Wedding Rant

Shot a wedding yesterday ... I need some advice so that the next wedding i'll be more prepared.

First off ... if you live in Toronto, or in the vicinity ... it was raining ... so a lot of ideas i had for the wedding photos in the floral gardens i had to toss out. For the pros and semi pros ... what would have you done? I wasn't anticipating a rain day so i guess it was my fault, but what would you have done? or what do you do to prep? do you have ideas in case of rain days?

Second tiff during the wedding ... My off cam flash wasn't co-operating at all. i fiddled with the damn thing and still wouldn't work. it was frustrating because not only did the rain cut some photo ideas ... now the planned shots of the bride that i wanted with flash was ruined.

/rant

For one, you always want a back up plan. I also like going into the day with some idea of where we're going to do portraits, the types of elements I can take advantage of, etc. But if there's even the slightest chance of rain, I do the exact same thing with indoor alternatives.

Any time my flashes aren't communicating reliably, I just go right to bouncing an on-camera flash. A little less elegant, a little less control, but still very effective if the environment permits.

yapin wrote in post #10599700
=yap'in;10599700]Shot a wedding yesterday ... I need some advice so that the next wedding i'll be more prepared.

First off ... if you live in Toronto, or in the vicinity ... it was raining ... so a lot of ideas i had for the wedding photos in the floral gardens i had to toss out. For the pros and semi pros ... what would have you done? I wasn't anticipating a rain day so i guess it was my fault, but what would you have done? or what do you do to prep? do you have ideas in case of rain days?

Second tiff during the wedding ... My off cam flash wasn't co-operating at all. i fiddled with the damn thing and still wouldn't work. it was frustrating because not only did the rain cut some photo ideas ... now the planned shots of the bride that i wanted with flash was ruined. /rant

Get this simple concept through your head .. whatever it is or is not, it's your fault
Rain? .. have backup locations.
Gear problems? .. have backup equipment. And backups for your backups. Seriously.

In weddings, you HAVE to expect the unexpected and be prepared to cope with them. I never go anyplace without a backup plan. Usually, I know the facility, so, I'm covered if outside stuff needs to be done indoors. If I've never been to the facility, I've checked it out before the day and formulated a plan for just your situation. I even go so far as to talk to the bride the week before so she is aware of what my backup is. That way, she knows what to expect if it happens.
Back up plan, backup gear, knowledge of the facility, inform your bride, if ocf isn't working, fall back to the basics like Robert said.
Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like you were as prepared as you should have been. I look at it this way, ultimately, the person that suffers is your client in the images you produce.

Don't get wet. Seriously, you just shoot fully indoors at the ceremony or reception location. The only thing that changes is the scenery. (I'll bet this is what you did).

For me, there aren't a lot of indoor alternatives should it rain - and none I can drag 20 people to at a moment's notice.

And the solutions to the failing flash have already been provided. What you haven't said is whether you've been able to get that flash to work since the wedding. If so, it sounds more like pilot error to me. Perhaps you were using IR to signal the flash? Radio wireless?

back up equipment.
back up plan.
Sad to see it, but rain happens. I will bring a background, stand and studio lights if I think there is any possibility of rain.
If my flash starts acting up, i grab my back up. If that one acts funny, I start to swap cords and syncs.

Good wisdom being shared here. Always have backups to everything essential.
Read some of the equipment lines here and you see that many mention extra camera's, flashes, lenses overlapping ranges, etc. Plan for disaster.

A friend's wedding was rained out. Their backup place for the photos was a local greenhouse/nursery. They had all kinds of flowers and trees and all the benches/arbors/statues​/cute garden things you could ever want. Staff had set up a couple of areas with something like a bench with some potted trees and various other plants placed around it. Background was the glass panels of the greenhouse. Turned out really well, and was big enough for a large wedding party.

zagiace wrote in post #10607546
back up equipment.
back up plan.
Sad to see it, but rain happens. I will bring a background, stand and studio lights if I think there is any possibility of rain.
If my flash starts acting up, i grab my back up. If that one acts funny, I start to swap cords and syncs.

This. If you shoot a wedding, with only one flash, one set of triggers, and one body, well it's been said here plenty. It's your fault. I feel that you need to be able to get good shots no matter the situation. THAT'S what people are paying you for. ANYONE can shoot under ideal conditions, and with the one body/lens that came in a kit. A pro is prepared to shoot under ANY conditions. If it rains, out comes the softboxes and speedlights. In the lobby of the hotel. The vestibule of the church. Where ever. Whatever. Umbrellas. Not the shooting kind. When life gives lemons, time to make lemonade. Just gotta have the equipment and skills to do so.

thank you everyone for reading and listening ... i'll take the suggestions to heart

i was lucky that day that the rain didn't pour right down ... it stopped for a good 15 minutes so i rushed the shots i could get

oh ... last tiff ... there were mullets ....... bride can't be center of attention of a photo when theres a mullet

Ya didn't say there were mullets. That changes EVERYTHING! LOL - mullets... (shakes head....). I thought you said Toronto?