First pd. wedding: any advice?

[jric86]

I have my first paid wedding coming up in several weeks. The couple are friends of mine and they chose me over a graduate. I am a college student finishing up my second year studying photography. So far I have assisted with 2 weddings and I did my first one by my self 2 weeks ago. That all went pretty well besides getting my front teeth knocked out at the first wedding on accident:confused:

The wedding will be taking place on the beach in NC at sunset. I have shot portraits once on the beach at sunset. They are flying me and my assistant out there from MO. I have several Q. My Equipment: 30D, 20D, Tamron 28-70mm f2.8 macro, Quantaray 70-300mm f4(i need to upgrade), 550EX flash

First: lighting
The lighting will be changing dramatically as the sun sets during the ceremony. Any suggestions?

Second: lenses
Should I purchase a wider angle lens and a better telephoto? Any specific lenses?

Third: flash bracket
Should I invest in one and which one?

Fourth: flash
I was planning on buying another speedlight. I have several reflectors for formals on the beach. The majority of formal shots and portraits will be done outside.

And Last, is there any other gear that I should look into purchasing that may save me from disaster?

If some of these Q. have been answered in previous posts, I'm sorry. Just point me towards those posts. I'm new to the forum. Someone told me I should ask some Q on here. I'd appreciate as much advice as I can get.

[tim]

What are they teaching you if you have to ask these questions after 2 years of studying photography? Have you read the FAQ? It's linked from my sig.

1) Meter for the background, flash to expose the subjects.
2) Use the Tamron for everything. Take your kit lens because you're likely to need something wider at times. Longer you can do without, just stand closer, don't be shy to get in the way occasionally (except during the ceremony).
3) Nah. I have one but haven't used it in a year or so. Maybe I should but it's too much hassle, i'd only ever use it to reduce side shadow - though you still get funny shadows they're not as bad. Shoot landscape and crop.
4) Is there a question there? 580EX II is good, i'd like the auto mode, as it eliminates the ETTL preflash. Reflectors are useless unless you have an assistant.
5) Backup camera body, backups lenses, backup flashes, plenty of CF space.

Good luck!

[liza]

Tim has summed things up well. The main thing is that you need better gear and more of it.

[jric86]

Thanks Tim. I appreciate the advice. I haven't started into my major as much as I'd like yet. Still taking more basic courses. Plus the photo department isn't the best there. I guess there really isn't a question on four. Again thankyou very much. I'm going to try and get more involved in this forum. There's lots of good info. here.

[tim]

Gear is very important, but the main thing I think is the right mindset for the day. It's taken me a couple of years and i'm not there yet. You're there for a number reasons (in the order I think most important):
1) To capture how people feel on the day - ie how the bride and groom feel about each other.
2) To take some group photos and set shots.
3) To capture how people look on the day.
4) To document the day.

The trick of #1 is to encourage people to express how they feel about each other with you around, so you need to make them comfortable and tell them what to expect. Kissing isn't the main thing, however they act that shows how they feel is.

For #2 make sure you get full length photos of the bride, front and back, full length frontal with the groom, half length of each, shot of whole wedding party, shot of the girls, shot of the guys, shot with each and both sets of parents, shot of flowers, shot of rings (on and off hands), and a shot that has both their faces mostly filling the frame looking at the camera. Get those well exposed and well lit and you'll do fine. I bet I forgot some but there you go.

#4 get photos of both the guys and the girls getting ready if at all possible, they work well in the album. If you can't get the guys getting ready do a few shots of him and them at the church before the wedding.

[csm328]

Only one lens at f2.8. Could be a problem in low light. Thought of getting a nifty? The 1.8 is ok but the 1.4 is excellent. Not too expensive either.

[SuzyView]

I would put the Tamron on the 30D and get an 85 1.8 for the 20D. That would do you for low light and close-ups. The 550 is a good flash, but you may want to get a bracket or figure out a nice diffuser plan. I saw a home-made one here the other day that looks promising. Really read up on the threads here. I know the lists of poses, the advice on equipment have all helped me.

Sorry about the teeth. Hope you got that fixed up.

[jkloef]

I gotta ask....how in the world did your teeth get knocked out!?

[csm328]

He gave the bride a kiss...but slipped the tounge? lol

[sumozebra]

I'd suggest renting the 70-200 f2.8L IS. for the 20D, though as suzy said, the 1.8 80mm will be great too. The IS from the 70-200 will help compensate for the lower shutter speed u need. *i suffered since i only have the 70-200 F4 non IS.. so i had to deal with higher F-stop AND slower shutter speed =(

as for flash, your 550ex will be fine. Just throw in an omnibounce and practice bouncing flash off the walls and stuff.

I wouldn't invest too much into equipment unless u know you're gonna be getting constant gigs or that it's for your own investment. Renting is the way to go IMO

[jric86]

to cms328: nifty? did you mean fifty? i'd like to look into getting a lens that works in the much lower light conditions with a wide open aperture. thanks

suzy, i'll also look into that lens. i think i'd rather an 80 for portraits that does well in low light.

so my teeth... lol. i was at the wedding assisting the photographer. one of the kids was misbehaving, so i went in to get him to smile. as i did so, a guy jumped up to get out of the picture when his hand flew into my mouth. luckily i knew the guy (my old boss). i also was friends with the bride and groom. so that worked out fine. my boss is loaded so they paid for them to get fixed. it was a good story that the bride and groom will be laughing about for a while. i was able to laugh about it. i still even went to the reception. fun times.

sumozebra: i've never used an IS before and have been wanting to play with one for a while. i'll look into renting one for the wedding, possibly buying. i know they're not cheap. having the telephoto would be nice with the portraits.

i appreciate the feedback everyone. i'm really nervous about the whole thing, but with all the help, i'm beginning to feal confident with it.

[tim]

You couldn't pay me to use the 50 1.8. The 50 1.4 is good. IS is very helpful.

[SuzyView]

My only concern about using a lens like the 50 1.4 or 85 1.8 is the shallow depth of field. If you are not familiar with the wow bokeh on these lenses, your pictures will turn out the middle in focus and nothing else will be. So, if you are considering getting one of these primes, work with it awhile and get used to the way they focus.

[csm328]

What Tim said. The Nifty Fifty (50mm) comes in 1.8, 1.4 and 1.2. The cheaper of all 3 is the 1.8. It's a very basic lens and not many people like it but it is a cheap alternative for low light shooting. The 1.4 costs about 3 times as much but is a very good lens. The 1.2L goes for around 13-1700 buckaroos.

Suzy has a great point reference DOF but I've seen some great 1.4 pics (I think they were Tim's) so it can work.

[SuzyView]

Yes, it can work, if Tim's shooting. :) But for someone who is not familiar with sharp focus like that, it is a shocker when 5 out of 10 people in the shot are blurry.

[csm328]

Agree.

[csm328]

Some great 50mm 1.8 shots: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=3219868#post3219868

[tim]

The 50 1.8 is quite capable of taking reasonable shots if you have time time to spend messing around to get it right. If you look at that thread ask the poster how many shots they took to get the good one, and what PP they did. That threads shows amateurs shooting the lens wide open, even when it's not appropriate, in situations they've had the chance to take 100 shots to get 1 shot. Professionals have to get the shot first time, every time, in that respect the 50 1.8 let me down over and over again. Forget the < $100 lenses and get the equipment appropriate for the job.

[SuzyView]

Tim is right here. I think Nifty is really useful, but for pro work, get the right tools as early as you can. That will save you time and aggravation. PP time is always a consideration for a job and the 50 1.4 will not disappoint. The build of the lens itself should be considered. The 50 1.4 is a well-made little hunk of glass that will last a long time. Go for it!

[jric86]

wow, i thank you all for your comments. i will use all of these tips. i think i'll end up going with the 1.4. thank you again. also, thanks for the links cms

[sumozebra]

nifty fifty's not for the job. spend the extra cash and ge tthe 1.4 and u won't be disappointed or only to go home and found out more than 1/2 your shots are unusable.

I personally prefer the tamron 28-75mm di asphalt. It's around similar price to the 50mm 1.4, but has a larger focal range, and is on par with the 1.4 in terms of quality