First Time: A Week to Prep

Well, less than a week, actually -- it's on Saturday and today is Tuesday. They are my friends and not too well to do; they had asked me if I wanted to shoot the wedding a few months ago and, having never shot a wedding before, I went through all of the reasons why they should hire a professional but said, absent all of that, I'd be more than happy to shoot it for them.

Well, they never got back to me and, when I RSVP'd last week, I thought I'd send along an email asking them if I minded if I took a few pictures along with whomever they had hired. Well, my friend replied yesterday and told me that they weren't able to afford a professional tog, so they had a couple of family members who had agreed to shoot some pictures. Point and shoots.

Yeah, no.

I told them there were no guarantees that I'd get earth-shattering images, but I'm fairly certain I could pull off a far better job than someone with a point and shoot. Below is a list of the equipment I'll be taking... I'm working on a shot list and I have some ideas, but any other suggestions would be appreciated, It's a Saturday early afternoon indoor church wedding with the reception at the church hall.

Gear
Canon 50D w/Extended Battery Grip
Canon Rebel XSI w/ Extended Battery Grip
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 USM/IS
Canon 50mm f/1.8
Sigma 10-20mm
(4) 4GB SanDisk CF's (Ducati Edition ;p)
(4) 4GB Extreme III SD Cards
Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod w/488RC2 Head
Manfrotto 680B Monopod

Should I even take the monopod or just handhold in the church? I plan on putting the 70-200 on the 50D and the 50mm on the XSi. I've ordered a Stroboframe, so I think I may put that on the XSi along with my 580EX II strobe and keep the 50D behind my back on the Black Rapid.

I'll also be bringing two Vivitar 285HV's, stands and shoot-throughs which I'll trigger with a Poverty Wizard, definitely for the group photos after the ceremony -- is it a common practice to use them during the ceremony? Maybe diffused strobes back a bit just to throw a little extra light up front?

I'm feeling rushed with planning the shots more than anything... it helps that they're not expecting much, but I want to try to give them something to remember their special day. Any thoughts are definitely welcome.

I'm glad you're willing to help your friends out. I think alot of people around here would discourage someone without experience from even stepping foot into your position, but in your case it seems like the thing to do.

I think your gear is going to be okay, especially since it is a budget (or free) job, but you will definitely want to keep your 10-20 handy and use it at its long end to minimize distortion. Leave the tripod at home (my opinion) unless you want to set one of your rigs with the 10-20 attached at the back center of the church and get a good wide shot of the whole shindig. Definitely don't need to bring the monopod, I've never shot with one at a wedding and have not seen anyone else doing it either.

Thinking of which shots to do is definitely a little daunting, but I is doable. Go through the day like a normal wedding photog would:

1. Get there early
2. Do getting ready photos (hair, make-up, lacing up the dress, flowers pinned on B&G)
3. Individual shots with the bride than bridesmaids, than groom with groomsmen
4. Be done with them with at least 30mins to spare so they can relax before walking down the aisle.
5. Crouch 2/3 the way down the aisle with both your cameras and shoot the processional
6. Once theyre done, float around the back and flanks of the church firing away. Go back to the center for the rings, kiss, and recessional
7. Shoot the celebration outside afterward
8. Gather the family up, largest groups first. Shoot them, than start taking members out to make whatever shots the B&G requested. Also do entire wedding party at this time.
9. Once youre finished, take the bride and groom out for couple photos. Make them comfortable so they smile naturally
10. Go inside the reception venue, shoot the wedding party and the B&G coming in.
11. The rest is probably predictable so enjoy!

John

Thanks!

Just lucked out and a friend of mine who has done weddings for 10 years (video) has agreed to come to the end of the ceremony and reception to help with posing and advice on general concepts.

Here are some good bits of reading for you:

https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=5999915&p​ostcount=2

O.M.G.

That sucked.

Notwithstanding I was "on the job" from 9:30 until 5:00pm... man, it was just rough. A few things I've learned from my experience shooting my first wedding.

1) "Alpha Male" point and shoot guests trying to do posing? Yeah, no -- get out of the way because you're F'ing up my shot.

2) I hate, hate, *HATE* churches that a) have no windows, b) NO natural light and c) mixed florescent and incandescent light.

3) For the love of God, please, under the above conditions, don't choose to have a wedding with every light dimmed to 10%. Yes, I can jack up the ISO, but it's just a pain.

4) An second pair of hands is almost a MUST and ONE of you must have strong organizational skills.

5) Eat at the same time the wedding party eats, because when your blood sugar starts to drop from lack of food, your photographs are going to suffer.

6) I realize that, why I *love* doing the little detail shots, the actual event/low-light photography... I don't enjoy.

7) Thank GOD I was able to get the wedding party and parents out to the lobby where I had strobes and umbrellas setup for some nicer formals.

8) After looking through the viewfinder for 7 hours, when I got into my car, I saw the focus points super imposed in my windshield and I was moving my head, trying to compose the truck driving in front of me to fit into the Rule of Thirds.

Now, to cull 743 photographs... FUN!

So, I always see tons of threads here with people asking for advice on the wedding... I always wish they'd post pictures to give the thread a bit of closure, so I figured I'd throw up a few of the photographs I've put through post for those who were interested.

Because they're so much fun for me, here are some detail/PJ shots (story about the last shot after the image set):

1.

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Great shots Wyn.

Very well done. Great job helping your friend out. I would love to see more.

dan0103 wrote in post #8088069
I would love to see more.

These are probably the shots that I'll post to Flickr: http://www.flickr.com …i/sets/72157619​349942169/

Great stuff Wynder, miles ahead of the point and shoot alternative (and better than plenty of so called weddings pros too).