Thread: What would you do?

A close friend of mine got engaged this past weekend, and asked me today if I would do their engagement photos! I am honored that she trusts me with this sort of thing (I don't know if I trust myself! ), but I have a lot of kinks to iron out before this weekend! Yes, I said this weekend! They are getting married VERY quickly (due to moving out of state, yada yada), and are looking to tie the knot by July! So, yes, I am being thrown into the lion's den in a mere 6 days! I don't typically think of myself as taking this type of photo "session", but I'm thrilled to do it for a friend!

My question is: what lens should I use? I very humbly own only my Rebel kit lens (18-55mm) and the 50mm 1.8. After working with the 50mm for the last month, I switched back to my kit lens this weekend and saw a HUGE difference in photo quality. I'd like to use my 50mm, but I'm afraid it won't be a good lens for the job. I mentioned on another thread that I have issues the farther I am from my subject, the softer my focus with the 50mm. I'd hate to shoot a million pictures only for them to be OOF.

It's supposed to rain all day Sunday, so we're taking pictures at a local covered bridge! I am super excited to get a chance to shoot somewhere like this, but am super nervous that I'm going to ruin it all, too! I'm leaning towards the 50mm, but I'm afraid if I back up to take shots at a distance, they might not turn out. I'll have both lenses with me in the case, so I can definitely switch out, but I just don't know which to rely on more!

Advice? TIA, ladies!

ETA: Also, which lens, if you could pick any, would you use for something like this? A telephoto? As my DS gets older and runs farther and farther from me when we're outside, I've wondered what lens would be good to someday add to my collection for those types of photos!

Could you take both with you, and maybe just take a few with the kit lens for a fall back?

I don't have anything else to compare it to, but I'm pretty fond of my 55-250mm right now. Photo quality is much better than my kit, and I'm able to zoom in on the kids when we're outside. It's heavy though. I've been using that one almost all the time right now. About the only time I don't use it is when I'm inside, and mainly because there's not room.

I certainly have no advice on lens questions, as a P&S user, but kudos to you on getting to do your friend's engagement photos! That is awesome! Can't wait to see how they turn out.

With me, it's the opposite - my 50mm is by far my sharpest lens and I use it for all portrait work.

However, if you are getting less than stellar results from your 50mm, go w/ your kit lens. If you can, maybe switch out for close ups (since that doesn't seem to give you problems w/ focus).

What camera do you use? A lot of Canon users swear by the 70 - 200mm. I'm a Nikon gal and I love my 50mm. I'd like an 85mm as well so I could step back a bit. I have an 18mm - 200mm telephoto that I use for my soccer photos, but it's not very fast and I would love to upgrade to something better.

HTH!

Go out there w/ your friends and have fun!

Best,
GiGi

If you have a chance, I suggest doing a practice shoot at the same locale with another model. I'd also take both lenses. Also, you can play around with closing your aperture using the 50mm lens. I find that if I try to open mine up to 1.8, my subject (not just the background) gets softer. Have fun and please share the photos!

Originally Posted by acarbo99

What camera do you use?

I have the original, old school Canon Rebel XT. Like, the 8 megapixel one! Yeah, I'm rocking the old school silver body Rebel. I think that is part of my problem! When I blow stuff up really large in LR, some stuff feels OOF to me. DH thinks it's more because of the megapixels of the camera and not so much my focus, but I'm not sure.

Not to mention, the spot on my sensor came back and it is aaaaaaaaawful on my kit lens! I think the more closed down my ap, the worse the spot is! So I can get away with my 50mm without the spot because I typically have it wide open.

Gigi, I checked out that lens and it's sweet! Maybe someday.

Thanks for the suggestions! Unfortunately, the bridge is 30 mins from me and I don't have the time between now and then to get there, or I totally would! For now, I think I'll rely mostly on my 50mm and maybe switch out a few to the kit. We'll see.

Wish me luck! I'll share afterwards for sure.

I would definitely take and use both. Good luck!