Advice for wedding photography.

[JenPena]

This could get long but I really feel for you and want to give you as much advice as possible - I'm not a pro yet but I've had some experience...

I've also been in the same position as you - not quite sure I can do a big event like a wedding, but in my case, I really wanted to try it - because they knew ahead of time it wouldn't be the same as a pro shoot, and they weren't paying me - so they were "getting what they paid for".

I had my D70 which I'd had for awhile but bought an SB600 before and made the mistake of not familiarizing myself with it ahead of time, so I defaulted to the settings after shooting shots too bright and too dark, and after that it was a lot better.

I did, however, learn from that wedding to the next one - the first went fine and I shot TONS of photos (another very good tip - get another 2 GB card if you can and keep going) and they ended up with over 350 good finals that they printed and re-printed...I worked so hard I thought I deserved something for it but learned from that too - a contract or fee up-front (if you want to charge one) is much easier when dealing with friends, family, whatever.

For the second wedding, I had a sample contract (just do a search, there's tons on the web) to use for our agreement, and a sample list of photographs they can check off. KEEP THAT LIST when you go to the wedding - ask someone to assist you even just to wrangle people up and keep track of time, and the photos you still need to shoot.

Get that list organized so you don't have to shuffle people back and forth. Do all the guys first, all one family, whatever - so the wedding party can leave if they want to. If they are comfortable and don't see you sweat, they are much easier to work with. A nervous photographer will make them cranky - it WILL happen!

Time will go very fast and you can't spend a lot screwing around with equipment or looking for people, so whenever there is a lull, shoot - shoot - and shoot some more. People LOVE the children in casual situations, and kids love to mug for the camera - some parents don't get their kids in those clothes often and will love candid shots. I prefer more close-up pictures if it's one or two people, but get all different distances so they can choose what THEY like. Check out what other photogs do or get some wedding photography books for different picture setups, but get an idea of what the bride and groom want ahead of time and make sure you cater to that too.

What I've noticed in all the churches I've been in is I get a very yellow glow - I don't usually set up big lights since my churches have been very small and I can't get much in there but myself, but if you can get a big light in there to help cut down on the low lighting conditions, do it.

Set up your equipment before your scheduled time so you can move freely for the "before" shots - brides love those, too. I have done my weddings from when they get ready to almost the end of the dance - which makes for a long day. Bring water for yourself in case you work the whole day and don't get a chance to sit or even eat - if you don't have an assistant to watch out for you, you could get exhausted fast!

Organize your equipment so pack up is simple - either get some big totes or pro cases to put everything back safe and sound. You're usually in a rush after the actual ceremony to get to the next place and if someone helps you that doesn't know what they're doing, you could have some ruined equipment or lose something.

I have not had much time to do the standard portraits in front of backgrounds, for loss of time, but if that's a "must" for your bride and groom, set that up in a separate room where kids won't be running and you have plenty of space. Outdoors, if you CAN, are favorites too - colors are better and if you scope out the location, you can find some really nice backgrounds for your standard shots.

I could go on and on - and I have - but those are things I've noticed as I've done these events. They're lots of fun and with the right group, you can enjoy yourself even if you're working. If you want to correspond more about this, let me know! I don't mind sharing! Good luck!

 

[Garbz]

Thanks a lot for all of that Jen. The crux of peoples arguement appears to be preparation. If I can organise it when it gets closer to the day I'll get in to the church hand have my sister model for various shots for me so I can scope out the scene as you mentioned.

If I have time I may get the chance to post a few here to see what people think. Not sure about the assistant thing yet but I could probably get a family member from somewhere to give me a hand when needed.

 

[Garbz]

Hey photo gurus, I just like to say thanks. The wedding worked out really well. I shot it all on the D200 with the 18-70mm, and SB800 flash unit.

The hardest thing was trying to get happy shots. Unfortunately the wedding was a bit... well lets just say until the beer came out it looked more like a funeral, long story, but I did get a few smiley snaps. Though far from professional it worked as well as it could IMHO.

All your tips helped very well and I'll post some pictures in the wedding gallery after I finished processing them and if the couple release them. Thanks again.

 

[ironsidephoto]

good advice, uberben.

i have a D200 and an SB600. the 600 should be just fine for you--there isn't that much of a difference between them. also, check this out:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/sb600vs800.htm

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/ittlslave.htm

i've done the wireless slave thing with my 600, and it works great.

i strongly recommend a separate flash than what comes on the D200, though. especially for portraits. GET A DIFFUSER. that's not really even an option, i think. i'd get a dome diffuser.

 

[tulie]

30 day free trial at the digital wedding forum. An amazing resource. More then one could ever learn in a lifetime. People are happy to answer any of your questions over there...
hey and good luck. Shooting for your aunt, friends and family is how you get started. Gotta start somewhere. Don't let everybody scare you. She's insisted, not like you're getting paid and she will love them because they are from you.

http://www.digitalweddingforum.com

Here are some amazing sites for you to be inspired by...

http://www.kellymoorephotography.com/index2.php

http://www.amydeputyphotography.com/wedding_galleries.html

http://www.ridoutphotography.com/

 

[Garbz]

thanks for those links Will read further eventhough the wedding is over.

ironsidephoto I already bought an SB-800. I have something against many of Ken Rockwells reviews. Some are great but in the review of the SB-600 I as with some of his lenses I get the feeling he is just justifying his purchases rather than giving an unbiased review. There's a few features of the SB-800 that he wrote of as useless as with his D200 review that I use quite often. Plus the SB-800's extra power is really handy. Even the higher powered SB-800 eventually gave way to my trigger happyness during the wedding and underlighted a picture!

I am very happy with it and now looking at expanding my flash lighting experience

 

[MACollum]

This is just a thought, but what I think I would do is shoot for free, give a contact sheet and sell the prints. I've thought about doing just that. That way if you get some exceptional shots, you can still make a little and they still get off a lot cheaper than if they paid a pro photog. Of course it gets a little trickier when dealing with family. You can get 8x10 printed for $3-5 at an online lab and you could charge a few dollars more per print. I would certainly be willing to pay a little more for prints of great shots, especially if I got the session for free and my nephew was the photog.

 

[cvjarrod]

SB800 gives you a diffuser, light stand and flourescent and tungsten gels.

You'll want a diffuser for sure, and depending on the ambient lighting at the venues, you might need some gels.

Once you get into CLS on your D200 you'll use off camera lighting as often as possible. You should be using it at this wedding for the portrait shots if you don't have any other lighting equipment. It would be a lot better to get at least two SB800s for the portrait shots. One strobe off-camera lighting needs to be adjusted every time you get someone of different dimensions in the picture and you'll lose a lot of time fiddling with the strobe positioning.

If you do get into CLS, the SB800 can be used on-camera to control up to three banks of strobes as opposed to the two banks using the built in flash of the D200. The 600 can't be used as the commander, only as a remote unit.

Once you add in the extras and factor in stronger lighting, the 600 isn't as good of a bargain anymore.

BTW, Ken Rockwell gives reviews of equipment he has NEVER used. What the he## is that about...

 

[Garbz]

I don't know why people are still giving me tips after the wedding is over, or recomending which flash to buy after I already bought it

cvjarrod thanks a lot though for your reply. I didn't figure out the CLSuntill a few days ago, and I've been playing with it non-stop since. The SB800 worked well as an oncamera flash especially for the portraits which were done outside and slowsynced for some very satisfactory results.

I'm really enjoying this remote flash trigger now and in the future will be looking much more into how to use it, but I'm not going to be investing in any more SB800s at this point. Maybe a 600 as an extra slave but even that is pushing it with my debts atm.