COFPhoto

Ah yes, thank you for reminding me. They told me the limit on the wedding bowl is 50 guests - although the wedding that I just shot there had 60 full chairs and at least another 15 people standing around the outside. IMO there was room for plenty more, but the B&G did say that they were supposed to stay below 50. Back to the Hotel Del Coronado - you can get married on the beach NEAR the hotel, just to the south and you only have to pay a small fee to the city of Coronado. But to get married directly behind the hotel.....$$$$ Of course you can have a small ceremony on the beach just to the south, and then shoot your photos directly behind the hotel. They also do wedding ceremonies right up at the hotel in the grass (in the winter they put up an ice skating rink in that area), and there is another smaller area on the hotel grounds around to the South that can accomodate smaller ceremonies. I've seen 3-4 weddings going on at the same time between the hotel grounds and the beach. At least in the Summer, before the economy tanked.

My Wife and I are looking to get into BD photography (we've been doing portraits/weddings for years but want to add BD to our portfolio). We have a private studio located in San Diego near Balboa Park with a variety of backdrops, fabrics and some classy red victorian furniture that we've just purchased for BD sessions. We'd love to do a one day marathon session if you can get multiple brides who can all shoot on the same day. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to put something together. The more people we can put together, the better I can do on the rate. You can either buy prints or the digitals, whatever you prefer.

Just thought I'd add here that if you are considering getting married on the beach in front of the Hotel Del Coronado, you do have to book it with them (you can't just march a small group of people out on the beach and have a wedding service). From what I've been told by brides and grooms, they also require that you have your reception at the hotel. NOT cheap. So before you get too excited, do contact the hotel and inquire about pricing. On the cheap end, I just photographed a wedding at the Wedding Bowl in La Jolla yesterday. Beautiful location on the cliffs right above the ocean. The Bride told me that it cost them $250 to reserve the location for the entire day. You have to contact the city of La Jolla. You can see photos from that wedding here: Caught on Film Photography San Diego Photographer: San Diego Wedding Photography - Wedding Bowl in La Jolla

I am a Photographer located in San Diego. Would also be happy to help with any other questions about San Diego sites/destinations/things to do, etc.

Something to think about for those of you doing a dove toss... TWO CAN ANNE: Weird Wedding Photos Part MCLLMCXXX

It's possible that the photos are looking "blah" to you because you don't have a properly calibrated monitor. Especially if you're viewing them on a laptop, because a laptop typically has it's monitor brightness turned up extra high so you can see it outside, etc. What you might want to do is make a copy of your CD, or copy a few photos to a new CD (so your original CD stays safe at home) and take it to a lab and have a few 5x7s printed. You might be surprised to find that the prints look more like what's in the album and less like what you're seeing on your monitor. Just a thought.

Funny, I was the best man in a wedding a few months ago, and it was such a relief to just stand there and smile! It was so nice to just kick back and actually enjoy the wedding. No way in the world I'd go with just the Groomsman/Photographer (but then again I am a Photographer). If he's in the wedding party, and is the only one taking pro photos, it would be awfully difficult for him to get very creative shooting the ceremony. He could always put a camera on a tripod and have a wireless remote in his pocket to fire it, but all of the photos would be from the same vantage point. Maybe you can reach a happy medium - hire another Photographer to shoot the photos and just buy the CD with all of the RAW files, and then have your Groomsman do the editing....? Just a thought. If he shoots a lot of weddings, he might also have a "second shooter". Most Wedding Photographers don't do weddings alone, they almost always have an assistant. In this case, maybe you could hire his assistant to shoot, and him to edit?

This is definitely something that brides should get spelled out in detail before they sign a contract with a Photographer. The term "high resolution" really doesn't mean much of anything - "high" in comparison to what? You should find out exactly what resolution the files will be, either in megapixels or the exact measurements in pixels (ie. 3000 x 4000 etc). And you should definitely find out whether you're getting the edited files, or not. If someone only gives you the unedited ones, that seems pretty shady to me, especially if you're teased with a bunch of beautiful, fully edited versions of the same photo. I would just call them and ask them up front. It's entirely possible that it was a mistake, or something. But always protect yourself up front and make sure it's detailed on your contract. And regarding your release, it probably gives you the rights to the photos on the CD (unedited) but it most likely doesn't give you the rights to scan and reprint the photos that you got in the book. I'm actually not 100% sure on that, since they're technically the same photos, just with different edits. In either case, scanning the photos and reprinting will not give you the same quality as printing directly from the digital files. I hope this works out ok for you, hopefully they just forgot to include the editied versions of your photos. =)

I have a blogspot blog. The link is in my signature.

Cool, just approved your account. Hope to see you posting soon. =)

Thanks everyone, glad you enjoyed them. =)

You also might want to scan the photography forums for used equipment.

You are on the right track checking with Store Ratings and Reviews by Real People - Trusted Online Shopping first. That's a great site for picking out the scammers of the world. For me there's only one place to buy from and that's B&H: B&H Photo Video | Digital Cameras, Camcorders Best in the business and usually right in line price-wise with the other reputable companies. As for the one lens that you get, the 50mm 1.8 is nice, but you'll probably quickly regret getting a prime because you don't have the ability to zoom in and out (without shuffling your feet of course). I would look into the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 XR Di: Tamron | 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di Autofocus Lens for Can | AF09C700 Personally I couldn't live without a flash, but unfortunately I'd recommend the 580EX: Canon | 580EX II Flash | 1946B002 | B&H Photo Video The thing with photography is, if you end up getting into it more, you'll more than likely regret limiting your budget later on. If there's any way you can save a few more pennies before you jump into a purchase like this, you'll be happier in the long run. IMO many of the consumer-level SLRs these days are quite adequate. Adding a quality lens and a flash makes all the difference. I will warn you that learning how to use a flash like that doesn't happen overnight. But in a lot of cases it can really help your photos quite a bit. HTH!

In case you're not sick of seeing them already. They're here on our blog: Caught on Film Photography San Diego Photographer

That's easy, I actually run a photography forum called Learning Digital Photography Together. It's totally free, but you do have to participate (100 posts) to get into the business area. Our members are mainly hobbyists and people who have started side businesses shooting photography. Only a couple of Pros. We're not one of those huge, overwhelming, intimidating forums. Our members are very helpful and supportive of one another. Check us out some time: LDPTForum.com - Learning Digital Photography Together Forum