Wedding tips for first timer and limited gear

On my cheap, bare bones set up, I have a on camera flash (do you still have the 580? and the 85? that I either bounce or use bare strait at them, depending on what I have to work with.

100mmL macro is great for both ring shots and portraits, decent in low light. My worry is where you only have florescent light.. hopefully you can bounce there with the flash.

So that is my suggestion, if you have the 580, check out this site, and practice your butt off between now and then
This guy has the best bounce site instructions on the net.

Neil black foam thingy

Rent a 100L, and then borrow/rent another back up body.

Since you don't want to back out of it, here's my recommendation regarding gear. I would rent a full frame body with 70-200 2.8 IS for versatility and low light performance, you can use it for couples portraits and getting shots during the ceremony and reception from a distance. Use the sigma on the 7D to cover the wide end, that way you have two bodies and two zooms and never have to think about changing lenses.

Shooting a wedding for the first time is stressful, and you would want to simplify as much as you can. Don't panic and have fun!

Bounce flash off ceiling and walls. Strongest flash you can get (you can always reduce power).

A week or so before the wedding day check out the venue and see what color the ceilings are...dark ceilings will eat up your flash power...oddly colored ceilings will impart a strange color to your images. Even a minimal, poor-man's flash reflector made from a styrofoam plate or white foam sheet strapped to the flash and used as a bounce card will help if the ceilings are too high.

Shoot RAW.
Shoot RAW.
Shoot RAW.

Beware of too much distortion if you use the wide end of the Sigma.

Grainy, noisy images are preferred over blurred images caused from camera shake or subject movement. Turn your ISO up if you decide to shoot with available light.

Personally, I would shoot mostly with the 50mm STM....use your feet for zooming.

As for renting gear...a 24-70mm would be nice. The f2.8 L would be nice for bokeh, but I would probably rather use the f4 (IS would be really nice for using lower shutter speeds) to insure I had adequate depth of field with a lens that I wasn't familiar with.

Definitely take some test shots at the church/chapel prior to the actual wedding day to get the "lay of the land".

Just some of my rookie thoughts...
Have fun!
Ed

You can't always use your feed for zooming at a wedding. Sometimes you need to react more quickly, sometimes you need to stay still to avoid being a distraction.

tim wrote in post #18278399
You can't always use your feed for zooming at a wedding. Sometimes you need to react more quickly, sometimes you need to stay still to avoid being a distraction.

Excellent point. To the OP, I am only a rookie so take my suggestions with a grain of salt...I was thinking more along the lines of using minimal equipment.

Intheswamp wrote in post #18278543
Excellent point. To the OP, I am only a rookie so take my suggestions with a grain of salt...I was thinking more along the lines of using minimal equipment.

I once had two cameras fail at the same wedding. Turns out I cleaned the contacts using Eclipse, which caused an oxidation layer so the lens couldn't talk to the camera. I've also had a lens fall off the roof of my stationary car, a lens at my feet roll down a hill, walked away from a camera/flash/lens combo connected to the battery pack in my pocket, and probably quite a few other incidents. Weddings are busy.

Moral of the story: have backup equipment.

I'm glad to say I won't be doing this wedding. Whew!

lvph2 wrote in post #18283359
I'm glad to say I won't be doing this wedding. Whew!

A congrats of the highest order is in order: Congratulations for a job not done.

I bet you could hear the pressure releasing from your head, couldn't you?

Ok, you thought this thread was at an end...no, no, no. The only brotherly thing to do for all your fellow-photographers is to explain how you managed to dodge the bullet.

I went up to them and...............She said her cousin is in the biz and is doing it for them! haha. They do video/photo professionally. Apparently they offered to do it for her. They were worried I would be upset. I told them how big of a relief it was!!! All good! Now I can go back to enjoying my camera and not freaking out about getting ready for that wedding!

Ah, the proverbial "Win-Win" gift.

Enjoy your camera!!!!

Great outcome! Thanks for sharing.