First wedding - lessons learned

You are a better man than I. I am so hard headed that I don't learn until I've done my own major screw-up!:o But I think your pointers have all been of great value!

I'm a better man than most women

I believe in preparation, practice, more preparation, and more practice. Then, I review what I did, learn from it, then repeat. Then learning curve with digital is just amazing, 6 months ago I was looking to buy my first SLR and asking "do SLRs take video?"!

Intersting thread Tim, any chance of seeing some of the results?

Yep, my website's under my profile - click "tim", then "visit tim's website".

Hi Tim,


I checked out your website. Very nice. I especially liked your photos of the model. What lighting did you use on the outside shots? Also, either you are an experienced web developer or you have some nice software to present your photos. What kind of program did you use?

Thanks,

Mods, can we move this to the wedding forum and making it a sticky? Thanks!

I'll have to get around to updating the thread some time, i've learned a bunch more since I posted this thread. Glad it's helpful, not sure it's worthy for being stickied. Maybe linked from a FAQ.

It's been reported for transfer, sir.

As a well seasoned shooter of weddings for a long time, you offer a lot of insight to first-timers that often does not get learned until you have a few weddings under the belt. You're a quick learner!

The only 'issue' I have is with your advice in Item 8, about not using Partial metering. Why not? I have used spot metering to great effect with all my cameras, including the Bronica ETRSi medium format film camera used for a long time to do weddings! Spot metering can 'save your bacon', where your camera can be mislead with even evaluative metering in certain settings.

>> Surely the Tamron 28-75 was not wide enough. I have a similar wedding to you in Sept<<

Shooting weddings with Bronica ETRSi medium format outfit, I learned to never use my 40mm lens on group shots, only for scenes. 40mm is same as 15mm on 1.6 crop camera. I would use on 50mm and longer lens for group shots, to avoid subject distortion caused by perspective distortion. 50mm in 645 format is same as 18mm on 1.6 crop frame. Your 28mm current lens limit would be like trying to use my 'normal' lens on my Bronica, and that is not nearly wide enough when shooting distance is limited.

Thanks Wilt. That note is aimed at people shooting their first wedding, who will often be harried, panicked, or straight out terrified and not thinking clearly. I use partial more often than not now that I have more experience, but beginners might be better off using evaluative unless it's a high contrast situation (eg a light source in the frame, couple inside).

I prefer to stay at 28mm or longer for group shots, to avoid distortion. Sometimes I use my 70-200. I will use my 12-24 occasionally, because it's better to have a distorted shot than no shot at all.

I've got this bookmarked. I just know that this forum will grow quick and just do not want this type of information to be lost. Saves people time from asking the same question twice. So sticky it, link it to an FAQ, doesn't matter. As long as it stays on top. You help more people that you realize, Tim. I appreciate all the advise you have given.

-Manny

Tim, this is an excellent thread...could you explain and expand on these two more...
7) Use a custom white ballance if possible, especially under mixed light conditions. I'll cut a LOT of time off your post processing workflow.
8) Don't use partial metering if you're in a hurry, unless you have something like a bright background and a dark subject

I'm reading the gero book and just ordered the other one...I've got a friend's wedding to do next weekend and then I'll just be advertising now trying to pick up gigs...any advice? I'll keep you updated about the next weekend...

7: Just a general white ballance tip. Set a custom white ballance if you're in strange colored lighting, or use the presets on the camera. It'll make your workflow easier later.
8: If you're harried and not concentrating it's easy to stuff things up with partial metering. Evaluative usually works pretty well, so unless you're in a high contrast situation perhaps it's best to use that. If you're not in a hurry partial can give you better results, obviously. Meter the face, not the dress/tux.

Here are my recommended books - i'll add to this list some time:
The Best of Wedding Photojournalism: Techniques and Images from the Pros.
Digital Wedding Photography (this isn't my favorite book but it's another angle, and it's quite simple).
Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide.