Selecting vendors can be a hit, or miss situation. I highly recommend highering a wedding planner first. If they're good, they'll take the time to get to know you, your personality and style. Planners typically have relationships with multiple vendors in the wedding industry. They'll be able to refer some that will be within your budget and complement your style.
So, your first move is to hire a planner. Make sure that your personalities mesh, you get a great vibe from them and they understand your vision. This person will be your closet friend throughout the planning process and on your special day, as well as the liaison to all of your vendors.
Questions about family rules
After years of having my daughters left out of family get-together's with their female cousins I brought it to my sister in laws attention that my kids didn't feel like part of the family. They have tried over the last several years to try to include my kids but honestly my girls want no part of it, and I barely know my nieces. Now they are all older and this last weekend there was a wedding shower. I sent several gifts but did not attend.
I am very busy with 5 kids of my own ranging from 4 - 20 years and always have 6 - 9 kids at my house. I have no time for myself let alone for someone who purposely moved over an hour away to put distance between her family and her siblings. I did my shopping at the last minute and instead of buying one expensive gift I purchased several inexpensive gifts and sent them with another relative, opting out of traveling for the day. When I saw the other relative later I was chided several times for purchasing more than one gift and not attending. I cant help being a realist. I have helped many kids get there first apartment and I know this kid was going to end up with a $100 coffee pot and no cup to drink it out of so why the big deal over multiple gifts and not attending?
As for the shower thing, I would just forget about it. I can maybe see how sending the gift with someone else as opposed to mailing it could send a slightly off message. Clearly you have kids and barely have time, but maybe they felt like you didn't feel it was important. To them it probably was important. Everyone sees these things differently. Also, if you were the one that's been asking for more inclusion, I guess I am not understanding why you aren't taking them up on things.
And not all family has to live 10 minutes from one another. It's perfectly normal that family members live within a few hours from one another. Jobs, schools, work, it's all a factor in where one lives.
I am very busy with 5 kids of my own ranging from 4 - 20 years and always have 6 - 9 kids at my house. I have no time for myself let alone for someone who purposely moved over an hour away to put distance between her family and her siblings. I did my shopping at the last minute and instead of buying one expensive gift I purchased several inexpensive gifts and sent them with another relative, opting out of traveling for the day. When I saw the other relative later I was chided several times for purchasing more than one gift and not attending. I cant help being a realist. I have helped many kids get there first apartment and I know this kid was going to end up with a $100 coffee pot and no cup to drink it out of so why the big deal over multiple gifts and not attending?
As for the shower thing, I would just forget about it. I can maybe see how sending the gift with someone else as opposed to mailing it could send a slightly off message. Clearly you have kids and barely have time, but maybe they felt like you didn't feel it was important. To them it probably was important. Everyone sees these things differently. Also, if you were the one that's been asking for more inclusion, I guess I am not understanding why you aren't taking them up on things.
And not all family has to live 10 minutes from one another. It's perfectly normal that family members live within a few hours from one another. Jobs, schools, work, it's all a factor in where one lives.
Another question about lenses
So the canon loyalty program only has certain refurbished lenses in stock. My SIL in buying today, so I am hoping I get an answer to this question quickly (please?)
Again, I'm shooting on a T3 crop body. I was looking for a shorter ranged lens a prime.
They only have these lenses
10-22 f 3.5
17-40 f4
24-105 f4
28-135 3.5
These lenses are available refurbished and at a discount ranging from 20-30% depending on the lens. I am debating the 17-40 and the 10-22. I hear the 17-40 isn't THAT great on a crop body. The 10-22 is an efs lens so I'm leaning more towards this one but wanted to get a second opinion (or two or three!)
10-22 f 3.5 is a very good lens for only a crop sensor body. It's extremely wide angle, good for certain shots, but definitely not a general purpose lens. It will give some great creative abilities -- perspectives you simply cannot get with other lenses.
17-40 f4 is a well-build 'L' lens, which works as a nice GP lens for crop sensors, and a wide angle for full-frame. The image is good, and the price is very good. I do not own one, but have considered buying one.
24-105 f4 is another well-built 'L' lens, which has decent image, although a bit of distortion at the wide end. I use this a lot on a full-frame camera, but it's not as wide as I like on a crop.
28-135 3.5 is a very inexpensive lens with decent image quality. Build quality isn't as good, although it will give better images than your existing 18-200. It is rather long for a crop body, so don't expect to shoot indoors unless it's a close-up. These are often available used for $250.
Of those, I would suggest going with the 10-22 just to give you some great options to go with your existing lens selection. If you like prime lenses, this will still make you happy... throw in a 30mm at some point, and you'll have all the important ranges for general photography using just your primes and this.
Again, I'm shooting on a T3 crop body. I was looking for a shorter ranged lens a prime.
They only have these lenses
10-22 f 3.5
17-40 f4
24-105 f4
28-135 3.5
These lenses are available refurbished and at a discount ranging from 20-30% depending on the lens. I am debating the 17-40 and the 10-22. I hear the 17-40 isn't THAT great on a crop body. The 10-22 is an efs lens so I'm leaning more towards this one but wanted to get a second opinion (or two or three!)
10-22 f 3.5 is a very good lens for only a crop sensor body. It's extremely wide angle, good for certain shots, but definitely not a general purpose lens. It will give some great creative abilities -- perspectives you simply cannot get with other lenses.
17-40 f4 is a well-build 'L' lens, which works as a nice GP lens for crop sensors, and a wide angle for full-frame. The image is good, and the price is very good. I do not own one, but have considered buying one.
24-105 f4 is another well-built 'L' lens, which has decent image, although a bit of distortion at the wide end. I use this a lot on a full-frame camera, but it's not as wide as I like on a crop.
28-135 3.5 is a very inexpensive lens with decent image quality. Build quality isn't as good, although it will give better images than your existing 18-200. It is rather long for a crop body, so don't expect to shoot indoors unless it's a close-up. These are often available used for $250.
Of those, I would suggest going with the 10-22 just to give you some great options to go with your existing lens selection. If you like prime lenses, this will still make you happy... throw in a 30mm at some point, and you'll have all the important ranges for general photography using just your primes and this.
Can anyone answer a digicam video question?
My camera is nothing special, but I love it. It is a late model Canon Powershot. Unfortunately, it's the only video camera I have currently. For a work assignment, I had to shoot two short clips, the first - one minute and the 2nd - 38 seconds. I am trying to figure out how to loop the two and make them run smoothly on my laptop. I will be running them from a late model iMac tomorrow. I installed the user's manual, but I still can't figure out why the shorter clip is out of sync. They were shot one right after the other.
Will they likely run more smoothly on a newer laptop? Are there editing tools built into the camera? Elementary questions, I know.
Will they likely run more smoothly on a newer laptop? Are there editing tools built into the camera? Elementary questions, I know.
Do people think the money is in photography?
I am scratching my head trying to work out who on earth actually pays for photography.
Brides and Grooms - aside from the fact there are hardly any weddings any more - all the B&Gs that I have encountered are quite happily using friends/relatives with cameras and crowdsourcing the iPhone snaps from the congregation.
I remember one woman getting married and her mother insisting on a photographer so she went online and found one that ended up being pretty crummy.
Business tends to use whatever lies to hand. I have been watching people at ribbon cuttings at my chamber of commerce all happily photographing events with iPhones and iPads. I could do a hell of a lot better with my digital SLR. I never get asked. The photos on the Chamber website are pretty grim.
The problem is... people are content with poor quality wile refusing to pay for better quality. With an attitude whereby anything free is better than something of high-quality that costs money, how does anybody make any money from photography?
I was just looking at one of the online photographers websites - photos that weren't straight, were't particularly sharp, weren't well framed - in general photos that were complete garbage. I contrast that with my well exposed, well framed images that nobody even looks at. The only thing those websites have going for them is hundreds of bad quality images that scream amateur while I tend to prefer a few higher quality images.
Am I wrong in presenting a few higher quality images? Should I be plastering the place with thousands of crap images?
The biggest problem is that we have to many MWACs out there taking crappy snaps then milking the market. I don't know how they make their money when their photography is so lousy.
Brides and Grooms - aside from the fact there are hardly any weddings any more - all the B&Gs that I have encountered are quite happily using friends/relatives with cameras and crowdsourcing the iPhone snaps from the congregation.
I remember one woman getting married and her mother insisting on a photographer so she went online and found one that ended up being pretty crummy.
Business tends to use whatever lies to hand. I have been watching people at ribbon cuttings at my chamber of commerce all happily photographing events with iPhones and iPads. I could do a hell of a lot better with my digital SLR. I never get asked. The photos on the Chamber website are pretty grim.
The problem is... people are content with poor quality wile refusing to pay for better quality. With an attitude whereby anything free is better than something of high-quality that costs money, how does anybody make any money from photography?
I was just looking at one of the online photographers websites - photos that weren't straight, were't particularly sharp, weren't well framed - in general photos that were complete garbage. I contrast that with my well exposed, well framed images that nobody even looks at. The only thing those websites have going for them is hundreds of bad quality images that scream amateur while I tend to prefer a few higher quality images.
Am I wrong in presenting a few higher quality images? Should I be plastering the place with thousands of crap images?
The biggest problem is that we have to many MWACs out there taking crappy snaps then milking the market. I don't know how they make their money when their photography is so lousy.
Thoughts on event planning
As I said, I'm a salesman. When I sell, I don't sell by features. I sell by need fulfillment. This is a cheese and tomato sandwich. It is made of bread, butter, cheese and red tomatoes. It costs P200 and is plastic wrapped and was made by slave labor.
This is very different from...
Our delicious new cheese and tomato sandwich, made from zesty sun-ripened tomatoes grown in organic fields and cheese hand made from free range cows awaits your delectation. Every luxurious bite fills you with wholesome goodness and no artificial ingredients. All that for the tiny sum of P200
OK so I overegged the sales pitch. The point I'm making is that we sell to a need rather than selling features. We're dealing with people rather than machines. So, that being said my ultimate question...
What exactly are we selling when it comes to photography during events? I'd probably have made more of a success of photography as an event business is I wasn't blundering about trying to sell pictures. For the life of me I cannot fathom why anybody would actually hire a photographer other than to do something they can't do themselves. Any suggestions/ideas/comments?
This is very different from...
Our delicious new cheese and tomato sandwich, made from zesty sun-ripened tomatoes grown in organic fields and cheese hand made from free range cows awaits your delectation. Every luxurious bite fills you with wholesome goodness and no artificial ingredients. All that for the tiny sum of P200
OK so I overegged the sales pitch. The point I'm making is that we sell to a need rather than selling features. We're dealing with people rather than machines. So, that being said my ultimate question...
What exactly are we selling when it comes to photography during events? I'd probably have made more of a success of photography as an event business is I wasn't blundering about trying to sell pictures. For the life of me I cannot fathom why anybody would actually hire a photographer other than to do something they can't do themselves. Any suggestions/ideas/comments?
Wedding guests
So, I'll try to make this as short as possible. My sister and I have always had a troubled relationship and somewhat recently we got into a spat and haven't been on speaking terms for ~6 mos. I called her about 5 months ago and told her that I wanted to work on things but she basically slammed the door on that one and we haven't talked since. She recently sent in her RSVP and said "+1", indicating she is bringing her BF. Firstly, my fiance and I are having 35 guests at our wedding in order to stay within our budget but more importantly so that we surround ourselves with people we are close with and who know us as a couple. My sister wants to bring her BF because she wouldn't be comfortable going otherwise. She knew we weren't allowing guests. Plus, neither I nor my fiance have even met her boyfriend....So, um, a wedding guest count of 35 (super small) and one person we haven't even met? I mailed my sister a letter asking if the four of us get together so that we could meet her BF and she declined that offer because we're not on speaking terms.
What should I do? I feel like either way, we are dammed. She's been really mean to me (not wanting to work anything out, not being there for me in the process of getting married, etc.) and I feel like why should I do her a favor? Also, we're not even allowed to meet him, yet we have to invite him to our wedding? How does that make sense? I feel like if we don't invite him, she won't come and the rest of the family will be pissed at us for not inviting him. Yet, if we do invite him, she still won't be on speaking terms with me and we'll get a total stranger at our intimate wedding.
What should I do? I feel like either way, we are dammed. She's been really mean to me (not wanting to work anything out, not being there for me in the process of getting married, etc.) and I feel like why should I do her a favor? Also, we're not even allowed to meet him, yet we have to invite him to our wedding? How does that make sense? I feel like if we don't invite him, she won't come and the rest of the family will be pissed at us for not inviting him. Yet, if we do invite him, she still won't be on speaking terms with me and we'll get a total stranger at our intimate wedding.
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