First paid Wedding gig

I've always been a family photographer and once in a while some paid gig. This will be my very first paid wedding gig and I'm really nervous. To be honest with you guys the closer to the wedding date the more nervous I get and don't want to do it. The wedding is on the 28th and it's a reception wedding. Meaning it's a reception hall with tables and the couples will exchange their vows there instead of a church.

For a newbie like myself, what are some do's and don't? When is it appropriate to use a flash and not to? TIA!

Try to avoid flash in a church if possible.

What preparation are you doing? Leading up to a wedding I do all sorts:
- Check my gear, clean it, charge batteries
- Look at great wedding photographers photos, work out why I like their photos, what's good about them, how to create an image with the same feel (don't try to copy images directly, it's both against copyright and rarely works anyway)
- Meet the couple, get to know them
- Scout the venues and locations at the right time of day. Choose your backgrounds, visualize your poses, work out what lighting you'll need (I have a few kinds, LED, speedlite, studio with battery pack, and diffusers)
- Work out backup locations for wet/cold/windy weather
- Help the couple work out a time line, to make sure there's time for everything they want to do
- Look at my old work, my portfolio, see why people hired me.
- Go over my conference notes from the past couple of years, for ideas and motivation

etc

tim wrote in post #15411137
Try to avoid flash in a church if possible.

What preparation are you doing? Leading up to a wedding I do all sorts:
- Check my gear, clean it, charge batteries
- Look at great wedding photographers photos, work out why I like their photos, what's good about them, how to create an image with the same feel (don't try to copy images directly, it's both against copyright and rarely works anyway)
- Meet the couple, get to know them
- Scout the venues and locations at the right time of day. Choose your backgrounds, visualize your poses, work out what lighting you'll need (I have a few kinds, LED, speedlite, studio with battery pack, and diffusers)
- Work out backup locations for wet/cold/windy weather
- Help the couple work out a time line, to make sure there's time for everything they want to do
- Look at my old work, my portfolio, see why people hired me.
- Go over my conference notes from the past couple of years, for ideas and motivation

etc

Thank you for the replied. It's just so hard to get good advice in here now a days.

Everything is ready to go. Batteries, flash, lens, cameras, plenty of GB memory cards maybe about 60GB. I'll also have my alienbees there also just in case. The wedding is more of a reception hall wedding instead of the church thingy.

I've been looking around all of the wedding photos here, flickr and websites. I definitely have a lot of ideas but I'm just worry about lighting.

Read my thread about lighting receptions. Don't just look at images, try to work out where lights are, and why great images are great. What about lighting is worrying you? What situations?

Hello, I just recently did my first wedding gig too. I'll give you a bit on my experience.

Mine was in a church, so the lighting was very consistant. There was quite a bit of side lighting from some long windows on the south side, to the grooms right.

I shot in AV mode, which was stupid. I kinda figured out later that I should have simply found a good ambient exposure and set the camera on manual. The problem I had was that any shot taken facing north was great, and all the shots I took facing south were extremely underexposed. this is because the windows were throwing the exposure meter all to hell, even though I had the meter locked to my AF point.

Another thing was that I was ready and waiting for everything to go by so fast... when in fact it seemed like I had all the time in the world... this was a lie. it WAS going by so fast, and I seemed to be missing all the really important stuff. I did get it all, but it was only because I'm quick on the trigger. I did blow the kiss though, 5 shots, all blurred. Not good.

Because your wedding will be with a JP, its going to be even shorter, so make sure your in a good spot when they do the important things, like the giving of the rings, the kiss and the signing.

I shot quite a bit at the reception too, again, this is a great area to have your camera set for manual exposure.

Flash.. if they say you can use it, flash away. Cameras suck in low light, use the flash. I don't know your experience level with flash, but its really easy to make some really ugly pictures using a flash, so make sure that you're on the up and up. This isn't a place you want to be experimenting.

Those are the areas I would have changed personally... Good luck though, an let us know how it went.

Flash during ceremony can be intrusive, bouncing can be problematic especially in churches, and direct flash is best left for uncle Bob. Modern cameras are good in low light, I use up to ISO6400 as necessary, though I try to stay at 3200.

tim wrote in post #15412844
Flash during ceremony can be intrusive, bouncing can be problematic especially in churches, and direct flash is best left for uncle Bob. Modern cameras are good in low light, I use up to ISO6400 as necessary, though I try to stay at 3200.

Thanks Tim and Tzetsin! Tim I was going through your signature link and they are very helpful. I have all of my stuff ready for this wedding. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Go scout out the location in advance, if at all possible. Look at it from a lighting standpoint - how is the light? What settings will you need? Will you need to set up your strobes? (hint: yes, you will) Where will you put them, and will you be able to move them quickly if necessary?

If you haven't been to some weddings recently, ask if you can attend the rehearsal - not necessarily to take photos, but to help you get a feel for the flow of the day, find good locations, etc. You want to know the order of the ceremony so you can be prepared for the first kiss, etc.

Make a list of must-have shots. Maybe ask the bride if there are any special must-have shots that she wants. Write down a shot list - even if you don't refer back to it during the event, writing it down will help you remember during the event.

Like Tzetsin mentioned, I bungled the first kiss at my first wedding - it happened fast and I wasn't ready (they didn't have a rehearsal). Fortunately, my assistant/second/wife got some good ones, so the bride never even knew I missed it.

Well, today is the 29th. How did it go?

with your gear.... and experience you should be ok. I did my first paid wedding geek on the boat after 7PM... lightning was my enemy. I should have hired strobe but I use only flash (580 EXs) it turned up ok but my regret was I should only use max ISO 1000 with flash, I found the ISO 1600 too noisy even on 5D3 when you blow it up.

But few strobes should be ok. or get few 600EX flashes that's what I want for the next geek.

WildBill3081 wrote in post #15421589
Well, today is the 29th. How did it go?

Not good. I spent most of the time at the photobooth (requested by the bride). It wasn't really wedding, but more like a celebration party. No vows, no walking down the aisle.

tefu wrote in post #15425777
lightning was my enemy.

Lighting was horrible. Especially on the dance floor, the bride wanted it dark while they were dancing. 95% of my shots were done with a 580EXII speedlite with a gary fong lightsphere. Attached to the flash was my Canon battery pack (life saver). I would of missed a lot of pictures if I didn't have that battery pack.

Here's one from the wedding party.

tefu wrote in post #15425777
with your gear.... and experience you should be ok. I did my first paid wedding geek on the boat after 7PM... lightning was my enemy. I should have hired strobe but I use only flash (580 EXs) it turned up ok but my regret was I should only use max ISO 1000 with flash, I found the ISO 1600 too noisy even on 5D3 when you blow it up.

But few strobes should be ok. or get few 600EX flashes that's what I want for the next geek.

I'm curious by this statement. How large a print are you making that you find ISO 1600 too noisy? Are you running any kind of noise reduction on your images?

This image was shot at ISO 6400 with a 5D II. I added a touch of noise reduction in LR. I would have no problem enlarging this photo.