Insanity

[whobdah]

Dear Readers,

Here's a great one for you. I need professional photography advice badly. My wife recently got roped into shooting a wedding. A dee-jay decided to expand into photography with help from a photographer. Two weeks later the friend leaves for florida to find the woman of his dreams he met on the net. My wife is asked to take pictures for an upcoming wedding. The dee-jay has bought a rebel 300d camera with a 420 flash. I don't think there is another lighting source other than the lights in the gazebo. It will be outside during the day under a gazebo, with all sides of the park surrounded by parking lots. She needs the basics. What kind of settings does she need, lighting, all the basics. What she do for close ups? Group? Settings for all occations.
I would really appreciate the much needed help. She got herself into a "genius" of a situation.

Thanks
Rick

[IndyJeff]

Bloo Dog, calling Bloo Dog please.........

[JohnEBongo]

"Run away, run away"

[robertwgross]

I'm guessing that there is no signed agreement, and therefore your wife is not obligated to do anything about the wedding photography at all.

---Bob Gross---

[whobdah]

Upon further review......she's going to really hard to get out of it. She will only do it if absolutely necessary. This is not a formal wedding. Apparently the people understand her abilities. Is there any advice besides "run away" she tried that and they ran her down. Thanks.

[defordphoto]

Well, we had one of these a couple of months ago. The thread will still be here and there's not THAT many pages to search. We also said RUN AWAY! But, that wedding shoot turned out great and all parties were happy.

[IndyJeff]

Is there any advice besides "run away" she tried that and they ran her down. Thanks.

May I suggest a motorcycle, or at least a new pair of running shoes!!!

[IndyJeff]

Ok on a serious side, if she is bound and determined to go thru with this, make a list of what she will shoot. Get approval from the B & G on these shots and add any they may want.

Get her hands on the camera she will be using and take you over to the gazebo, preferably during the same time of day as the wedding will be, and practice on you. Get familiar with the equipment and the location.

My suggestion would be to look close at the backgrounds on her practice run.
Try to get clean backgrounds. Close tight shots will also help with distracting backgrounds. If needed, get outside the gazebo and shoot upwards to clean up the backgrounds. Nothing worse than a wedding shot of the B&G kissing to seal the deal with a bunch of kids in the background flipping you the bird or even worse mooning you.

[tim]

Have a read of this, care of Mr Dog - Bloo to his friends

If she has to go thru with it, buy a wedding photography book and read it. I wouldn't in her place. At the very least get a contract saying something like "all work is at your own risk, results are not gauranteed in any way. If we forget to take the lens cap off, tough luck".

[Red]

If the DJ has bought the camera I'm assuming it's only got a kit lens.

Maybe get a nifty fifty?

[robertwgross]

Originally Posted by IndyJeff

Ok on a serious side, if she is bound and determined to go thru with this, make a list of what she will shoot. Get approval from the B & G on these shots and add any they may want.

Reasons for this are simple. First, if the photographer has a list to work from, then it becomes harder to overlook something important. Second, if the B&G know the list, then they will take a few extra seconds to look up and smile at the camera at the appropriate time. It is very frustrating to the photographer when everything is all lined up for the perfect shot (from the list) and the B&G keep looking away from the camera. Also, it is a good idea to get some hand signals arranged. For example, if the photographer lifts a hand high, that means for the B&G to get ready for a shot.

---Bob Gross---