfolio is important so that they already know what they want. Best is we can have a few styles for them to choose.

 

[pikapig]

haha...frankly speaking..u r not wrong by saying that..every wedding photographer starts from basic...n shoot w a dslr..so theoretically u r correct...

But then somehow it steps on the ego of many other photographers..and ppl who adore them....so in a way...u r wrong...

Just concentrate on shooting more la...a dslr is for shooting and not for talking...
A very professional photographer can still be "hiam" by his client for his work...and u can throw ur award winning portfolio to a customer..but they just don like...n choose some other crappy photographer over u...
Its v subjective

U did much better than alot of us..especially the composition and moment capturing..i bet u already have some shots u will like to capture before the thing happened...
Especially like the pic with the ceilings!