wedding picture help

[smiley82]

Passing it off to a pro is NOT an option...I say this because this is my sister and she has NO money for a pro, she barely has enough to pay for the wedding. It is a backyard wedding with about 50 people.

As for equipment, I appreicate your comments but I have NO money to spend on anymore equipment. I spent all I have on my new camera.

So the help I'm looking for is not to go buy new gear or get a pro, but to assist in giving my sister a good group of pictures from her wedding. I'm doing this wedding as a favor beacuse if I didn't do it, it was going to be a bunch of disposable cameras in the hands of the guests.

So the gear is all I have ( going to buy a tripod & filter set ), but that's it, no more.

As you saw, my shots were not that good either. Yet it was all the people could afford too. It was my first wedding and while they weren't amazing, the couple was sooo pleased. The only good advice I can give you is to take as many photos as possible. You are bound to have some good ones. Plus, I'm sure they just want the memories captured. They probably won't judge you too harshly either. Good luck!!

 

[Wolff]

We all know that pros are going to do a better job that most people would, that's why their called pros. We also know that not every bride has $20 or $30 grand to spend on a wedding that includes a pro photographer. That being said, my advice would be to take advantage of your strengths in this situation. You know the couple so take pictures that you know will mean something to them. Also, it sounds like you'll have access to the location before the wedding. The best practice shots would be at the location to figure out the lighting and find the best backgrounds (it will really speed things up if you aren't searching the day of). Take some pictures the same time of day that the wedding will be, process them and see what changes you could make for the final shoot.

 

[EOS_JD]

Another tip is you can always reshoot any important shots later. Take the B&G out for the day with their gear on and shoot away. It may be something they would like - getting dressed again for a wee day out

I know this has happened with a few friends of mine (older ones) as at the time of their wedding they could not afford a photographer and went out a year later to get some images together...... If you know them you have all the time you need.... Some even get their images before the actual event. Just something else to think about.

 

[officersdr]

I'm hoping that I can get them out for a practice shoot at the location a couple weeks before.

The location is at my parents place, so getting them together at the location won't be a problem. The only thing is that they are still planting flowers and cleaning up their pond that a few shot will be around. I was also thinking about a shot of the wedding party standing around the pond, but shooting it from the roof ( 2 storey house ).

What do ya think?? It's a small yard, but it has a pond, a trellace and a rose garden.....Oh and they want a brunch of shot at the beach nearby. Any suggestions for beach shots?? I have a few ideas, mainly from my wedding , but any others would be great.

 

[EOS_JD]

I'm hoping that I can get them out for a practice shoot at the location a couple weeks before.

The location is at my parents place, so getting them together at the location won't be a problem. The only thing is that they are still planting flowers and cleaning up their pond that a few shot will be around. I was also thinking about a shot of the wedding party standing around the pond, but shooting it from the roof ( 2 storey house ).

What do ya think?? It's a small yard, but it has a pond, a trellace and a rose garden.....Oh and they want a brunch of shot at the beach nearby. Any suggestions for beach shots?? I have a few ideas, mainly from my wedding , but any others would be great.

Yes that should be easy to achieve. Choose a suitable aperture and focal length that all will be in focus..... f8 with a wider angle should probably suffice.

Regards the couple, you can take the images anywhere.... Get some nice close ups and you won't see the backdrop.

 

[Frequent Traveler]

I want to firstly encourage you! Secondly, there has been some excellent advice given to you here from some amazing photographers. In particular, do a web-search of wedding pics and study them completely. Memorize them. Learn what it is you like about them and learn how to do it. However, don't photographically plagiarize either. Practice, practice, practice. Since this is a family wedding, enlist the help of your family to develop and hone your photographic skill.

Also, don't worry about expensive "pro" level gear (lenses in particular
as "glass" is the investment that, arguably, most immediately affects image quality) This is really hard for me say as i am a self-admitted gearhead!!!

Don't believe the notion that good gear automatically creates good photos (though NO ONE would ever come right out and say it......it is ocassionally implied). Learn to use the strengths of equipment. Modern design advantages have made great equipment available and I think you can still capture some incredible photo's with what you already have -particularaly if you work to the strengths of each lens.

frank

 

[officersdr]

Yes that should be easy to achieve. Choose a suitable aperture and focal length that all will be in focus..... f8 with a wider angle should probably suffice.

Regards the couple, you can take the images anywhere.... Get some nice close ups and you won't see the backdrop.

How do you get a the great blurred background on close ups?? Is it the f -stop? Could you explain the aperture & focal length how to's & nots??

As I explained earlier, I'm brand new to this and have so ( ya hell I have tons ) of questions on how to make a cetain picture turn out a certain way.......If you all are up for it, it would help me out a WHOLE LOT/

Thanks in advance

 

[officersdr]

Just to let you know what I have for gear:

I mentioned earlier that I just bought the Sony alpha A100 DSLR with a 2GB pro compact flash card.

Lens:
Sony 18-70mm 3.5-5.6
Sony 75-300 4.5-5.6
Minolta 28-80 ( 0.38m/1.3ft MACRO ) - this is from my minolta 35mm SLR.

Can you explain what the best way i could use these lens and what type of shots would be the best situation for each len??

Thanks agin this is helping me learn tons.

 

[EOS_JD]

To get a blurred background, there's 3 factors (well 4 really).

1. Focal length
2. Distance to subjects
3. Aperture
4. Distance of subject to background

Long focal length at minimum focus distance at fastest aperture and the subject far away from a background will give you what you need.

So say you have an 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 lens. The above would equate to 200mm @ f5.6 shooting a subject pretty close to the lens and that subject reasonably far away from the background would give you what you require.

Sure you can also do it at wider focal lengths but the same applies. Get your subject close and away from the background.

1. Longer focal lengths give a smaller depth of field
2. THe closer you are to the subject, the shorter the depth of field will be for any given focal length and aperture
3. The wider the aperture (smaller the f-number) the smaller the depth of field.

Look at dof calculators (do a google search for "dof calculator". Plug in tyhje figures and you'll see how small and large the dof can be for any given f/l/

You need to get the subject away from the background to allow area behind the subject to go totally out of focus. With the backdrop say 1 or 2 feet behind the subject, depending on the settings, the background will most likely still play a large part of the image.

Hope this gives a little help.