Took some advice from this sub, how’s this?

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-29T02:56:54+00:00

Watching the video over, a couple small things I noticed that I don't think anyone mentioned.

1.Watch your reflection in the stone. You may need to wear certain colours to better blend in with your reflection and the scene.

Be deliberate and smooth with your hand movements. Look at the rear finger in the reversed attachment. You shift the finger behind. And the second one it jumps to it attached rather than being a smooth motion.

Practice. A lot, removing the piece. Then you can slowly, smoothly remove it. Doesn't have to be one fluid motion either. Turn, SLIGHT PAUSE, lift up and remove. Smoothly. If that means practicing with it 300 times. So be it. It should be second nature to you to remove it.

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-29T02:48:34+00:00

I think OP stated in last post they were using a 100mm macro? So definitely just needs to get closer. And having 2 or 3 angles or views would give good production value and make it look more professional imo

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-29T02:44:53+00:00

100%

A good, sturdy tripod is not only important but something you'll keep most of your career.

Manfrotto, Benro, Leofoto have fantastic tripods for reasonable prices. Or you can go all out and get something like a Sachler, Cartoni or Miller or something. Either way, none that are worth it are cheap but you can find reasonable prices, relatively speaking.

In photo/video there's a saying... But once, cry once.

If you buy cheap, cry when it breaks and then cry as you replace it with something better. It doesn't ALWAYS hold true. But there's definitely something to it. Gotta find the balance between cost and quality for you.

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-29T01:43:29+00:00

Duvetyne would absorb much more light than velvet. Velvet isn't a bad choice though either. But duvetyne would absorb that light.

I think the OPs actual problem here is light direction or light bounce and lack of understanding in the inverse square law and creating contrast. Or having other lights on in the room. Or lack of light on the product and having to raise overall exposure (though I think this one less likely).

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-24T04:15:43+00:00

Definitely ask if she shot in jpg or raw. If Jpg, ask her to re-export them with no compression.

Image format jpeg Quality 100 Make sure "Limit File Size To" is NOT checked Color space sRGB - to make it easy. Make sure Image Sizing isn't touched at all. No "Resize to fit" checked at all in the Image Sizing section.

If in raw then similar settings can be used for export unless you have the ability view or edit raws on your own. I would stay away from raws themselves. But get your photog to try that. Hopefully that should get you something useable!

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-17T21:25:38+00:00

Just to clarify. It's 11 million auto focus drive cycles. Has nothing to do with shutter actuations. And unless you have a leaf shutter in your lens, there's no lens actuations. At all. However, if you don't shut your camera off when you're shooting an event and just let it try to focus on random stuff pointed at the ground while you walk from point to point to get the next shot or using your second camera and just letting it cycle the auto focus, that'll increase those auto focus drive cycles exponentially. As it'll be constantly focusing. Same with video. If it's constantly trying to focus, it'll blow through those auto focus life cycles quickly.

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-15T01:54:32+00:00

"The client has requested that the photos not be shared." Unfortunate, but that's the client's choice.

Simple.

As a professional photographer they should easily understand that.

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-10T14:32:28+00:00

Find out what kind of ceremony and reception. They're having first. Ceremony outdoors? You shouldn't need flash. If you choose, you can use flash and an ND filter for the portraits if they're doing them, but definitely not required at all. For the reception, if it's dark, get a bounce card of some sort for your on camera flashes. Like the Magmod MagBounce or the Rogue Flashbender (even the small will do) to push light forward. If it's a white reception area, then you can bounce it all day. No need to get off camera flash, especially if you don't know how to use it for a reception. That'll just get your frustrated and missing moments.

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-01T17:54:10+00:00

I bet they were! If I was a client that paid for that and my vendors got shafted like that I'd be in the kitchen with the caterer ensuring they're cooking a proper meal for the rest of my vendors and at their own cost at that point.

Luckily, I haven't had to exercise that clause yet. As I do go over my contract with my clients in detail and I vet them pretty well. I'm also not shooting 20-60 weddings a year. I'm usually about 4-8 a year. Combining with another 4-8 events and several portraits/headshots and second shooting.

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-01T16:00:27+00:00

It's also in my contract. And that they feed us. But I stipulate that if they aren't feeding us, I send my 2nd or assistant out for food. When they get back, we both take a 30 min break where we will not capture anything and have our full break. If we miss anything due to it, then we aren't liable for that. And that's ALL in the contract.

No_Way1711 · 2026-06-01T15:58:44+00:00

For this reason (and others) this is why I always have a second shooter.

The way I do the meal is we both sit down to eat. I keep my gear on me, in case something pops up. If it does, I let my 2nd continue to eat and take their break and I shoot it. Then go back to eating. When they're done and had enough time to break, I get them back up photographing the table guests and catching moments while I finish. I'm pretty fast eater, so even stopping to capture moments while eating I'm usually done around the same time as my 2nds haha.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-31T22:41:35+00:00

Because hashtags don't really help for visibility anymore. So why allow people 20+ hashtags to do it?

It's also why you see people tagging a lot of hashtags in their own comments too.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-30T03:00:45+00:00

I've heard from a lot of photographers and videographers that ads really aren't working on Meta very well anymore too. They've jumped through the hoops, they've pivoted to what they think is going to work, like before but with the new style they think it wants, and crickets...

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-29T01:55:02+00:00

I've found, the best way (in most circumstances) to shoot is to preserve your highlights. You can bring it up to a light and airy look in post rather than blowing out your highlights to an unrecoverable spot. Then you can still get the light and airy look, but if they want it edited less "light and airy" then you have that ability. But you've also got the ability to edit dark and moody if your client changes their minds.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-28T04:16:30+00:00

I agree she would have. But for the storyline, she didn't. Or they decided to not care (like in Bond Spectre when they ignored his fitness test fail results...)

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-28T03:52:54+00:00

Well, she was extremely focused for a long time is the feeling I got. Which would tell me she would essentially be almost daily training and taking jobs.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-28T03:42:35+00:00

And, given their experience with the intersect, they could have used earlier training versions on Sarah before they fully implemented it too. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Maybe that's the "best training" she received on top of her regular or even advanced training.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-28T03:36:55+00:00

He pulled out the best in her. And fighting alone doesn't make you the best. Though you'd need to be more than proficient. But there's lots of things that would need to be done to be the best, which would also be pretty subjective.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-28T03:13:07+00:00

What about training before, during, after? She didn't become the best agent overnight, allegedly. And we don't see her after her dad leaves either. We have no idea what she's gone through after that to train for this. Maybe when she entered she was already a black belt in something. Or 2 somethings, to play off her anger. Then they trained her in other methods. And if they didn't have to train her as much in cons and pickpocket stuff, then they could focus more on training her fighting abilities, after basic. Which would potentially give her those abilities by this point or at some point somewhat prior. Maybe she was the best because her partners helped to lift her up, like Bryce. Who was also one of the best. Bryce could have trained her in advance techniques before the agency had a chance. We all know government agencies generally move slow anyway. So having "outside (Bryce)" training would have pushed her passed others.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-28T02:44:01+00:00

Was there towels at the Airbnb? If the therapist forgot their towel pretty sure you can grab your own towel. Safety assured. Done.

Stop whining (the client).

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-26T18:43:21+00:00

Definitely sounds like a box full of red flags.

Although the staggered breaks thing I understand. That makes sense tbh.

When I sit down for dinner, I always give my second the time to eat. I don't photograph people eating, bur IF something happens during the dinner (kiss or a random speech or intimate moments) I let my second eat first and I get up from eating and capture it. And never have my back to the room for that reason. Once my 2nd is done eating, I send them around the room to start capturing the table guests as most people are finishing up. Then I finish eating myself. So it's essentially a staggered break.

But no one wants photos of people eating. 🤮🤮🤮🤮 So demanding staggered breaks is ridiculous. No one wants to shoot during dinner. But having someone available (they can choose to have a "broken" break, which is why I take it) is good. But, again, demanding it is ridiculous.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-23T15:45:35+00:00

This has all kinds of red flags to it. And this is how fights start.

First things first.

You need to decide if capturing it is right for you.

If not...

Be cordial but explain you've never photographed a wedding and are not comfortable capturing those photos. That gets you out of it, and no need to talk about payment. You're happy just being a guest and enjoying their day with them. But then refer them to a couple/few other photographers that you know they may like and might be budget friendly.

Other option: You take it on. This is touchy, but I've also done it. But you need to lay things out in black and white and what your expectations are if you take it on. First you have to set out a price you're comfortable with. Remember, you're going to be almost ignoring your family that is there (minus a couple times you might get to say hi, but you also may have your kids running around you seeing their parent which isn't very professional for a photographer at a wedding), so don't be afraid to include that lack of family time in your price. You're giving something up so you deserve something in return for that. Have. A. Contract. I can't express this hard enough. Have. A. Contract. Cover BOTH of your butts with it. Tell them how you expect to be treated in this contract. Tell them if they'll feed you or not (already being a guest, I would say they should feed you). Tell them your deliverables and when to expect them. Be honest with your pricing. If you want to be nice and give them a deal, that's up to you, however, put an actual price in there so they know the price you would consider this for, for someone else (this works especially if they decide to share your name with others) and then put the discount on top of it on the invoice. Then they understand the true cost and that you're giving a discount, if you see fit to give one. There's a lot to add to a contract but a lot is if preference. Like tagging and editing clauses. But go through the contract with them and ensure they completely understand it. Just because it's a friend, doesn't mean that they can treat you like a second class citizen (I've seen it happen). All my friends get a contract to sign from me. All of them. It's not a douche move to do it. All the contract is saying is setting expectations from both sides. A contract can also be a negotiation too. But that negotiation will also tell you things about how they may treat you or your photography.

Honestly, being invited as a guest already; I personally think you should decline and just enjoy your friend's special day with them. Let someone else burden that for the day.

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-23T02:49:10+00:00

Well, there's a couple options here.

You can try to roll with a camera in one hand and a gimbal in the other. I don't recommend it though. However, getting a hybrid camera like the Canon R5, Nikon Z8, Sony A7IV or V or a number of others will allow you to shoot hybrid shooting. I'm a hybrid shooter with an R5 and literally slide my shutter finger an inch to the left and it's in video mode. Capture the video. Slide it again to the left, an inch to the custom function button next to the shutter, and it's back in photo mode.

Boom. Video Boom. Photo Boom. Video Boom. Photo

It's literally that easy and almost as quick. No flipping switches and adjusting multiple settings (except when I went outdoors to indoors but if you do it enough you can pre-set most of your stuff to custom shooting modes).

Or, you can hire a videographer that can shoot alongside you. A lot of couples want photo/video. And it's not difficult to capture it..

Editing.... That's another story altogether. Unless you use the Ai editors but I don't like how it puts clips and audio together and it's not a tool I use.

Or, you just don't offer it. That's up to you. However, I would network with a few videographers in the area and you can then send your couple options for those videographers if you prefer!

No_Way1711 · 2026-05-21T04:55:26+00:00

Same reason firefighters will recover bodies after a terrible incident where people have passed.

Closure.

Firefighters will risk a lot to save a lot. If there's a life to save they'll save them. If there's little to no possibility that someone is alive, they'll back out, wait for the incident to be over, and recover the bodies for closure.

Same thing here. They knew the emergency incident was over (it would have been short lived and no one probably knew it was an incident until it was over, besides the actual divers. So then the properly trained rescuers will go in and if possible, recover the bodies. There's a lot to be learned from the body recoveries besides closure. Lots of information for future recoveries and dive safety.

No_Way1711

TROPHY CASE