First Wedding HELP!

[MichiganFarts]

You implied that because there's so much trailer trash out there (giving your own clan as examples), with so much divorce rate (apparently because they're just trailer trash), that they don't need good wedding photos, so it's just not an issue.

Which is pointless and ridiculous (unless you're Ken Rockwell, of course).

I absolutely did not imply that the OP's wedding was going to be a trailer trash wedding. If you notice, and can see beyond your foolishness...my post wasn't even directed AT the OP, rather at the person that thought she shouldn't do it. I was giving an extreme example of the opposite to him.

But please, continue to make assumptions, and then blast others who do the same to your posts...you look real smart doing that.

 

[MichiganFarts]

No, I don't see the point of your post at all, except to be a fart, which you accomplished.

So you don't like my name lol...I don't care. But post about content buddy, or a guy with 'fart' in his name is gonna make you look silly.

 

[Robin Usagani]

And those werent very good LOL . Like I said it was my first wedding gig. Given that I had only been shooting a few months when I did that, I was happy with the results. I have only been shooting for only 8 months now.

How do you leap to the conclusion that the wedding the OP is planning to shoot will be as trailer-trash low-class as the people you associate with, and therefor not worthy of the best photography can offer?

Good one Buckster!
Here is my first small wedding. Only 11 people total! It is still classy.
Usagani Photography | Facebook

See I personally think I can do that well...I may totally screw up but with the negativity on here I will prove that I can and will please the bride. I have nine months and happen to attend the church the cermony will be held at so I have 9 months to play with the spotlights and diffrent angles and such that hopefully they day of the wedding the bride and groom will be happy enough with my work to make at least a few prints.

 

[MichiganFarts]

Also, I'll accept any apology you have, because you seem like someone I can learn from. I wouldn't want this little exchange to ruin anything you say....you don't look like a fool, but you are the only one who didn't understand what I was getting at, and that I wasn't targeting the OP with my statements....only the people who just think it's the amatuers fault that the bride and groom want to save money.

 

[IgsEMT]

Whitney A:

I'll join the group of people who told you that you aren't ready to shoot wedding. Playing with photography since 13 and being new to this.... how old are you? (don't really care but you get the point I hope)
The couple need to hire a professional wedding photographer if want their memories to be captured right and not someone with a big camera (that kind of looks from far - professional). Anytime, you take out a camera and promises (either for free or for pay) a quality result, you have to deliver it. From your posts, AGAIN, you aren't the right person for the job, in few years after working under someone's guidance, you will be. No amount of books, videos will prepare you for that day.

Now that I got that out of the way here's the minimum amount of gear that you'll need:

*primary body
*primary lens(es)
*primary light source(s)

*Backup body
*backup lens(es)
*backup lighting

*at least 2 sets of batteries for each electronic device: one camera = 2 batteries, one flash = 8 bateries (unless you're using SB800 w/5 batteries then you'll need per unit).
You can get away with less, but I find that it takes less time to swap a flash, then swap batteries; when free moment comes, you take 2 min brake and swap batteries that from flash that you just took off.


Memory cards: i know nothing about you but from your post, SHOOT RAW and shoot A LOT! (If I knew what you're capable of I'd gladly limit you).

White Balance: GET A GREY CARD!!!!! Chances are you won't calibrate your monitor, therefore at least get the colors right from the start.

Exposure: shooting in RAW will give you 2 stops +/- to play with but it doesn't mean that you should screw that up.
If you'll be shooting in anything other then ALL manual (flash and camera) learn about your camera's metering, how it effects the image and how to compensate for one or the other.
With kit lenses, f/8 is usually best way to go. However, opening it 2/3 of a stop won't kill much of a quality and might help you w/ lighting. Consider renting a fast lens - I'm not a fan of shooting wide open but at least 2.8 lens, shooting one stop down gives me the look I'd want vs shooting w/ 3.5-5.6 lens. Later one, AGAIN, is a kit lens and you shouldn't keep it at 2-3 stops down from widest aperture (for optimal sharpness).

Google David Zeiser, he's a wedding photographer in Cincinnati and is very big into lighting and bouncing lights of the walls, ceilings, floors, w/e. He'd probably bounce that sucker off the moon if could
Kelby's Training Center has number of videos that might be helpful.
Again, you can't learn wedding photography from videos or reading about it but least you might get more of an understanding about it.
If you got specific Qs, PM

First time I ever shot a wedding, I nearly crapped in my pants. I was still an assistant then (about 2-3 yrs into photography but I had about 4yrs prior on video end of the business). We came to work and photographer I worked for (may he rest in piece) said "you're shooting this job". I had a good laugh, continued setting up lights, metering, stetting up nice ratio, etc ... as the bride enters, we stood there (for about 30sec) at which point I realized that I was shooting that wedding and my photog, was going to assist me.
The crapping part came from the fact that it was with Bronica (google it): for every picture that you messed up and went to trash - its about a $1.0 wasted (220film). No one wants to waste film since it is EXPENSIVE!
That day I shot 35rolls (24frames/roll ) in a 6hr wedding (25 was considered to be heavy shooting). Client got about 500-600 proofs and the rest were for me to learn from.
Point is, I was still under supervision of a professional. First time I shot my own wedding (burrowed ALL of his gear but bought my own film) was about a year after that. It was an old day wedding and I shot about 1,000 frames (interestingly enough, clients didn't mind then standing while photographer meters light BUT today they do :er clients got about 700-800 proofs.
And that is where you should start. Work with or under someone who can guide you.

 

[pgriz]

To Whitney,
Doing a wedding photo shoot is non-trivial. You’re getting the reaction that you’re getting because your degree of knowledge and preparation seems equivalent to someone having a hammer and a drill, being asked to build a house for a relative who can’t afford to hire a real architect/contractor.

If you have 9 months, then you need to acquire a few things:
1. Experience with your equipment (and perhaps some new equipment).
2. Experience shooting in the typical environment
3. Experience with light modifiers (flash, etc.).
4. Knowledge of basic composition, posing.
5. Knowledge of post-processing

Perhaps, the starting point is to look at various wedding portfolios (there are many on the web), and various wedding publications, and get a sense of the kind of images that are common, and discuss these with your customers. Your goal here is to get a sense of what they expect and to figure out the “minimum deliverables”. If all they want and expect are two shots of them at the alter, great. Chances are, they'll want more.

Once you’ve got a clearer idea of the target, you need to scout out suitable places which replicate the shooting conditions you will have and try to shoot the photos using a willing (or susceptible-to-blackmail) volunteer. Then look hard at what the results are and decide where you need to improve.

For example, you mentioned that the church in which you’ll be shooting has fluorescent lights and dark woodwork. This means that unless you know how to adjust the color balance, you’ll have all kind of weird tones. The dark woodwork will skew your camera’s lightmeter, and will most probably cause you to overexpose. This means that you will need to get a good idea of the exposure to use (you need to expose for the highlights), and then lock that in by using the manual exposure.

If there is just not enough light for you to get decent images, you have options: a flash (assuming one is allowed at the wedding), a faster lens than what you have ($$$), and/or a camera body which can handle high ISO values with minimal noise (again, $$$ or rent $$$), and/or additional lighting equipment (more $$$). Learning to use a flash is a non-trivial exercise as well, as you need to figure out which flash mode you need to use, the amount of power it has relative to your shooting distance, whether a flash modifier/diffuser is needed, etc., etc.

Although there is usually not a lot of movement during a wedding, there is a lot of variation between the lightest areas and the darkest areas. You need photographic skill to ensure that all relevant parts of the scene are recorded with enough detail. That skill is obtained by learning and lots of practice.

If you’re the only photographer at the wedding, you’ll need to be in many places at the same time. Since that is usually difficult for ordinary mortals, you’ll probably need to work out a script with your customers in terms of the shots that you will make (including your position, the angle, the degree of zoom or closeup), so that you can move smoothly through the sequence without becoming the scene yourself. Experienced photographers usually know where they need to be for each part of the ceremony, but you won’t have the benefit of that experience.

After all is done, there’s the processing of the pictures, weeding out the out-of-focus, under and over-exposed ones, ditching the ones where the composition or posing is unflattering, etc., and preparing a deliverable (prints? CD? DVD?) for your customers. Again, post-processing is non-trivial, especially with all the tools that are available.

One piece of advice that I can give you, is to try and get invited to as many weddings as you can, either as the “friend with a camera” or as a “second shooter”. Watch what the pros do and “borrow” all the good ideas you can (that’s called hands-on-learning). Then try to replicate what you saw them do (that is called “really” hands-on-learning).

Remember also Murphy’s Law. You know, “Anything and everything that can go wrong, will”. The counter to Ms. Murphy’s machinations is preparation and anticipation. Backup equipment, backup shooters, backup batteries, backup memory cards, backup hard drives on which you will store your photos, etc.

That’s why you have gotten a less-than-stellar welcome – there is a large gap (or so it seems to us from your posts) between where you are now, and where you need to be to successfully and reliably deliver on one of the most important days in the lives of your customers. It can be done, but it is, as I’ve said before “non-trivial”.

 

[Buckster]

You implied that because there's so much trailer trash out there (giving your own clan as examples), with so much divorce rate (apparently because they're just trailer trash), that they don't need good wedding photos, so it's just not an issue.

Which is pointless and ridiculous (unless you're Ken Rockwell, of course).

I absolutely did not imply that the OP's wedding was going to be a trailer trash wedding.

That's not what I said (my quote included for easy reference). Try to control your urge to read something else into it.

 

[Buckster]

No, I don't see the point of your post at all, except to be a fart, which you accomplished.

So you don't like my name lol...I don't care. But post about content buddy, or a guy with 'fart' in his name is gonna make you look silly.

Good luck with that. Seriously.

 

[cliffy13]

Thought it was only in England that complete photographic novices took on weddings,my advice is back out of it spend time learning to use all your kit look at the work of reputble photographers and if possible go out with a wedding photographer as a second shooter to learn the trade

 

[HopeNFotos]

To Whitney,
Doing a wedding photo shoot is non-trivial. You’re getting the reaction that you’re getting because your degree of knowledge and preparation seems equivalent to someone having a hammer and a drill, being asked to build a house for a relative who can’t afford to hire a real architect/contractor.

If you have 9 months, then you need to acquire a few things:
1. Experience with your equipment (and perhaps some new equipment).
2. Experience shooting in the typical environment
3. Experience with light modifiers (flash, etc.).
4. Knowledge of basic composition, posing.
5. Knowledge of post-processing

Perhaps, the starting point is to look at various wedding portfolios (there are many on the web), and various wedding publications, and get a sense of the kind of images that are common, and discuss these with your customers. Your goal here is to get a sense of what they expect and to figure out the “minimum deliverables”. If all they want and expect are two shots of them at the alter, great. Chances are, they'll want more.

Once you’ve got a clearer idea of the target, you need to scout out suitable places which replicate the shooting conditions you will have and try to shoot the photos using a willing (or susceptible-to-blackmail) volunteer. Then look hard at what the results are and decide where you need to improve.

For example, you mentioned that the church in which you’ll be shooting has fluorescent lights and dark woodwork. This means that unless you know how to adjust the color balance, you’ll have all kind of weird tones. The dark woodwork will skew your camera’s lightmeter, and will most probably cause you to overexpose. This means that you will need to get a good idea of the exposure to use (you need to expose for the highlights), and then lock that in by using the manual exposure.

If there is just not enough light for you to get decent images, you have options: a flash (assuming one is allowed at the wedding), a faster lens than what you have ($$$), and/or a camera body which can handle high ISO values with minimal noise (again, $$$ or rent $$$), and/or additional lighting equipment (more $$$). Learning to use a flash is a non-trivial exercise as well, as you need to figure out which flash mode you need to use, the amount of power it has relative to your shooting distance, whether a flash modifier/diffuser is needed, etc., etc.

Although there is usually not a lot of movement during a wedding, there is a lot of variation between the lightest areas and the darkest areas. You need photographic skill to ensure that all relevant parts of the scene are recorded with enough detail. That skill is obtained by learning and lots of practice.

If you’re the only photographer at the wedding, you’ll need to be in many places at the same time. Since that is usually difficult for ordinary mortals, you’ll probably need to work out a script with your customers in terms of the shots that you will make (including your position, the angle, the degree of zoom or closeup), so that you can move smoothly through the sequence without becoming the scene yourself. Experienced photographers usually know where they need to be for each part of the ceremony, but you won’t have the benefit of that experience.

After all is done, there’s the processing of the pictures, weeding out the out-of-focus, under and over-exposed ones, ditching the ones where the composition or posing is unflattering, etc., and preparing a deliverable (prints? CD? DVD?) for your customers. Again, post-processing is non-trivial, especially with all the tools that are available.

One piece of advice that I can give you, is to try and get invited to as many weddings as you can, either as the “friend with a camera” or as a “second shooter”. Watch what the pros do and “borrow” all the good ideas you can (that’s called hands-on-learning). Then try to replicate what you saw them do (that is called “really” hands-on-learning).

Remember also Murphy’s Law. You know, “Anything and everything that can go wrong, will”. The counter to Ms. Murphy’s machinations is preparation and anticipation. Backup equipment, backup shooters, backup batteries, backup memory cards, backup hard drives on which you will store your photos, etc.

That’s why you have gotten a less-than-stellar welcome – there is a large gap (or so it seems to us from your posts) between where you are now, and where you need to be to successfully and reliably deliver on one of the most important days in the lives of your customers. It can be done, but it is, as I’ve said before “non-trivial”.

Thanks for all the information given here. I will definetly look into and study in the next 9 months. As I have stated before I attend the church were the cermony is being held so I have plenty of time to study out some of the lighting situation and we also have spotlights availble and I think those will help tremendously.

 

[HopeNFotos]

Thought it was only in England that complete photographic novices took on weddings,my advice is back out of it spend time learning to use all your kit look at the work of reputble photographers and if possible go out with a wedding photographer as a second shooter to learn the trade

I didn't jump into this acting like I know what I am doing cause I definetly don't. I don't really want to be a wedding photographer but the bride has seen enough of my work to be pleased and ask if I would take on the task. I'm not charging the bride anything and hope and pray I don't let her down. The bride also can't afford and doesn't want a professional photog. So it's up to me in the next 9 months to kick butt and learn all that I can and experiment at the church, work with the lighting so that I can hopefully pull out some good shots.

 

[HopeNFotos]

And those werent very good LOL . Like I said it was my first wedding gig. Given that I had only been shooting a few months when I did that, I was happy with the results. I have only been shooting for only 8 months now.

Good one Buckster!
Here is my first small wedding. Only 11 people total! It is still classy.
Usagani Photography | Facebook

See I personally think I can do that well...I may totally screw up but with the negativity on here I will prove that I can and will please the bride. I have nine months and happen to attend the church the cermony will be held at so I have 9 months to play with the spotlights and diffrent angles and such that hopefully they day of the wedding the bride and groom will be happy enough with my work to make at least a few prints.

This will also be my first ever wedding but the Bride seems to have enough confidence that I will do well. So 9 months from now we will see.

 

[MichiganFarts]

That's not what I said (my quote included for easy reference). Try to control your urge to read something else into it.

Let me show you what started this....because you're obviously not taking your medication for your terrible memory this morning.

How do you leap to the conclusion that the wedding the OP is planning to shoot will be as trailer-trash low-class as the people you associate with, and therefor not worthy of the best photography can offer?

You did say that...and you forgot the first rule of making assumptions.

Which is...."Assuming always starts with saying "ass", and ends with you becoming one".

I'm telling you man...you can reconcile, or you can continue to be made into a fool...I don't wish you to be a fool, you're probably a very nice dude...see how I'm not being an assumptive ass here? lol...try it, and prosper.

 

[mjhoward]

Someone needs to bring out

 

[jake337]

you have a part time job and are attending school right? so I think you could save a few hundred bucks over the next 9 months to hire a pro for them and of course you would be the second photog.

Tell the pro your story and try to find one that also shoots nikon. You may be surprised when they let you use an old lens or flash(if they have them) and also may give you many good lessons.