Wedding Reception Tips Please

[biggpopa]

Hi all.

I'm shooting a friends wedding reception tomorrow. I had them hire a wedding photog for their wedding day, but they asked me to shoot the reception.

Is there any tips I should know about shooting a reception? What kind of shots do you all take? Just some general tips. I know it's last minute for advise, but I thought I'd try.

I'll have all the gear in my sig.....as well as a 70-200 f/2.8 IS with me.

Thanks in advance.

P.S....I have shot events in low lighting, but just wanted to know if there's anything I should pay particular attention to at a wedding reception.

[bakerbranded]

Your Tamron will come in handy.
You will probably rarely use you 70-200, but you might. I did for a few shots but my main lens all night was a 17-55 f/2.8 IS. Use your primes to get creative shots and unless your comfortable with off camera lighting, keep your 430EX on camera and bounce light.

Hope that helps some.

[tim]

I use the 70-200 F2.8 IS a LOT at a reception, I shoot almost all the speech photos with it, as well as sometimes the cake photos. Just keep your ISO high, your lenses wide open, on manual something like ISO1600 1/100th F2.8, and use ETTL on the flash with FEC+1 for the most part.

[bakerbranded]

I use the 70-200 F2.8 IS a LOT at a reception, I shoot almost all the speech photos with it, as well as sometimes the cake photos. Just keep your ISO high, your lenses wide open, on manual something like ISO1600 1/100th F2.8, and use ETTL on the flash with FEC+1 for the most part.

I guess your right Tim. I do use it a lot for speeches and what not.

[DennisW1]

Hi all.

I'm shooting a friends wedding reception tomorrow. I had them hire a wedding photog for their wedding day, but they asked me to shoot the reception.

Is there any tips I should know about shooting a reception? What kind of shots do you all take? Just some general tips. I know it's last minute for advise, but I thought I'd try.

I'll have all the gear in my sig.....as well as a 70-200 f/2.8 IS with me.

Thanks in advance.

P.S....I have shot events in low lighting, but just wanted to know if there's anything I should pay particular attention to at a wedding reception.


I'd plan on using all flash, and something close to a standard length lens, or a medium-wide to short tele. That will get you thru the night without worrying about changing lenses, trying to cope with movement in low light, etc. IMO a 70-200 is going to hurt you for getting in close. Leave it in the bag and work with a more managable lens.

I'd use the 1D with the 28-75 and which ever flash you like best. The 30d could be a trusty backup just in case.

Make sure you're using good rechargable batteries and have at least a couple sets charged and ready to go. Bring your charger along if it's a quick charge type to top up the spent set(s).

For what to shoot, my reception "laundry list" as I can best remember it (it's been a few years):
- B&G entering the reception, usually done to an announcement. Parents and the wedding party as well if they enter as couples.
- Overall shot of the head table
- Best man's toast to the B&G. Afterwards pose the B&G holding their glasses and toasting each other.
- If requested, tables. Usually nobody buys these as you're photographing people with their mouths full of food.
- Photograph the cake, which hopefully leads to your next shot.......
- Ideally try to get the B&G to cut the cake immediately after dinner, before the dancing starts. Pose the bride in front of the groom and position his hand as to appear he is helping her cut, not forcing her hand down on the kinfe. Pose this shot and then let them actually make a small cut for two pieces for your next shot....
- B&G feeding each other cake. I neither encourage or discourage any antics at this point, but a nicer photograph results if they avoid the temptation to smash the cake into each other's faces. This is another good reason to do the cake shot early, before the alcohol starts flowing.
- B&G first dance.
- Bride dancing with her dad/father-in-law, Groom and mom/mother-in-law, any combination of those.
- Wedding party dancing
- Groom removing garter, groom throwing garter to single men
- Bride tossing bouquet to single women
- any groups or friends of the B&G *at their request*. It's a nice touch to ask the B&G if they have any special relatives or friends that they would like photographed, include the B&G in these unless they do not wish it.
- a nice parting shot is a posed shot of the B&G "leaving" the reception. They don't actually have to be leaving but you can pose the shot to get it out of the way. Nice variations on the shot are Groom carrying the bride out the door, getting into a limo or whatever getaway vehicle they have.

Those are what I've always considered the "must get" shots. After that you're on your own. Look for interesting things, and always try to include members of the wedding party and their families. Try to avoid people eating, people drinking, people making fools of themselves. Those rarely bring back good memories of the evening for the B&G.

If they're receptive to it and you feel comfortable asking, don't be afraid to pose important shots as I've mentioned. Toasts, cake cutting, even a "fake" of the bride looking like she's tossing the bouquet and the groom tossing the garter can give you more control over getting a saleable image.

[tim]

I'd plan on using all flash, and something close to a standard length lens, or a medium-wide to short tele. That will get you thru the night without worrying about changing lenses, trying to cope with movement in low light, etc. IMO a 70-200 is going to hurt you for getting in close. Leave it in the bag and work with a more managable lens.

I'd use the 1D with the 28-75 and which ever flash you like best. The 30d could be a trusty backup just in case.

I wouldn't use the 1D at all, it's ooooold now. I'd put a normal lens on the 5D and the 70-200 F2.8 IS on the 30D, for extra reach, which often comes in handy. I use a long lens almost exclusively during speeches, and only use short lenses for the cake cutting and first dance.

I use multiple flashes all evening, there's a thread I wrote called something like "how I photograph receptions" in the forum that could help some people.

[DennisW1]

I wouldn't use the 1D at all, it's ooooold now. I'd put a normal lens on the 5D and the 70-200 F2.8 IS on the 30D, for extra reach, which often comes in handy. I use a long lens almost exclusively during speeches, and only use short lenses for the cake cutting and first dance.

I use multiple flashes all evening, there's a thread I wrote called something like "how I photograph receptions" in the forum that could help some people.


missed the 5D in the gear list, ya that would probably work best.

I purposely avoided complicating things with multiple flash, which I used regularly, as this seemed to be a sort of beginner's shoot. KISS seemed to be the best strategy.

[adam8080]

Probably a given, but make sure you have lots of batteries for your flash just in case. I think everyone else covered everything pretty good.

[biggpopa]

THanks for all your tips.....the reception went very good. I had a lot of fun and the 70-200 f/2.8IS is an AWESOME lens.....loved using that lens.

Most of the other shots were with my primes.