Ok Wedding tomorrow.. what am I missing?

[Adam Hicks]

I've done a few weddings in the past, but all on film. This is my first 'digital' wedding so wanted to run through the things I have purchased and see if there's any glaring holes. Any advice is appreciated! The wedding will be outdoors in the evening light just before dusk. The reception is obviously indoors afterwards.

- 20D w/grip two charged batteries
- 550EX w/16 MAHA 2300 batteries charged / Pocketbounce 80/20 / inserts
- Stroboframe bracket / Canon off shoe cord
- 50mm 1.4
- 10-22
- 100-400
- 28-75 2.8
- (2) 2Gb high speed cards (Lexar 80x and Sandisk Ultra II)
- (1) 1Gb Sandisk extreme and a backup 512mb extreme
- I'll be shooting RAW for all wedding shots and then based on available memory I'll either shoot RAW or large JPEG for the reception
- Manfrotto tripod for primary ceremony shots and group shots
- Dell Laptop / USB 2.0 reader

I plan on using the 50 1.4 for most everything I can, then the 28-75 for the indoor shots. The 100-400 and 10-22 will probably not touch the camera unless there's downtime and I want something creative. Or if I need a serious face zoom, etc.

Thanks for any advice!
Adam

[defordphoto]

Valium. I see no valium listed. That can be administered to the bride, photographer, or in some extreme cases, both parties.

But seriously, what I see missing is a backup camera and a laptop.

[Adam Hicks]

I should add the laptop to the list. I have a laptop. And it all fits nicely in my CompuTrekker. I do not have a backup camera, but that's a chance I'll have to take. I haven't seen too many 20Ds break down in the field yet. If I start doing this more seriously then I will definitely add a 10D or two to the list.

Adam

[Todd Jacobsen]

Valium. I see no valium listed. That can be administered to the bride, photographer, or in some extreme cases, both parties.

But seriously, what I see missing is a backup camera and a laptop.

You migh want a larger prime (85) but that may not be attainable before tomorrow. Use of the fifty will cause you to be "in the scene".

100-400 will be quite heavy without a monopod as an 85 substitute. Using a tripod with legs extended (but not spread) can be a good substitute, but heavier.

Instead of a laptop, you could go with a HD for download. A lot of wedding pictures can be "capturing the moment". It's hard to capture the moment when you're running out of CF space and you need to delete the not so good shots. Snapping away and killing the lousy ones AFTER seems easier than attempting to kill the bad ones DURING the event.

List of "must-have" shots that were picked by the B&G prior to event. It always sucks later when you missed a shot they wanted. If they provided a list, then the owness of the fault is not on you. No list, they'll ASSUME you knew...

Did you mention multiple lights for portraits? With one 550, you'll want to use available lighting as key, your flash as fill.

[dewmuw]

Confetti. :D

[Adam Hicks]

Thanks Todd... as far as the 100-400 goes, I handheld it all weekend for the last Nascar races no problem. I use that thing like it's going out of style, so it rarely gets the monopod :) But I have a nice one just in case!

Thanks for the advice on the list. I'll e-mail her and have her send me a list. That sounds like great insurance!

I think with 5.5Gb of flash I should be ok without using the laptop or the tank, but I might pop it in to review some shots and exposures (I'll use the hitogram most of the time) to make sure everything looks good. With wedding dresses it's been pretty simple - set camera to RAW, take the shot, view the preview with histogram, if anything is blown out crank down EC 2/3 or so and shoot a second time. I can do this so quickly that it makes blow-outs rare any more.

Thanks again!
Adam

[lime]

-2nd body (As someone else mentioned)
-2nd flash
-some power bars (unless you're being fed)

Keep in mind the flash recylce time. Shoot raw for the important shots & jpegs for the fun reception stuff.

Have Fun!

[PhotosGuy]

Do you have a deposit slip for the check? ;-)

[natalka]

I always take two alleve before a wedding. My feet won't hurt until I get home.
Swiss army knife, bandaids, for you or your gear (used on bracket before).
A few jokes.
Bottled water and a cooler, maybe a snack too for the ride home.

Natalie

[robertwgross]

Before I shot my first digital wedding, I made myself some miniature "cheat sheets" that I attached to my rig.

One sheet is the shot list. I list all known wedding poses, categorized for pre-ceremony, ceremony, post-ceremony, reception, departure, etc.

One sheet is the technique tricks. For example, if a single subject has a bald head, what do you do to minimize the baldness to make it look good. If the single subject has a long nose, what do you do to make it look shorter. That kind of stuff. Normally, we don't know all of the subjects that we will be shooting until we arrive at the wedding, so these tricks simply remind me of how to set up.

One sheet is the summary of tricky technical stuff on the camera or on the flash. For example, you might have custom functions that you use only once in a while. You might have a set of favorite flash settings that work particularly well.

One sheet is a list of first and last names of the B&G, parents, wedding official, etc. If you speak to someone, you may get better results by using their name. On the other hand, when you are trying to group together family members for a pose, often it is better to simply announce: "OK, I would like to have the parents of the bride with the bride."

I generally use a khaki photographer's vest. Somewhere in one pocket I keep a very small bottle of drinking water.

---Bob Gross---

[cmM]

That's great professional preparation.
I'll second that. Especially if you are bad with names like me and forget the bride's name 5 minutes after you say hi :-P

[robertwgross]

In a different line of work, I would often find myself in a meeting room with strangers. We would exchange business cards, and then sit down across from one another at the table. I always arranged the business cards in front of me, lined up with the particular stranger. That allowed my brain to associate the name, business title, and face of each person.

---Bob Gross---

[froman98]

Years ago my weight starting increasing and the doctor put me on a regimen of 50 mg of valium daily. I lost 25 pounds in the first month because I kept dropping my food into my lap.

Badabing.

HAHAHA. I almost dropped my food on my lap when I read that. That sort of diet could go along with have your jaw wired shut, eh?

In a different line of work, I would often find myself in a meeting room with strangers. We would exchange business cards, and then sit down across from one another at the table. I always arranged the business cards in front of me, lined up with the particular stranger. That allowed my brain to associate the name, business title, and face of each person.

I for some reason imagine someone lining up the business cards in the order the people were sitting and lining up several pencils on the desk parallel to the cards along with making sure all of the edges of the business cards are parallel to the edge of the desk. Similar to what Monk would do. Sadly, I find myself doing this too.

[Adam Hicks]

Thanks again guys! I *DO* have an extra flash, a 420EX that usually gathers dust. I'll make sure to throw it in the bag. For the outdoor group shots, I have a 23 or so inch reflector (the $40 jobs silver on one side gold on the other from B&H... don't remember the brand.) I had thought about maybe using it, but probably not. It will be just before dusk so shadows shouldn't be too harsh.

I completely agree on the shutter speed at 1/125+ for sharper shots. I'm not going for any motion panning like I do at the races!

As far as using the 50 1.4, it's not necessarily for ambient light (I'll want a little more DoF most of the time than 1.4 would give) but it's just such a no nonsense sharp lens, and it is relative to an 80mm 1.4 when the 1.6x crop factor is considered, so it's a nice (maybe a hair short) length for portrait shots in general. Vs. the 28-75 it's just a couple steps either direction.

I'm going to make some notes of the things you guys helped me with and mentally prepare for tomorrow. I feel pretty good about it! I think I will use the grip though, as half or so of my candids, etc will be shot portrait and it's just easier with the vertical controls. I have no problems with fatigue with this camera, having carried it with grip, 550EX and 100-400 zoom handheld all weekend for the Nascar race here in Texas. :)

Thanks again!
Adam