First Wedding

Steve56 · Jun 12, 2012

Hi experts,

I'm due to photograph my first wedding on Saturday. This will be my first paid photography job. There isn't much pressure as the couple just want shots to remember the day by. (Nothing specific or fancy). They can't afford a professional so I'm prepared to do it to gain the experience. The couple are good enough to cover my expenses for the day.

I'll be using the following equipment.

Canon 1000D
Canon 50mm Prime
Standard 18-55mm (Group Shots mainly)
Canon 100mm Macro (Portraits)
Sigma 70-300 Zoom (Was thinking of shots during the ceremony where I can't get close)
Tripod
Remote Shutter Release
32g SD Card

It's not a Church Wedding as it's held in a Hotel.

I'm just wondering if anyone has tips or suggestions when photographing on the day?

Advice is appreciated.

gsgary · Jun 12, 2012

70-300 will be no where near fast enough even at iso3200 to shoot the ceremony

Stradawhovious · Jun 12, 2012

Majeed Badizadegan · Jun 12, 2012

Rent a 70-200 2.8 and a 24-70 2.8. The couple is covering your expenses, this is a critical expense they must pay. There's a reason most wedding photographers use those lenses, don't find out why the hard way (grainy, crappy wedding pictures).

How fast is your prime?
Where's your on camera/off camera flash?
Where's your backup body if your main body fails?
Where's your backup memory cards if your memory card fails?

All things necessary to have when shooting the most important day of someone's life.

Robin Usagani · Jun 12, 2012

No guts no glory!

May the light be with you!

cgipson1 · Jun 12, 2012

Is flash allowed? Do you have a flash (Popup flash won't cut it!) ? If not, you are going to need a fast lens, and a body that can provide good High ISO capability. According to what I can find, your body maxes out at 1600 ISO.

Rwsphotos · Jun 12, 2012

Rotanimod said:
Rent a 70-200 2.8 and a 24-70 2.8. The couple is covering your expenses, this is a critical expense they must pay. There's a reason most wedding photographers use those lenses, don't find out why the hard way (grainy, crappy wedding pictures).

How fast is your prime?
Where's your on camera/off camera flash?
Where's your backup body if your main body fails?
Where's your backup memory cards if your memory card fails?

All things necessary to have when shooting the most important day of someone's life.

Always have backups doing wedding photography mechanical faliures can and do happen at the worst times I have seen it as a second happen to the main photographer. Clean backgrounds for the formals and attention to details are highly Important too. What about extra Batteries? And making sure every thing is charged? Rent an off camera flash if you don't have one not only is the pop up not going to cut it but is a no no with undesirable results.

kgcphoto · Jun 12, 2012

whew - no guts no glory lol - faster lenses are a must as others have already said - backup is a must as others have already said - 2 additional cards (total of 3) just in case - flash as others have already said - a long standing and deeply personal relationship with the couple...just in case one of a million things goes wrong and things go badly - remember, it's not like they can do all this again if you don't get the pictures they want...learn learn learn, shoot at least 10 weddings as a 2nd before you take on your 1st as primary! I am scheduled to do my 1st wedding as the primary in 2 weeks, but luckily I have a mentor and have worked as a pro for 2 years before doing this....still not 100% confident that I am ready....

imagemaker46 · Jun 12, 2012

Have fun, and enjoy being the centre of attention if anything should go wrong, don't over think what you are doing.

tirediron · Jun 12, 2012

imagemaker46 said:
Have fun, and enjoy being the centre of attention if anything should go wrong, don't over think what you are doing.

rexbobcat · Jun 13, 2012

They all want nothing special until you give them nothing special and then they take all of your money in Judge Judy's court anyways because you didn't have a contract.

Yaaaaayyyyyyyy11!!11!1!1!1!!!!1

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Oh, I almost forgot, good luck

gsgary · Jun 13, 2012

Stradawhovious said:

I hate popcorn got any real ale ? i believe there are lots of micro breweries in the US now

GooniesNeverSayDie11 · Jun 13, 2012

If they didn't want something special, they would give their cousin, or grandma a camera and get photos for free. Don't kid yourself. You are going to have a rough time with your equipment as others have stated, lighting is going to be your enemy here.

I would recommend renting some gear

2 bodies so that you can have a short lens and a long lens ready at all times (also in case one body breaks )

Use many smaller cards, not 1 large card in case the card takes a dump on you. (format the cards in the camera body before using )

A flash would be great, but learning to use flash well can take some time, so you may be better off having a wide fast prime (35mm f/1.4 prime on a crop body) and also a longer prime something 85mm-135mm f/1.8 or f/2 on cropped body for the ceremony shots. (this really depends on the venue and ability to zoom with your feet) I would avoid the Macro lens because it will probably chase focus. It may provide too many details when used for portrait shots too. You don't want the bride to look like an old catcher's mitt. It would be good to have for documentary shots before and after the ceremony.

The longer primes would also double as your portrait lenses and then you could use your kit lens for the group shots where you need something wider. (people are pretty static on these shots unless you get creative so the slow lens won't be as much of a problem )

Just my opinion. There is not perfect answer though on a budget and limited skills. You are kinda up sh*t creek without a paddle.

bunny99123 · Jun 13, 2012

Good luck! I am shooting my first next month. Mine is family, though. My cousin can not afford a photographer, and they know I don't do weddings and have verbally! informed them of my lack of certain equipment. I do have a cousin who will be working with me shooting with P&S. Extra memory cards and batteries is a must! I just did a volunteer shot for a church for their website, and I used two batteries. If you shoot in RAW or use the flash, the batteries go down very quickly.

Steve56 · Jun 13, 2012

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Unfortunately, I'm now more nervous than before. I do have an Flash gun but it's only a cheap version. As people have said it is better than relying on the pop-up, I've got spare rechargable batteries. I don't have a spare memory card though. So fingers crossed.

I'm not tempted to rent any lenses. I've spoken with the family and they are aware I am by no means professional and that this is merely for practice. So I can't see them taking me to court. (fingers crossed)

Surely it is possible to take adequate photos with what I've got?