Whats YOUR routine?

[StellerCrys]

What is your routine for preparing for shooting a wedding? (either what you do building up to the event, or just what you do that day).
Would love to hear how the process goes for everyone.
Also, do you usually have a master list of shots to take or do you just have a general plan and then go with the flow once shooting commences?

Thanks everyone!

[picturecrazy]

Two weeks before the wedding, i email the bride or groom and ask them for a list of shots they want and schedule of the day and all the addresses of the locations. I also remind them that the balance is due one week before the wedding.

The night before, I charge the 3 million batteries I have, check the sensors for dust and spots and clean if neccessary, do the same for the filters.
Take some tests shots to make sure all is working.
Then I synchronize the time on the cameras.
Format all 16GB of CF cards
Pack energy bars.
Load everything neatly into my bag... the Thinktank Airport Security.
Make a 'cheat sheet' printout of locations, addresses, schedule, maps etc...
Get to bed early.

[SuzyView]

I have a before and after ceremony shoot in 3 weeks. I've been e-mailing the mother of the bride, who is my friend and making sure of the schedule. I have already given her a list of pictures I want to take. She is trying to coordinate the bride's availability with me. Since I am not attending the wedding, but going to the luncheon (they hired a pro for the group shots) I will probably scout out the restaurant before the party gets there. I will also be shooting the bride's preparations, so I am coorindating a list of items to pack: reflectors, lights, stands to mention a few things besides the cameras and lenses. My son is shooting with me so I had to remind the MofB that he's coming so she is not surprised. In the evening there is a reception at the MofB's home, where I have several spots to shoot. Have to check out white balance and such at least a week before. After the morning festivities I am going to do some PP and print out 3-4 pictures 8x10 to display in frames at the reception. Frames were purchased in bulk whenever I get to Kohls for their 1/2 off frames sales. I never have to purchase anything for a shoot, I usually have everything I need on hand. If I don't, there's always WalMart. :)

[tim]

- Meet customers around 4 weeks out to talk about what they want, and arrange group photo lists.
- Week preceding wedding I clean and charge my equipment, including clothing and snacks.
- Get a good nights sleep before.
- Load equipment into car, take photos, come home (that's the hard part).
- Move on to my post-wedding workflow, which is pretty well optimised for efficient proofing.

[wannasmaxx]

Buy a couple grands worth of equipment, receive it about a week before the wedding. Fly into where I'm going. Go out drinking with the Groom. Well, at least that's what I did last time. ( I know I'll get criticized the hell out of for this post, but seeing as I'll probably never see any of you in real life, I don't care. And if for some reason I do meet someone from here, a 70-200LIS usually isn't far away :lol:

[jessiper]

( I know I'll get criticized the hell out of for this post, but seeing as I'll probably never see any of you in real life, I don't care.

What a good attitude to have! It's hard to master that. ;)

[jessiper]

-meet w/clients before they book w/me
-do their engagement session if they've booked one
-2 weeks beforehand, either meet or do everything via phone or e-mail: get final balance due, shot list, schedule of day, directions or address
-sometimes I'll scout out the location, especially if I know it'll be tricky light, but that's not always possible
-print up my list of "To bring" the day before and get all my stuff together
-make sure all my CF cards are ready to go, charge camera batteries, figure out my outfit (how girly of me!)
-go to bed early
-day of: print up directions, shot list, schedule, make sure I eat enough to last awhile
-triple check list(s)
-load everything up and leave early
-show up early, do my thing then go home and relax &/or look at some images from the day

I do have a "master shot list" I made when I first started, but I don't need to look at it anymore because they're pretty obvious. Like I noted above, I do have a shot list from the couple, but that's for formals. I just start seeing things and shoot away.

[wannasmaxx]

What a good attitude to have! It's hard to master that. ;)
Meh... Actually this time, I plan on ordering my new equipment a couple months BEFORE the wedding, that way, I can master the 1D's supposedly hard controls.:rolleyes: I'm a college student who likes to have a good time I guess.

[tim]

Why do you want a 1 series camera for weddings? What advantages do you expect to get over a 30D or 5D body?

[PIXI_666]

Im more of a laid back photographer...i usually know my clients beforehand, i know what they want because they ALWAYS say "I want photos like in your website" generally that means they like my style...

I sometimes meet with my clients beforehand, depending where they live and if they can get to me...if not i usually do that thrugh email.

Get all my equipment ready the night before, charged etc. Wake up early, go to venue, shoot shoot shoot....

Home....

Sleep...

Check photo's next day...(I download into laptop as i go throughout day) then start processing a few days after with a clear mind.

Del

[CyberPet]

I often get booked online, through email, by couples that doesn't live in the city anymore, but want to get married in their childhood church. So we try to get some of the issues worked out through email and then they normally come into town a week before the wedding. We then set up a date to meet at my house and we walk through the day more detailed. Usually by then I convince them to have more coverage, as they always seem to realize then that photo's are very important.

The night before the wedding I charge all the batteries to cameras and flashes. I format all the memory cards, clean the lenses and sensors. The last thing I do before I close up the camera bag is to sync the camera's onboard clocks, as I need them to be fairly accurate in the post processing later when I merge the images from the cameras.

After the shoot I make a folder for each camera and copy over the files to each folder. After that I burn a DVD copy of the files (usually one disk for each camera), then drag all the files to an external disk, for a backup. Then I rename the files after the time stamps and add a letter after it to indicate which camera shot the image, then merge the files into one folder.

Then I go to bed...... and in the morning I take a first peek at what I did. :D

[wannasmaxx]

Why do you want a 1 series camera for weddings? What advantages do you expect to get over a 30D or 5D body?
I want a 1 series for its 1.3X crop factor, as I also do sports. But mostly for the build and AF.