Hi,

I photographed weddings for 4 decades as a stringer for several studios. Look for quality over quantity. There are certain photographs of the family that will be a record of the day. Look at how well he poses those group photos. be sure you get the photographer that took the photos the studio shows you. You paid for a professional let him do his work and don't interfere.

When I went to Hawaii I took an Olympus SP350 and a Ricoh WG-4. The SP350 because it runs on 2 AA batteries which you can purchase anywhere, has a hot shoe for an auxiliary flash, and shoots RAW. The WG-4 because it's convenient and my spare. As a last resort your smartphone has an excellent camera as part of it. unless you have time to spare and are going for a month or more, use your time time to see sights and record the memories in your brain. My camera bag for traveling has those two cameras, an Olympus compatible flash, and several small camera stabilizing devises - C-Clamps with a bullhead small tripod with long Velcro strap, and several batteries for the WG-4

Hi,

Photography has not always been a two step process. I learned photography when the dominant professional color medium was transparency film. With color transparency film, which has limited latitude and color balance, "get it right in the camera" was a necessity. I would send out for clip test processing because of manufacturing tolerances. Once I got everything to my satisfaction, I took a Polaroid for verification, I might spend as much time "pre-processing" as you spend "post-processing".

Carl

Thanks.

Thank-you all for your help. My question is answered.

Ok.

Thank-you. Is the 200mm actual?

Thank-you. I wasn’t clear. I want to know which on-off combination maximizes stabilization.

With m4/3 equipment Olympus has in-body stabilization and Panasonic has in-lens stabilization. When using a Panasonic lens on an Olympus body, which setting should be used and why?
Lens on - body on
Lens off - body on
Lens on - body off
Both off means I’m using a tripod.

Put your camera on a tripod. Turn off image stabilization. Use the normal lens. Move the camera/tripod back and forth to get the family group nicely composed. Push the release.

If you are using a tripod, of what value is a quick release? You’re setting up the tripod putting the camera on it and adjusting for good composition. I don’t see any value to a quick release.

Only take a point and shoot camera. Don’t think you can do better than the pros that live there. Also, you are time restricted and can’t in any way compete with someone who has the luxury of being in one location for a week or more.

Hi,

I think you are mountainizing a molehill. You are overthinking this project.

Your camera has a manual white balance capability. Check your manual on where to find it. Perform the necessary steps to accomplish this. Sit someone down at the photo site. He should be wearing a white shirt and use that reading.

"Large - Fine" is fine.

Since you write the families will all be the same distance from the camera pick a small f-stop (5.6, 8) and let depth of focus do its thing. You can also set the focus at the same time you do the manual white balance and then turn the autofocus off. Adjust the ISO to get a shutter speed of 1/60 or higher. Set your camera to MANUAL. This gives you the same f-stop and shutter speed. Since the lighting isn't changing, your settings shouldn't change either.

Natural, Vivid, I'd go with natural.

With the overhead lighting you should bring a plug in lamp to lighten the eyebrow (raccoon eyes). Turn this on before you do the white balance.

Take a few photos of the person in the white shirt to confirm your set up.

If there are any terms I used that you don't know, try Googling the word or phrase.

Good luck with your project.

Ken,

They are equivalent to the two firms you mentioned and then some. They have their own "Photo Expo", they just sponsored a walk in Liberty State Park with instructive photo ops along the way and no fee equipment rentals, and they have specialized photo get togethers. I attended the one for film users. They served pizza and drinks. They also have a loyalty program. In my opinion they are an excellent and nearby store.

Carl

Just leave everything home except for two dependable point & shoot cameras and some camera support devices. You will miss photo opportunities deciding on which lens to use. I just came back from 10 days in Hawai'i. I used my ancient SP350. It shoots an 8meg raw file, has a dedicated hot shoe, has an eye level finder, and uses AA batteries. I used a flash that also uses AA batteries. AAs are available all over the world. I did bring a POD, a "C" clamp with tripod attachment, and a table top tripod with long Velcro strap.

How unique will your photos be?