Yikes. Hired to shoot at wedding. Please help!

Hi everyone

To make it short:

1. My friend is getting married.
   
2. It’s a low budget student wedding so they cant afford a professional to do the shooting.
   
3. I am the only one they can think of, so now I’m hired.
   

I can't really help you out (since I don't know anything about shooting at weddings), but what I can say that my sister was really unhappy about their photographs and the fact that the guy didn't use a fill flash, so it's probably a good idea to have one.

Also, attach that 50mm and bring your friend with you to a few places that would simulate the places for the wedding and shoot a few hundred shots to learn how to use the camera and lens

you definitely need something wider like a 24-28 mm for groups and a flash is a must.

I just posted something that could be helpful a couple of days ago, after my first wedding. Have a look at this. You might also like this thread.

The kit lens should do for wide angle, get a lens hood for it if you can, and stop it down to F8 if possible.

You NEED an external flash, and I high recommend a diffuser like the LightSphere II from garyfong.com (follow the links). I'd recommend a flash bracket too, I really like my Pro-T - it's light, strong, and works well. You'll need an off shoe cord to mount the flash onto.

HTH, good luck!

PS buy 2-3 wedding photography books and read them. This is NOT optional, it's absolutely necessary IMO. I have one called something like "best of wedding photojournalism", if you only buy one book this one's great. It covers group and posed shots too.

An external flash is a MUST!!! Buy it and learn it...........don't forget to check out the lighting forum.

IN terms of optics, the 50 f1.4 is very good!!! The kit lens is decent.........however​, stopped down its good.

Just practice...........

Ro1

A few things will help a lot:
(1) external -EX flash unit (e.g. 580EX, 550EX, or 420EX)
(2) flash bracket with off-shoe cable
(3) tripod

In my opinion, 28mm is a wide enough lens to cover normal family groups. I only go wider if it is a very large group (like a dozen people or more).

---Bob Gross---

Thank you so much for the replyes!!! Its very helpfull. Looks like i will have to put some money in that external flash. I also bookmarked your links Tim, and noted the book title. I already have a cheap hama tripod - that will have to do for now.

Ahh, can't wait to get startet.

The 20D, btw. is everything, and a little more than i dreamed of.