Shooting a wedding - Not just your equipment.

jimeuph1 wrote in post #17627734
The thing is, the professionals who have dozens of weddings under their belts, having the experience and skill, also say you need back ups, and even better if you have backups to those backups.

There is a site called shotkit that goes through various professionals bags, lenses are varied, though it's normally 2 primes or two zooms at the minimum, many times it is a huge amount of lenses, BUT, always 2 bodies, even if they are shooting with them at the same time, that is technically backing up the work.

IMO anyone who is telling others that they can shoot a wedding on a rebel a kit lens and a flash is defending their own daft choices.
I have done it on just that, unpaid and naïve, I got a few good shots, good enough to get me some paying clients, but as soon as I was getting paid I used the meagre amount I charged, to rent lenses, and then invest in the ones I liked, and then onto a full frame body etc. I imagine that's a familiar story to a lot of people on here.

The gear opens doors that until you are using it, means nothing, but ultimately, it's up to you whether you walk through those doors.

Listen to the professionals, I have yet to see them say they can do it on a rebel with a consumer lens.

You make some great points. And there is nothing better than good quality gear. But I think that an experienced pro could get great results with a Rebel and a kit zoom lens. Better gear = better images (to some degree). But I know that I could get some great usable shots with the low buck combination. In fact once I had a friend get sick and I shot a paying gig for him with an old 20D. I was in between gear changes and didn't have my own rig available. Client was very happy.

But in many cases a rebel and a kit lens will give you xyz options, whilst the pro gear could give you xyz and abc options in the same situation.

In good light at iso 100 f8, you would struggle to see any difference between pro semi pro and consumer bodies and lenses.

If you never shoot above iso 1600 and supplement with additional lighting/flash, you could easily make do with a lesser bodies 40d/50d calibre types and just concentrate on the lenses.

It's beyond that, situations that need iso 6400/12800 that still hold up to decent print sizes, that is when the pro gear is in it's element.

With knowledge you can work around any cameras limitations, but that might creatively put you in the xyz options, when your really wanting something from the abc option list.

The experience and professionalism (note, not JUST experience) some shooters have over others will make the difference between a wedding photographer who can't book enough clients at $500-2500 and another who can consistently book an entire season of three weddings a weekend at $20k each. I knew a photographer who carried the best gear for show but lost most of her clients / all of her video crew and second shooters (extreme high turnover rate) because she lacked the technical skills / social awareness skills and professionalism towards her clients and her second shooters / assistants despite having ten years of experience in the industry.

If anything, gear is a barrier to entry, a minimum requirement so to speak, but after the point that everyone has the same gear, it's more about merit, artistry, craft, marketing and professionalism towards clients, vendors and second shooters / assistants (the last part is important for management and reproducing results consistently) that separates the has-beens from the cutting edge of the industry.

I couldn't have put this any better spot on straight to the point !!

Ignore wedding photographers who say you can't do this without this or that, there are plenty who show you can, and ignore wedding photographers people who say you can't do weddings without a lot of experience, of course you can, are they seriously saying that all wedding photographers started out with £30K worth of kit and ten years of experience behind them from day one?? Of course they didn't, same as any job, build up your equipment experience and knowledge as you go, and charge what you feel is appropriate for the service you can supply...............

welshwizard1971 wrote in post #17660633
Ignore wedding photographers who say you can't do this without this or that, there are plenty who show you can, and ignore wedding photographers people who say you can't do weddings without a lot of experience, of course you can, are they seriously saying that all wedding photographers started out with £30K worth of kit and ten years of experience behind them from day one?? Of course they didn't, same as any job, build up your equipment experience and knowledge as you go, and charge what you feel is appropriate for the service you can supply...............

I think Blackbull's first post pretty much answers yours welsh wizard.

BlackBull wrote in post #17526080
Give basic equipment to a novice photographer and you'll get poor results.

Give top quality equipment to a novice photographer and you'll still get poor results.

Give basic equipment to an a good experienced photographer and you potentially get good photos.

Give top quality equipment to a good experienced photographer and you'll get top quality results.

It's not about the photographer or the equipment it's about the combination and the knowledge of how to use the tools you have.

To add to that, people always debate skill vs. equipment. I say, why not both? Wedding is a competitive market. Why the false-dichotomy? Why impair your competitiveness by skimping in or making excuses for one area vs the other?

I read the first post, then skipped to the last, so take that for what its worth. I "shoot weddings" and have for a few years now. I jumped in all at once and did my cousins wedding, and was paid quite well for it, by myself, no 2nd shooter, with just a 40d and sigma 30mm 1.4 and Tamron 28-75 2.8. That's it. No flash stuff, no 2nd body, not even a 2nd memory card. Now, 99% of the people that post to this forum will be simply flabbergasted by my lack of care given to my equipment for that 1st wedding. But you know what? It went very well, and the clients were thrilled by the results. Awesome.

Now moving on to current times, I still do not possess the greatest gear, but I still make my clients very happy for my offered price point. I have since always gone to weddings by myself (no 2nd shooter) but have acquired a 2nd body, lots of batteries, memory cards, and a wide range of lenses and flash gear. I have taken more pride in preparing for weddings and don't really "shoot from the hip" anymore so to speak. But I never see myself as going to the point of using 2 FF most up to date camera's, along with the most expensive lenses available. That is just not needed for what I offer. And people are still very happy with the results.

-AJ