Originally Posted by Macky
I think you need to relax and take a step back and look at your photos. Mike was dead on that a sub-$300 camera put your megabuck 40D to shame. personal preferences aside, you sound like you were either plagiarizing lines from famous photography books or just plain out short of talent and skill.
you deleted the previous thread because you couldnt stand the heat of REAL criticism. Im sorry but with my line of ACTUAL wedding photography work, your mediocre (at best) photos would get torn down in a heartbeat. everything from poor composition, lack of understanding how exposure works, to just plain illiteracy of your gear add up to your rookie experience as a photographer. heck, you dont even posses the necessary post-processing skill.
the gallery was dumbing down your resolution/detail on the pictures? please. I can resize my shots to 640x480 and still be tack sharp, hmm, must be my experience.
just to show how easy it is to point out a fix-on-the-fly on one of your photographs, just look at this, took me all of five minutes in photoshop to prove a point you so carefully deleted in the other thread:
you say you had a 50mm f/1.4. that was an easy fix, just aim and shoot.
WAIT. you only had/have one body, your client paid for one body, so they only get what you think they should get not what they deserve. so there was no way you could unmount a lens, mount a different one, and shoot without losing the moment, right? that would be the excuse for it.
this is the classic reason ALL seasoned wedding photographers like me shoot with at least two to three bodies. one with a fast prime, one with a fast telephoto and one with a wide. all with a flash. moments come and go at the drop of a hat. you should be prepared to "feel" the camera hanging to you. as soon as you see the moment, you pick up the camera, aim and shoot. didnt have time to switch lenses? you shouldnt have entered this business as I would pay to see you use that as an excuse among veteran shooters.
you were already building up excuses for the lackluster photographs you claim were "hard to do because they were not shot in a studio". I shoot both ways, so give me another excuse. night? day? ive shot in them all. wait. you havent you say? wow. just wow.
can you explain why this was shot at the settings it was shot at? 1/25th, F/20 @ ISO 100? a seasoned pro would not shoot it in such conditions. why? moving boat = movement (strike 1 on 1/25th shutter speed). using a small aperture = longer shutter speed (strike 2 - less light needs more time), again, making the shot look "soft" and increasing the depth of field (i.e. bridge and cars in background). why no flash? (strike 3) the groom's face is shrouded in a cast shadow.
personally, I would have shot using a fill flash. even if i had to shoot in an auto mode like you (and like any rookie) like shutter priority or program AE, using a fill flash (just as simple as turning on the flash) would let you use a faster shutter speed (program AE would default to 1/125th second - a far cry from 1/25th). a faster shutter speed would force a wider aperture (you know, less time needs more light?). a wider aperture would decrease the depth of field (say good bye to the bridge and cars, especially how to wear a life jacket), and make the subject stand out more. but what do I know? Ive only been shooting for, say, 4 years professionally. and in those 4 years I know in bright sunny days, if i turn on my flash in auto mode, it will use 1/125 @ f/3.5 or f/4.5 (depending on zoom) by default. thats where experience in both shooting conditions and experience in your gear helps.
Im sorry, but your personal preference is not the issue here. you claim there was no constructive criticism. I call BS. its a combination of ego, lack of experience and incomplete mastery of your equipment all rolled into one that deleted that thread.
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