ReactWithin

Back in the fall, my buddy Justin got married, and while enjoying the reception I was approached by another couple who is friends with us as well. They had mentioned that they were to be wed in April, and asked if I might be interested in shooting the wedding. I was both thrilled and nervous at the same time, but thought if I was to step up to the plate, Jenn and Pete’s wedding was the best way to do it. We corresponded a couple times over the winter, and came up with a price that was great for both of us. I was very upfront, and told them from the getgo that I was not a pro, and had never shot a wedding before. I gave them links to my work, and they were pleased. We all decided to throw caution to the wind and give this a go. I did research, looked at pics, read tips and tricks…I felt ready. At least as ready as I could have been.

Fastforward a few months to April 10th…

I met with Jenn at the venue which was Searles Castle in Windham, NH. We toured the area, and decided on some great spots for shooting. What a PLACE!! If you ever have a chance to head up there for any reason, by all means….do.

7 days passed. Sunday April 17th had arrived more quickly than I could have ever expected. Stress was setting in.

The ceremony was to start at 3, outside in a fantastic area…weather permitting. I was REALLY pulling for an outdoor ceremony, as that left off the possibility of needing to light the interior area where ceremonies are held if the weather goes sour. Of course it rained most of the morning.

I arrived at about 1:20ish to allow time to set stuff up, plug things in, and start shooting all the preparation shots. The groom arrived shortly after I did, and I wasted no time before beginning the task at hand. The bride was there not too long after, so it became more challenging to be in 2 places at once…grooms room for the application of the corsages…run to the brides room for the lacing up the dress pics…back to grooms room for a champagne toast…sprint to the brides room to get shots of her gazing into the mirror….whew!

Time for the ceremony! Without a WORD of a lie, it rained until about 2:30. The sun then came out, the clouds cleared, and the day became perfection. The sun was just slightly brighter than what i was (selfishly) hoping for. As everyone knows…shooting in bright sun makes for rough shadows and easy blowouts, especially with a white wedding dress. The ceremony went without any issues. Beautiful setting, great service…overall wonderful. I was able to get all the important shots from the ceremony, though if I could do it over, I would have approached the bride and groom a bit more to get more detailed shots of the exchanging of the rings.

The time between the end of the ceremony to the beginning of the rehearsal is a blur. It was madness. I was clearly more stressed than the bride, and that was verified when she approached me with a smile and said “Calm down. You’re doing great!” I got some nice shots of the bride and groom greeting guests, and then it was time to get the formals. Everything went pretty well. I would change my position if I could go back and do it again. The ideal spot for the formals had me shooting into the sun which was just on the cusp of disappearing behind the building. But we went for it. The shots are nice. I used an SB600 on-cam for fill, and the rimlighting from the sun is beautiful. The biggest gripe I have with some of the shots is the appearance of some lens flare. I dont think it’s so bad that it kills the shots, but I should have had a lens hood, or repositioned the whole shoot. In hindsight, I realized that I missed one important set of formals…the groom with his groomsmen. Very rookie mistake on my part. Everything was happening so fast I simply lost track of what shots I had gotten, and how much time we had before the reception was to begin. After the formals, the limo gave us a ride down to the bridge. This is a popular spot for the private bride and groom session, and this is my comfort zone. We snapped a ton of great shots at the bridge of the two of them, and made our way back up to the castle for the party.

The reception was held in a large semi-permanent tent…one of those serious party tents with chandeliers and a dancefloor. During the first hour or so of the reception, the lighting conditions were absolutely perfect for shooting without flash at f2. Of course as the night went on, the lighting conditions got worse and worse. It was never too dark to shoot, but the speedlites had to come out, and ISO had to get bumped up. All the important shots were achieved…cake, groom with mom dance, bride with dad dance, couples first dance, throwing the flowers, toasts, etc. In between all those shots were all the party shots…dancing, eating, talking… I experimented a bit with dragging the shutter. I had 2 motives in mind for this. 1. was to get some club scene type shots, and; 2. was to get away with slower shutter speeds while still capturing the subject and putting the ambient light to good use.

The only curveball I was thrown was that the party was meant to end at 8-8:30, but at 8, the DJ got on the mic and announced that the party would be extended until 9:30. I was beginning to conserve memorycard space just before the announcement was made, because I wanted to be sure I got enough shots of Pete and Jenn exiting the reception and entering the limo to be whisked away. I just remained more conservative until the end. This also helped maintain the batteries a bit longer (granted I had 3 batteries for the D90, and 4 for the D1x). The crowd started to dwindle around 9, and the reception started to wind down. The B&G and remaining wedding party guests went back into the castle and changed into street clothes. It had begun to rain again, and my last shot of the night was the B&G sharing a kiss while the chauffeur held an umbrella over them next to the limo.

The night was over. I was EXHAUSTED. I mustered up whatever energy I had left and gathered my things…all the batteries, speedlites, lenses, cables, cords, and even the studio lights I had brought, just in case. Everything was packed up, and I took inventory. I had everything. I carried everything down to the car in one trip, and got in. I let out a big sigh of relief, and drove home.

I am still going thru images, picking the best and editing. I am going to see the bride and groom next weekend to go over the shots. I sent her a teaser of 15 images, and her reaction was one of happiness and excitement. Needless to say, I was thrilled at that.

A couple things I learned from this experience…
1. There is NO SUCH THING as too much memory. Here I was, perfectly planned for a day to end at 8pm, and then it goes to 9:30. Even another 2gb would have been helpful. I never want to NOT shoot because of a lack of memory.
2. Having a physical list of desired formal shots would have been IMMENSELY helpful. Had I had one, I would not have missed the groomsmen and groom shots. Still kicking myself about that one.

All in all, I chalk it up to a successful learning experience. Would I do another wedding? Sure! I would think long and hard before agreeing to do another one alone, but I really had a great time…doing what I love, in the company of friends, at a party. I never thought wedding photography was something I could get into, but if ever given the opportunity again I would find a second shooter and jump at the chance. Part of the enjoyment, of course, comes from the fact that Pete and Jenn are just awesome people. They were the PERFECT couple to shoot a first wedding for. They were calm, cool, and collected, and they really made me feel like I couldn’t mess up. Never a single ounce of pressure from them. Thanks guys!

Just for reference, the list of equipment used was a Nikon D90 with battery grip, a Nikon D1x, a Nikon 50mm 1.8, a Nikon 18-70 3.5-4.5, a Nikon SB-600, and a Quantaray PZ-1 DSZ. For memory I had 3x2gb CF cards for the D1x, and 2x2gb and 2x4gb cards for the D90, which together held 1,875 pictures (RAW).

Thanks for stopping by and reading. I’m always open to pointers, so if anyone has any advice feel free to share. :)

So this is my Meike grip review, and it’s taken directly from my review I posted over at TPF, so Tyler, don’t expect anything different in this review lol.

“So, I was thrilled today that the Meike grip from Adorama came today with the 2 battery packs. I ordered it Friday, and this is what…Tuesday? Damn good for free shipping in my book! Thanks, Adorama!

Now I should preface this with the fact that I have never handled the official Nikon grip for the D80/90.

My initial reaction is that this thing is diesel. The construction feels solid, it has a VERY similar feeling rubber grip to it that the D1x has, and since I had gotten very used to that, I was pleased that this grip shared that feature. One of the other grips I looked at had the smooth rubber grip area, and this one seems to match the finish of the D90 well. Aesthetically anyway.

The vertical shutter release feels a LOT like that of my previous Nikon bodies in both size and “squishiness” (to be technical lol). The fact that it also has the vertical shutter lock feature is also a plus. Both the main and sub command dials will make for perfect vertical shooting, which is another thing I absolutely loved about the D1x. (sorry I keep comparing the 2, it’s just that I wound up so in love with the pro body of the D1x, I was hesitant to go back to a more compact body…but this grip has me exactly where I want to be.)

No issues getting the grip on at all…the screw bit easily, and locks on pretty tight. Of course it’s only been 8 hours or so, but we’ll see how it holds up over the coming weeks. I may go out and get some of the foam tape like others have done just to seal up where the body and grip meet.

In initial testing, no issues with either of the command dials, shutter button, or AE/AF lock. The battery door seems to work flawlessly, and the batteries are locked in there with 2 little spring tabs. A simple push to the outside of these tabs release the batteries. The grip also came with the AA adapter which could be handy in a pinch, but with 3 batteries, I don’t see it getting much use.

The batteries were not nikon, but took a charge and fit well in the grip. Only time will tell how long they hold a charge for. I don’t expect the performance of the Nikon battery, so I won’t be heartbroken. The grip works on one battery, as I imagine most would.

So, my conclusion…if you’re in the market for a grip for your D90/D80, and dont want the Nikon price tag, by ALL means, get this grip from adorama. It was $59.95 and came with 2 batteries. For as solid as construction is, and the features of the shutter lock, AE/AF lock, dual dials…I don’t know…I’m not sure that deal can be beaten.

Sorry for being so verbose. I tend to get psyched about new gear.

So my buddy (AKA Stones, in my list of people I follow) told me about tumblr today. He set up a nifty page where he can showcase his artwork, and all that good stuff. In the interest of sharing my own, I decided to do the same.

My name is Will.
I make photographs.

I hope you enjoy my work.