Well, I have to go with Paul on this one. I have been shooting weddings regularly for several years. The tripod issue is partly to do with weight of the rig you are shooting with. When I was shooting the 67, I did the formals on a tripod. I did find a lack of spontaneity and as Paul has indicated, very little variety in background. Once I started shooting digital, I have found that, for the reasons Paul stated, my tripod only gets light use. Mostly for cake shots and available light shots of the decorations and such. I use a stroboframe all the time which keeps the flash above and centered over the camera.
I will say that the tripod is best used when the group is larger and staying in one single location. I do use it for very large groups as it works out much better for that. So to recap, when speed of changing poses/backgrounds is needed, the tripod gets in the way. When the group is large and fairly static in location, the tripod works well. -- Best regards, Bruce Friday, February 13, 2009, 1:05:24 PM, you wrote: PS> That works if you shoot everyone in one location. I try to shoot my PS> formal portraits outdoors and move the groups to different spots in PS> order to achieve some variety. I may shoot the bride and groom in four PS> or five locations. I frequently find that I have only minutes between PS> the ceremony and reception to do the posed shots. I always have a PS> tripod in the car but rarely pull it out as it gets in the way more PS> often than not. PS> I don't object to Bill expressing his opinion. But I have to challenge PS> the juvenile way he does it. PS> Paul PS> On Feb 13, 2009, at 3:23 PM, frank theriault wrote: >> On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 3:10 PM, Paul Stenquist <pnstenqu...@comcast.net >> > wrote: >>> >>> On Feb 13, 2009, at 2:28 PM, William Robb wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Consider yourself told. >>>> >>> Not a chance. It's just more bombast from Billy Boy. >> >> Well, here's my two cents worth. In fact, it may be worth less than >> two cents, because I've only done one wedding in my life, that being >> last September. >> >> I used a tripod for the "posed" family shots. In fact, it was a >> tripod that I borrowed from Dave Brooks. In fact I still have that >> tripod at my place (hope you're not in dire need of it, Dave). >> >> It's a great huge heavy Manfrotto, one of those ones with the double >> legs. Weighs like 20 pounds (I think Dave used it with his 67). >> >> I'm so glad I had it. Stuck the camera on it, aimed and framed, then >> I could take my face away from the camera and chat with the various >> groups whose pix I took (his family, her family, "special friends", >> everyone together) to make them feel at ease while I snapped when they >> weren't expecting it. Wish I had a remote release so I didn't have to >> stay close to the camera, but it still worked very well. While the >> people were all grouped in a more-or-less formal way, their faces >> looked relaxed and it looked like they were having fun, plus it was >> sharp as hell - which is what the bride and groom wanted. >> >> That was an hour before the wedding. The tripod was put away and I >> shot the rest of the wedding and reception handheld. It was tilted >> and blurry and typical of my work. ;-) >> >> cheers, >> frank >> >> >> >> -- >> "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above >> and follow the directions. PS> -- PS> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PS> PDML@pdml.net PS> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net PS> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
