Shooting a wedding, tips appreciated

[Mrselfdestruct]

I'm shooting my moms wedding, doing some portraits too, how should I do it? I'm not used to portrait photography, so I dont know what kind of flash to use, what settings are good, and how to deal with outdoor lighting.

[mkuriger]

just curious, then why are you shooting her wedding?

[MaxxuM]

Yikes... Are you going to be the 'official' photographer or just a 'fill-in' for a pro? Weddings are tough; I've 'stood-in' and helped before for candids and such and I found that I didn't have enough skill under my belt to do one as the main guy (not because of good photo experience – I had that – its for creativity and knowing what to look for). All I can say is go hit the magazine racks for photo rags and I guarantee you you'll find one with wedding photography tips in it. Things like, high ISO's inside, no flash during ceremony w/o permission, long lens during the vows so you will not intrude, expose for the brides dress, shoot for creative angles, take a flash, get a wide angle of the train... on and on. There's a reason people pay hundreds, even thousands for a pro wedding photographer. :)

[B3SEO]

just curious, then why are you shooting her wedding?

Did you volunteer to be the wedding photographer? There is a lot to know. Is this a small wedding? How big of a wedding are we talking about? Do you have a back up camera? External Flash? Looking at your signature, I'm not sure you have the right lenses (you list one Sigma 70-300mm) to handle this. Are you thinking of getting more gear? How much time do you have before the wedding?

[blackshadow]

Try reading the sticky in the wedding photographer's forum - lots of really good info there.

If you aren't used to shooting weddings and your Mum wants professional quality photos she is best to hire a professional and you act as a second (if you really want to shoot the wedding instead of making the most of enjoying the festivities).

In my experience the minimum gear requirements needed to be the "official" wedding photographer are:

A main body + a back up body. If your camera fails you miss everything and you only get one chance at capturing the day.
Fast lenses covering from semi-wide angle to about 200mm. Fast zooms (f2.8) and a couple of faster primes (down to f1.8 or f1.4).
Off camera flash - preferably a Speedlite 580EX and perhaps some external lighting depending on the venue.
Spare batteries for camera and flash.
Plenty of memory cards - at least 8GB preferably more.
That's just the gear (minimum).

Then there is the ability - not only do you need to anticipate when things are going to happen - you have to be aware of the "money" shots for weddings.
You have to be able to shoot in widely variable lighting without thinking "what settings do I use now?" You need to know your equipment and know how to use it.
You need to know how to take flash photographs properly (ie not blasting everything out, bounce flash, fill flash etc)
Be prepared to work fast, be able to organise bridal party/guests who would rather be drinking champagne/beer than getting their photos taken even though they are part of the official photographs.

I'm not trying to be negative but everything I have listed above is crucial to successful wedding photography. If you are keen to get into it I recommend you shoot as a second with a main photographer to build your skills before tackling a wedding on your own.

[Mrselfdestruct]

My mom doesnt want to spend 2 grand on a photographer. I think she would like the fact that her own son shot the wedding maybe, I dont know. But I'm going to do what I can to make them the best, shes not looking for professional stuff like whats posted here. Anyways, help me out, what gear do I need to do this? I'm looking for a better external flash but duno which one. What lens should I use? I have till october to get the gear and I dont want to spend a lot on it. Thanks for the tips.

P.S. She was going to hire a professional and I was going to take some picture's here and there, but she doesn't have the extra money after spending alot on the wedding already.

[cdmonkey]

I'm not an experienced photography, just tinker around the house and family gathering, but I shot a friends wedding last year and the results came out quite good.

I shot with a 350d and the tamron 28-75 lens and a 580ex where needed.

some of the shots were inside in a small room lit by candle light, that was my one regret, I hadnt packed a tripod, I had to shoot them wide open/max iso and hope for the best, some of them where ok but that wasnt the best part of the day pics wise.

Shoot raw, you can fix a lot in pp, not ideal but better than nothing.


Plan some shots, search for wedding pics and choose poses etc, print them out and take them with you, you will have enough to think about taking the pics, so having some planned ideas is the way to go.

if you can have some one to help so they are getting the next group of people ready for the next shot, I lost some much time trying to get people sorted.

keep taking pics through the evening until you are getting to drunk to safely look after your gear, some of the best shots came later on when everyone (including me) had had a few drinks.

the 17-70 sigma lense might be a good choice if you are considering a new lense, you might need it for some wider shots.

and as the other say read the wedding forum, lots of helpful advice there.

Lastly good look, it's stressful, thats why people charge so much.

hope that helps
Carl

[suecassidy]

My mom doesnt want to spend 2 grand on a photographer. I think she would like the fact that her own son shot the wedding maybe, I dont know. But I'm going to do what I can to make them the best, shes not looking for professional stuff like whats posted here. Anyways, help me out, what gear do I need to do this? I'm looking for a better external flash but duno which one. What lens should I use? I have till october to get the gear and I dont want to spend a lot on it. Thanks for the tips.

P.S. She was going to hire a professional and I was going to take some picture's here and there, but she doesn't have the extra money after spending alot on the wedding already.

Just rent a wide angle lens, don't buy one if you really aren't ready to do that. If there isn't a rental shop near you (most good camera shops will rent), you can have one shipped and still have a lot, lot, lot of money. Most shops charge the day rate if you pick it up on Friday and return it monday, so that is a good deal. I can get a lens for about $40 for the weekend here in Southern California. Ditto for a good flash.

[DocFrankenstein]

Just do it. Don't expect pro results.

Follow the money. Capture the little decorations, flowers... group shots.

[SuzyView]

I just had this problem in reverse, my son got married. Wu also is going through this. But unlike your situation, I have the money. But luckily, Jim Ashew came around and volunteered to shoot the VA part for me and I hired Dave Terry in UT for the other reception. He's mid-range in cost, once people start ordering pictures, he'll earn a little something. Both are to me, pros, very good and amazing to work with.

Why didn't I shoot the weddings? Because I had too many other things to do those days, including talking to friends and family, keeping the B&G happy, paying the bills, etc. The family members are committed to do other stuff, more important.

If I were you, I'd make sure you have some other shooters around. If anyone here can help him, that's really the best way to go. POTN friends are terrific, but still pay them, whether in money or in favors. It's the least you can do. I owe Jim and Dave a lot.

[Mrselfdestruct]

I talked to my mom again, told her I think she should get a professional and she told me she doesnt care how professional the pictures are. I guess I'm going to do it, and I got 2 months to practice and get some more gear. Anyways, thanks for the advice guys.

[tweatherred]

I am in pretty much the same situation with you as far as my sister-in-law's wedding in 2 weeks is concerned. I have shot a friend's wedding before (although I wasn't impressed with my work they were pleased), so I am going into this with knowledge beforehand of what to expect and hope I can add to the advice given above. Have you considered offering to hire a pro for them as your wedding present? (I tried this with my wife's sister but was shot down.) Are there any other people with some photographic knowledge attending? If so, you might want to encourage them to bring their cameras as it doesn't sound as if you have much in the way of backup equipment. I had three cameras at my friends wedding and of course one of them died (and took some really good pictures with it-fortunately it was only a Nikon)
More than anything you and your mother need to appreciate that you will be really busy if you are the main photographer, so she needs to let you focus on that and not put you in additional roles. At my friends wedding, which was pretty small and informal, I took something like 700-800 pictures (not counting the ones I lost) and from reading the wedding forum (I hope you are spending a lot of time there-all of your questions have probably been asked and answered many times) that is at the low end. You will have to scout out your locations and lighting situation in advance as much as possible, then make sure you are in good position to get all the important moments such as cake-cutting and bouquet tossing. While trying to do all this, the other guests will assume you are somehow in charge and ask where do I go for...? and when will they...? and so on. Afterwards you will have to process and print all those pictures; does your mom expect a finished album, a disc with some pictures on it, or something in between? A lot of people find all of this pretty stressful, but I am used to handling stress so for me it is not so bad, as long as I manage expectations and make it clear what kind of results they should expect.