Official BeyondUnreal Photography Thread

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OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
I have been legally married for almost four years, but we never had a wedding.

Weddings are simply glorified expensive parties. I know because I do about 15-20 of them a year. You don't need to have one honestly. I'd rather just spend it all on a vacation. :)

I am jealous of your Hawaii trip!
 

OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
The wedding season has wound down so I've got a little bit more time on my hands to do things I love.. like browse forums :)

Here are a few shots from a recent dance company shoot:

MBP_0119.jpg


MBP_0171.jpg


MBP_0174.jpg


MBP_0221.jpg


MBP_0320_4.jpg



Free way overpasses rock. I used three lights. One in the front at 1/4 power and two in the back at full power. I needed to blow out the background in a bad way. Even with two AB1600 at full power I wasn't able to do it without pushing up to ISO 3200 on my D700. A shame.. so I did most of what I wanted to do in post. I ended up using iso 800 which is perfect. Still looks tight and the company loves it!
MBP_0308.jpg
 

OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
Engagement session:

HOT!
MBP_6223.jpg


First time trying the brenizer method. 50mm 1.4. I didn't calculate how shallow it ended up being. Its very dreamlike. I took 16 photos to make this one.
Untitled_Panorama1_004_.jpg



A few wedding shots:

Macro from 1970's and its still one of the best out there.

MBP_8317.jpg


MBP_4865_3.jpg


MBP_2954_4_FB.jpg


They had a bike at the wedding. I was like.. Hell yeah!
MBP_3104_2_FB.jpg


MBP_9369.jpg


Classic pose. Brides favorite.
MBP_0189_1.jpg


HDR.. but you wouldnt think that from looking at it... so its more of a sudo layered hdr.
MBP_0117_3.jpg
 

BillyBadAss

Strong Cock of The North
May 25, 1999
8,879
60
48
48
Tokyo, JP
flickr.com
Weddings are simply glorified expensive parties. I know because I do about 15-20 of them a year. You don't need to have one honestly. I'd rather just spend it all on a vacation. :)

I am jealous of your Hawaii trip!

Yeah, but I was down for it and weddings are fun so fuck it.:)

Nice photos by the way. Do you have a partner to do your wedding posts? Our wedding photographer took over a thousand shots of us at different locations etc. Then the very next day we saw him shooting another wedding. I can only assume he has assistants. Do you do the same, or do you have enough time for post. Also, how many shots do you average per wedding?
 

OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
Yeah, but I was down for it and weddings are fun so fuck it.:)

Nice photos by the way. Do you have a partner to do your wedding posts? Our wedding photographer took over a thousand shots of us at different locations etc. Then the very next day we saw him shooting another wedding. I can only assume he has assistants. Do you do the same, or do you have enough time for post. Also, how many shots do you average per wedding?

I don't have an assistant to post photos, but I should! Right now I have a pool of 2nd photographers and assistants. Funny how my best assistants are not photographers and aren't interested in anything beyond assisting and having a good time. They are just damn good at assisting.

I average about 1k - 2k photos a wedding. My 2nd shooter usually pulls in about 1k photos. Everything gets dwindled down to about 450 - 700 photos. Lots of duplicates, off moments, test shots, and of course non keepers. It's just the way it goes. It really depends on how exciting the wedding was, how interesting the location is, how many people are hams for the camera, how long the wedding was, and how cooperative people were.



Wow - this lady is a beauty - what a smile!

She is a super awesome person! Alas she moved away from the west coast to the mid east. Single too!
 
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IronMonkey

Moi?
Apr 23, 2005
1,746
0
36
62
Scotland
www.margrave.myzen.co.uk
I average about 1k - 2k photos a wedding. My 2nd shooter usually pulls in about 1k photos. Everything gets dwindled down to about 450 - 700 photos. Lots of duplicates, off moments, test shots, and of course non keepers.

At a Judo competition I might average 600-1000 shots over two cameras. At a competition organised by our club that goes up to 3000-3500 shots (because I shoot as many matches as possible and not just those where our club members are competing).

Now I have a very high wastage rate as a lot of shots are 6-7 frame bursts taken when I think a throw is about to happen. I start shooting in anticipation (watch the feet!) and I get it wrong a lot of the time (no move happens, a counter stops anything interesting from happening etc.) The "nothing happens" effect also makes it fairly easy to sort out the photos for further processing.

So, to run to 1-2k shots per event (on one of your cameras) without the frequent use of burst mode (I assume) - wow! That is a lot of work, and that is without counting the post-processing effort. I assume that your wastage rate is much lower than mine (different domains, professional ability etc.) but I imagine that makes sorting out the "keepers" even harder.

And to have to complete 20 such events through a season (not even a full year?) in addition to your other commissions. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. :)
 

OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
That is completely normal for action shooting. When I do dance photography I shoot about 2-3k shots in a 2 hour performance. I end up with 100-200 photos. Keeper rate is pretty low because you have no idea what is going to happen. You can only shoot into the show and crank off the frames a bit more when something does happen. Choosing photos is a crazy process and takes about an 1-2 hours. Editing takes another 6-8 hours at least.

I assume its pretty dark inside where the competition is taking place. The crappier the noise quality in the photo the more time it takes to process it.

I might have a higher keeper rate than you but it just happens with time as you get used to what happens and what your clients like to see.
 

IronMonkey

Moi?
Apr 23, 2005
1,746
0
36
62
Scotland
www.margrave.myzen.co.uk
I assume its pretty dark inside where the competition is taking place. The crappier the noise quality in the photo the more time it takes to process it.
Oh yes!

Varies by venue but I normally set up for an average shutter speed around 1/500th. Beyond that, diminishing returns set in unless you are shooting a competition at the top of the Junior age bracket or a Senior competition (much, much faster movement).

By way of benchmark, the best venue that tends to be used (Ravenscraig Regional Sports Centre) gets me 1/250th @ ISO500, f2.8 with a beautiful light temperature. The worst (Meadowbank) struggles to give me 1/250th at ISO 3200, f2.8 (and has a horrible urine-coloured light to boot => everything at ISO 6400 with a lot of post adjustments). It takes forever to process photos from the latter venue. :(

I might have a higher keeper rate than you but it just happens with time as you get used to what happens and what your clients like to see.
My keeper rate is a lot better than it was when I first started.

Experience (and talent!) does count and that's why I'd be surprised if you didn't have a better keeper rate. I am at peace with my amateur status and abilities. :)