Amatuer Photographer - 1st Wedding complete

[Debian Dog]

Thanks to all the good advice and reassurement in this thread. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=95735) The wedding went without a hitch except for the following:

- Flower girl could not perform. She was crying and kicking before she hit the door :P
- Bride changes exit strategy/plan and did not let me know. (After they said, "I present Mr. and Mrs. XXX instead of walking down the isle, like we planned, she grabbed a red rose and went over to give it to his mother. Missed that shot even after running like a manic around to the other side of the church. When I asked her about that later she was like, "Oh, I thought someone would have told you".
- Instead of throwing rice or something like that... They left at the end of the reception with the guests holding sparklers (another thing they did not tell me about) Even with the ISO at the highest setting I could not get a good shot. I told them it is a "big ask" to get a good shot at night without preparation and a tripod (as I learned here). They did not seem upset about it.

I shot over 500 pics in RAW mode and am plowing through them now. I got some pretty good and interesting shots including the bride putting on lipstick in the mirror and her bending WAY over eating a chicken wing because she was STARVING.

Stay tuned for sample pics...

Edit: Oh I will be in the market for a longer lens... I am open to suggestions.

[Mannytkd]

Hard isn't it, i've taken wedding jobs in the past and having another go at it with my Canon G6, i know, your gonna say, "a G6" believe me it has taken some great shots and i take them in RAW too. But one thing i must say to you, tryand get out of taking too many pics, 500 is hell of a lot of pics to get through, it also does'nt look professional either because one day someone will ask, "why do you take so many?", you can't answer by saying, "just in case". Use your voice to be heard, especially in group shots you have to heard, so you know that they are looking and that is one shot not 2/5 and so on and so on. If you can get an assistant. But to take upto 500 pics will also slow it down and people will get fed up??!! I start off withh the biggest group shot because then those who are not of the 2 main famelies can go or do what they want, they're the ones who do all the moaning about when are you going to take the group shot so get that out of the way first. I have no doubt you'll gets lots of other ideas besides mine......but good luck in your new venture.

Oh yes and take a tripod, its a must for balcony pics inside the place of the wedding??

[Debian Dog]

I brought a tripod but it was too bulky to use all the time. The church did not have a good area to take pics so I was stuck with my manfrotto spanning pews. 'Awkward' to say the least. I started with it but after the 3rd group, shot I bailed it.

500 pics did not seem like a lot.... I was shooting pretty fast. Before I even process them I can usually tell if I should or should not even bother. So, many times I will have 5 shots and only give them 2 corrected ones to choose from.

Like you said this was my first wedding so I figured "too many" was better than "not enough" ;)

[Inspired Photography]

The first one is always the hardest...

I don't know wether 500 shots is a bad thing or not. I don't shoot that many any more, but still a few hundred... although it does depend on the wedding. I am sure after a few you will start to refine it all.

I too take the tripod, but yeah - a few kilos of Manfrotto can weigh you down. I only use it if i have no other option.

If you need a telephoto, grab a 70-200f4 L. They are quite inexpensive (in the scheme of things) and are top quality.

Looking forward to seeing some pics.

Rob

[CyberPet]

I'm by no mean a pro when it comes to weddings, but I've learn this from the 5 weddings I've shot: Less is more. After working on over 300 images (and that was just 3 hours work) and 200 of those were picked out to be viewed and selected by the B&G, I now know that I should not be as trigger happy. Think things through more and just get the shots I want. I bet this will come with time.

I shot a wedding in a church, cranked up the ISO and left the tripod/monopod at home. Gave me more mobility.

The most amazing thing was that I didn't have a good wide angle, so I used the kit-lens for a few shots. I got some purple fringing, but that doesn't show much on the prints. The below image was taken with 800 ISO. Crazy I know, but now I got a better wide angle. :D

http://the-halls.se/brides/galleri/images/IMG_3840.jpg

[Debian Dog]

Thanks CyberPet NOW I feel bad... :(

Well anyway here is a few, I grabbed real quick. I am still working my way though them all.

[Debian Dog]

2 more

[Debian Dog]

Last one. I know the temp. is a bit off...

[scott stokes]

nice shots Debian Dog nice shots,i have shot as few as 250 ,but the last wedding i shot my wife and i shot 1247 photos.it was a very long wedding 9hrs.the had alot of family members from out of state that flew in,i hope i never have to shot like that again.

[zacker]

my first try at weddings
Rebel XT, canon 50mm and 420 EX (In side photos) and 75-300 IS (outside photos)
-zacker-

[zacker]

And the best part.....THE CAKE!!!
-zacker-

[Debian Dog]

Looking at my cake I see it needs leveled out. :razz:

[CyberPet]

Debian, they look fine... don't feel bad. You will just have to sift through a lot of images in Post processing, and that is the best way to learn to control that trigger hapiness, been there, done that and am still looking to get the t-shirt (I never said I have learnt the lesson myself though) :D