What do you want to learn - Can I teach you?!?!

[MyKey]

OK I have had a TON of PM's and Emails on wanting to know information on how we at TriCoast capture our images. Many of you who know me, know I am one that does not want to sell teaching ideas but teach to those who want to learn, so with that said, is there anything you all would like me to complile together, a teaching list or a manual on what Cody and I do to capture our images? From capture to post processing I will try and compile a manual step by step on what I do if wanted. I am quite shocked everyone loves our work so much, it humbles me by the wonderful responses. It might take me a while, I am a detailed nut, but I promise I will get to work on it.

So either post here or PM me with sugguestions, ideas, wants, needs, whatever. From marketing to images I will try and answer questions the best I can. And if this is not wanted just tell me to go away :) I am just lost on all of the PM's and Emails I have received over the last year and maybe this will help everyone including myself in the long run.


Mike

[Jeff Medlin]

Mike,

I think that would be a great idea, I will PM you later with some items you will hopefully consider adding.

Thanks

Jeff

[Sonny]

Mike,

I think this is a great idea!
I totally agree with you and share your feeling about teaching/learning!

[Holly]

Okay I have a question: What kind of shampoo does Cody use? His hair always looks silky smooth.....

[MyKey]

Originally Posted by Wilson

Okay I have a question: What kind of shampoo does Cody use? His hair always looks silky smooth.....

That would be GREASE, he never washes his hair.

See this QandA session is already paying off.

[mdurisseau]

I'll take whatever information you wish to pass on...again, I'm always willing to learn something new...

[Elsaspet]

Wow Mike and Cody, that's totally generous! There are a ton of things I'd love to ask you.
1. How do you expose for the dress without washing out the person?
2. When lenses do you most use?
3. What is your post processing workflow like?
4. I'd love to see your flash/reflector set up once more (you showed it on here, but I can't find it anymore).
5. What is the best tip for posing?
6. How do you prevent "yellowish tones" in a dark chapel when shooting no flash from the back?
7. What has been your best investment in 1.)gear and 2). software ?
8. In your early days, who did you look to for inspiration?
9. How do achieve those beautiful skies all the time?
10. I'd also love to see your burning methods as I find them some of the best I've ever seen.
I'm sure I'll have about a thousand more questions..........(are you sorry you offered yet? LOL!)

[MyKey]

Great information please keep this coming I am going to cut and paste each question and compile a ongoing list to try and answer what I can. Again it might take a while but I am going to try and make an indepth "report" with screen captures to help everyone understand better.

[boomerd35]

Mike,

What a generous offer. I'm always amazed by your willingness to share information. I'm sure you guys are very busy, and time is at a premium. So your offer to share is really appreciated. If only more photographers were like you. I'll have to think of specific questions. Elsapet had some good ones. One thing that comes to mind off the top of my head is how you set up and process your beach photos. But I'm sure you get questions about that all the time.

Thanks again,

Troy T.

[haraki74]

Mike,

That is a generous offer. I think what I would like to see is how you technically create your photos. It might be difficult to create your artistic side, but knowing the techniques you use would be beneficial to those of us trying to gain more experience.

Proper exposure, especially inside a building
Proper use of the flash and how to adjust it for the correct amount of light
Typical workflow
What you typically do to your photographs in PS

Again, your offer is fantastic.

Harry

[cmalana]

That's awesome! Now that my feet are a bit wetter in the wedding photography world (2-3 weddings scheduled for the first half of this year but currently working on a better marketing plan to prep for the sept-oct season), I'd like to get your take on the following:

1. Workflow - from the time you get ready to shoot to when the album is delivered (ok - major request there so I'll break it up)
a. i know you shoot using 1GB cards - do you shoot RAW only or RAW+jpg
b. when do you back up? Do you ever erase cards during the shoot? How much memory do you take to a typical wedding (I'm starting to think I need at least 15-18GB)
c. besides camera, lens, flash - what other gear do you bring?
d. how do you start the sorting/categorizing process? what software do you use?
e. what are the typical post-processing steps you take for pictures you present as proofs? What's a normal number of pics shown as proofs for a wedding? What percentage of the total shots is that typically?
f. do you put together an annual marketing plan?
2. During weddings, how do you and Cody divide the work? Who shoots what? Where does each of you typically position yourself?

Ok...I have more but that's enough for now :)

I hope you are able to include some of this in your document....and it can probably be a first draft of a book!!!

Thanks again!

[acer0001]

Thanks so much for doing this!

I am just getting started in digital stuff, so I would like to know about your archival system and how you work it into your workflow. I want to start a good system from the beginning, so I would be .

• What software do you use to catalog images (both to HD and removable media)?
• How do you find images made some time ago to satify the request of a client?
• What is you backup system and how long do you hang into images?
• Do you shoot in the native raw for the camera? If so, do you convert to .dng for a standard several years from now?

I know I have a buch more, but I don't want to take advantage of your generous offer.

[Clint_Smith]

Albums.Albums.Albums........and how to package them....

[Holly]

How do you condition your body to function on only 3 hours of sleep?
oh yeah...and everything the other guys already asked.. ;)

[MyKey]

Originally Posted by Wilson

How do you condition your body to function on only 3 hours of sleep?
oh yeah...and everything the other guys already asked.. ;)

This one is easy to answer...

CSI work makes you live on 3-4 hours a sleep a night, if not you can not do the job for the most part. 12 years of 3-4 hours a sleep for at least 5 nights a week and your conditioned I just got lucky and use this training in photography to get a ton of post-work done in the middle of the night after the family is asleep and the house is quite.


So far I have over 20 questions, which is GREAT, keep them coming you are giving me tons of things to write and talk about, many which I would have never thought about. Some are going to be hard to explain in writing but I will do my best.