How Do I get Out of This One?

[rose-thorn]

Hi,

This is my first ever post here so please be gentle! I am a hobbyist tog, who does not currently charge for my work. I have had no complaints and have been guided by a few pro tog’s I know personally.
Late last year I became friends with a local wrestling company, after my husband took up training with them. They have asked me to do  their photographs for their shows and I also do their designing,

Now in May they have a huge show coming up, I know I am not pro standard but they are happy with what I can do to represent them as a company in my photo’s.
3 weeks ago the owner announced he had asked a old friend to come along as  a second photographer, I said fine, long as she is good and know’s what she is doing.
This second tog recently added me on Facebook and has been all friendly, I asked her to come with me to a shoot on Thurs  (non paid!) to see how we work together, just a kid in a park, she was unprofessional the whole time, But I hoped the photo’s would make up for it.
On Friday night I had a huge job, again unpaid but I was there to photograph a bare bum waiters event, a opening night, the lady who I don’t know at all, put all her trust in me to give her a professional result.
This second tog decided to tag along with me,  thinking this would be perfect to see how she will fit in for the May show I agreed.  Now I won’t go into detail, but I was not comfortable around her and I didn’t like her ignoring the organizers requests and again her unprofessional attitude.
Yesterday I got a email from a very concerned organizer asking to see the second tog’s photo’s. After a lot hassle I got both lots of photo’s from her, Thursday’s and Friday nights.

Now I never ever want to work with this women again, including May show, or am I being rude, these are her final shot’s from both shoots, she is expecting me to send these onto the clients.
I happy to share my link to my work as well if you wish to see how mine turned out in comparison  (not fantastic, but I like to think they are better then these? or am I being harsh?)
She can be found on face book charging for her work under the name Klickypix photography ltd

https://picasaweb.google.com/106256317906798861552/JemimaSPics?authkey=Gv1sRgCOnd4NiD04SB3AE

[Mrs Woo]

Oh dear.  I don’t know how you can ‘get out of’ the May shoot where she is someone’s buddy.  On upcoming shoots that are NOT something she would have to come along with, I would probably either do your best to avoid her knowing about them and/or tell her that you do not need a second for those events?  Maybe you can, if necessary, find a ‘less experienced’ shooter to shoot second (one that is willing to be taught).

I didn’t finish.  After twenty images I was pretty sure she doesn’t have a clue.  Really sad.

[cameraclicker]

Her FB avatar is a Canon 1Ds Mk III!  Please tell me she did not use that body to take any of the photos you put up on Google!  Who let the kid suck on the hot shoe end of a Godox flash?  That strikes me as dangerous as there may be electricity at the contacts, even if the flash has been off for a while.  That Godox flash is at the opposite end of the spectrum of equipment from a 1Ds.

Events can be challenging.  A camera that has low noise at high ISO is a real help.  So are a good flash with an effective diffuser strategy, and fast lenses.  Many of the photos have excessive blur from subject movement, and at the same time lots of noise suggesting a high ISO setting.

Ah, found it!  Google shows shot details in the side bar.  Canon 1100D, ISO 6400, kit lens, Exposure Compensation set to -4!   Shot at f/5.6 and 1/20th!  No flash.    Bizarre settings!  A set of shots that highlights the difference between a Rebel T3 and a T3i, for me.

She has a couple of photos that I like, one of the little one, that after editing looks quite good and a picture of a couple which she took at 1/3 of a second!  They are quite clear so they stood very still for her and she was able to hold the camera steady too!  Curiously, the photo details claim ISO 400 Exp Comp -2, no flash, yet they both have catch lights and there is a strong shadow on her arm from the straw in her glass, suggesting a flash about level with the camera, slightly to camera right.

Some of her outdoor photos of the little one employed flash:

Date:
07/02/2013 12:17

Dimensions:
2056 x 3088 pixels

File Name:
IMG_6031.jpg

File Size:
675.06K

Camera:
Canon EOS 1100D

Exposure:
0.005 sec (1/200)

Aperture:
f/36

Focal Length:
48 mm

ISO Speed:
6400

Exposure Bias:
-0.67 EV

Flash Used:
Yes

Really?  Outdoors, in daylight, ISO 6400 and f/36, and Exp Comp of -.67, with a flash!

I see hints of promise but will agree with Mrs Woo, clueless does seem the apt conclusion.  There is time, about three months to the big shoot, perhaps you could get her out for some lessons?

If the wrestler photos will be posed, then the kit lens may be able to handle the task.  If the photos will be of actual wrestling, I suspect a longer, faster lens will be needed.  I wonder if she would bail on you if you asked her to bring a more suitable lens and more powerful flash.

[rose-thorn]

the couple at the end, were the lighting is slightly better, I had grabbed her camera and tried to reset it before, but I am a nikon user not a canon user so wasn’t sure 100% how to change iso, and she didn’t know either!!

 

this shot of hers:  https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_YHJbJelj7c/URkiijwZGVI/AAAAAAAAApE/dU_jcQ8B-wI/s512/IMG_6045.jpg

the lady was posing for me, this was my result, https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0jf_OZIiiWQ/URklHsRoYnI/AAAAAAAAAtk/736eDdtt6dU/s512/14.jpg

I need to sort positioning a bit better, but she was doing this a lot sneaking in on my shots, including at one point running off with the child after i had set him up!

cameraclicker thank you for your feedback I do find it interesting what you say,  can I pleas also ask what sort of lens you recommend for faster shooting? I used just a 18-55 for my first ever PWA shoot, big mistake! but I got some OK shots, I will be upgrading my camera in the next few weeks, torn between a canon 60d or a sony a57 though!

[cameraclicker]

The T3 has four navigation buttons around the Set button.  The top navigation button is labelled ISO, I expect pressing it then turning the wheel by the shutter release would change ISO.  If you shoot Nikon, there is no expectation you would know how to change Canon settings.  As the owner of the camera, she should be able to change something as basic as ISO without having to think about it.

Her shot:  https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_YHJbJelj7c/URkiijwZGVI/AAAAAAAAApE/dU_jcQ8B-wI/s512/IMG_6045.jpg, is alright for sneaking a shot while someone else is the photographer the subject is paying attention to.  It could be better.  Small images hide noise but it still looks grainy.

Your photo is about a stop over exposed.  Once exposure is brought down, a little contrast is added and some sharpening done, it looks pretty good.  Mom has a couple of blemishes that could be fixed too, the over exposure hides them somewhat but the editor’s healing brush is a better choice.

Try under exposing the background about a stop then add flash to light your subject.  See if you like the look.

As far as lenses go, when I am just doing casual photography, I like Sigma’s 18-250 mm on a crop sensor body and Canon’s 28-300 mm on a full frame body, because you can take almost anything without changing lenses.  I had some CoolPIX cameras and I have a Nikon FM-10, but mostly I shoot Canon.  For anything requiring a shallow depth of field, faster glass is better, then the question of how much focal length is needed.  Sigma makes an 85 mm f/1.4 prime lens that is very nice and half the price of Canon’s 85 mm f/1.2 L lens.  Canon’s 70-200 mm f/2.8 L lens is nice.  There is a new version of that lens now, so I don’t know if you can still get the original version.  Either version should be good but the new version probably costs more.  If you want to take an entire room, Sigma makes a 10-20 mm for crop sensor bodies, and Canon’s 16-35 mm L lens is very good on a full frame body.  Sigma and Canon both make nice 50 mm lenses.  Canon’s 50 mm f/1.8 is plastic, and inexpensive but delivers reasonable photos and it is light to carry.  The f/1.4 and f/1.2 versions are heavier and several times more expensive.  Canon has a nice 28 mm f/1.8 lens and also the 24 mm f/1.4 L.  The challenge is always to determine how far away you will be and what you want to fit in the frame, then choose a focal length that is suitable.  Faster glass like zoom lenses that are a constant f/2.8 or prime lenses that are f/1.2 to f/1.8 provide good low light performance and shallow depth of field when wide open.

I’m surprised you are thinking of upgrading from a Nikon to a Canon or Sony.  Usually photographers stay with the same brand, mostly because of their investment in lenses.  This is less of an issue if you only have the kit lens.  Try to visit a well stocked store and hold everything in your price range, then hold some cameras a step or two above your price range, and try out the bigger and more expensive lenses too.  Get a feel for where you would go with each brand.  Once you have several thousand dollars invested in lenses, changing brands will not be an attractive option.  You might look at the flash options too.  I don’t know much about Sony, except people in other forms are moving away due to service issues.  Canon and Nikon are offering excellent flash options.  The latest Canon flash is the 600 EX RT which contains a radio, you can get several of them and a controller, then you can separate them into groups and adjust output per group from the camera — very convenient.  With some of the newer Canons and most Nikons, you can use the pop-up flash as a commander to control off camera flash via light pulses that are sent just before the shutter opens, this is also very attractive.  Usually one brand will speak to you.  It will feel better in your hands, you will like the button placement or find the menus more intuitive to use.

 

[seth]

Maybe if you show him her shots of these two shows, compared with yours, he will do the honors of firing her for you!  Ugh, I know that’s very difficult.  Once you get into those situations, it’s hard to get out.  But if you approach him with no outward malice toward her and just say look, I know she’s your friend but I have to be honest, we didn’t work well together and I don’t really think any of her shots are that good, can I bring along a different second shooter?

Good luck!

[rose-thorn]

that is fantastic advice thank you, I am changing from nikon to another brand as nikon is not my camera of choice, my fil (who is not a photographer!) upgraded his camera in the hope of getting better shots and gave me his old one as a gift, its basic, but I haven’t invested in it yet as I know its not *my* camera if that makes any sense

I was thinking of heading out tomorrow too see what’s around and then take it from there, so will keep the comments above to mind,

With my image would you say a little more like this?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YzJrt5UWc5I/URqNWIUcbDI/AAAAAAAAA_s/Fc20bTGjMeE/s512/14.jpg

[cameraclicker]

Your edit is a very slight change.  I was thinking of something more like this, however it is really about what you want your images to look like.

If you like my edit, it was done by reducing the background by 3 stops, and reducing the people and their clothing by 1 stop.  Mom’s face was touched up and JPEG artifacts were removed as best I could in a few minutes.  Curves was used to boost contrast slightly and some sharpening was applied and adjusted.  The pine tree was lightened a bit with the Dodge tool.  If I were working on a full sized image, I would probably do an adjustment just for the tree, to keep some detail in the branches.

Eye bags and moles are curious features, some people like them removed and some want to keep them in the photo.  I did a quick removal job on the eye bags, the larger the file, the easier it is to fix them, and if it were my image I would take more time with it.

Oh, I noticed the Colour Space your photo had was Adobe RGB (1998), for most applications sRGB is a better choice.  sRGB is a slightly smaller colour space which makes colours slightly more intense and it is the space used by most computers and printers including most photo printing kiosks.  There are many other colour spaces but you should only use them when you know they are the preferred colour space for the rendering device.

What do you think?

[CoastalTog]

If you don’t want her to second shoot and the organizers are concerned then suit up and tell her that you’re moving in another direction with a different photographer.  Being passive aggressive is for the weak.  You’re being commissioned to do a job.  It doesn’t matter how much the pay is.  The expectation is you will produce the best results.  If the second shooter doesn’t leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling then let her go.  Simple as that.

My other $.02 is don’t take on projects that are out of your league.  Learn the relationship between flash and ambient light.  It’ll save your butt one day.

[Author]

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