Need some general tips on engagement shoot

[Andryuha]

Just as a title said, I'm doing my first engagement shoot tomorrow and would like to hear some do's and don'ts regarding this. Photography is really just a hobby for me, but one of my friends asked me to do a mini shoot for her engagement. I am doing it as a favor and I will not be getting paid for it. They also only have 2 hours to do this. In any case I'm pretty nervous and would like some expert advice. This shoot will be taking place outdoors. In terms of equipment, all I have is a rebel t2i with 18-55 kit lens and a canon 50mm F1.8 lens.

[TCampbell]

I"ve been slammed with work this week -- I wish I would have seen this sooner because you've probably already done the shot by now.

Engagement shoots are often done outdoors in a nice park setting - regular clothes, lush landscape, old architecture, that sort of thing.

The problems presented are usually the harsh outdoor bright sunlight (and extreme shadows that it creates) or shooting in shade but with bright sunlit backgrounds (e.g. the couple is in light that's probably 2 stops lower than the background.)

I try to shoot the couple out of direct sun and/or have a large reflector or fill-flash. When using fill flash it's nice to balance the brightness of the sun vs. flash so that the sun wins... but just slightly so. In other words if you were to divvie up the light contribution... it'd be nice to have, say, a 60/40 split where the sun contributes 60% of the light and the flash contributes 40% of the light. That means the shadows from the sun will still be there... but they'll be gentle shadows.

A similar problem occurs when the couple is in the shade of -- say a tree -- but there's a bright sunny area in the background. Often the difference will be 2 stops. If they're correctly exposed the background will be blown out. If the background is correctly exposed they'll be severely underexposed. Fill flash or a reflector can work to equalize the exposure and you're going for the same contribution. You want the photos to be honest in that the shade should be darker (don't try to make it equal) but it'd look a lot nicer if the exposure in the shade was only maybe 2/3rds stop different than the exposure out of the shade.

An external dedicated flash that's powerful enough to do the job (and adjustable enough to control) can set you back a few hundred dollars. But a reflector is very inexpensive (you might need an assistant to hold it.)

[lindachrist]

What Mega Pixel and Zoom is required for good photography?

[Joseph.steve]

If a person says that photography is a hobby then such a person should not be hired as a wedding photographer.So for a wedding,you should contact to a proper company who could take the proper responsibility of your wedding photography.

[fotonunta]

Speak to them. Give them general adivices how to stand and them let them be free - you want to catch their emotions
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[Martinphoto]

Good tips. Thank you guys. I'm new to the hobby so trying to learn how to do this in the right way

[meehow]

Sometimes having good contact with the couple and making them relaxed is more than the photo equipment.