My aunts Wedding HELP!

[Marissa.k1995]

My aunt Emma is having her wedding in a few days. Apparently she thinks two 14 year old girls who just got into photography this Christmas can be the photographers for her wedding. Our mom somehow thinks we are better than a professional wedding photographer at taking pictures. I am freaking out right now, because our aunt expects us to get good photos. I am totally just a beginner and I really don’t know how I’m going to do this. Our cameras aren’t bad but they are definitely not good enough to do weddings. I have already told our aunt that we can’t do this but she insists. Our mom is going to help with pictures too but she has only been interested in photography for a few months. She has a better camera then us but she doesn't really know how to use it. She says she is going to put it on auto; I am going to put mine on manual.

I visited where they are having the reception, but the lighting is horrid. Every picture I took in there was yellow and kind of blurry. I’m not as worried about taking the outside photos because our cameras are good in natural light. I’m really scared I’m not going to get the kiss, which I probably will miss. She probably won’t get a nice photo of her walking down the aisle or her wedding dance thing. Her fiancé also has really bad yellow teeth from smoking. I will need help editing them. Our aunt is also taller than him. She is also more masculine but not in a bad way. So I don’t want her to look like a giant in the photos.

Does anyone have any advice on poses or anything? We have to do this wedding no matter what because her fiancé doesn't work anymore for some reason, and they don’t have enough money for a photographer. If I was Emma I would figure out a way to hire a professional photographer. I will post her wedding pictures up after, if she lets me. Then maybe someone can help me edit them to make them look better.

Thanks in advance.

 

[benlonghair]

Run?

Barring that, it would help to know what gear you have at your disposal. If you've got a D300s plus a plethora of 2.8 lenses the advice will be significantly different than if you're using a Coolpix.

 

[tirediron]

Ouch! Nasty situation. Personally, I think my camera would suddenly develop a problem and not work that day. As far as poses and such, I would suggest Googling 'wedding photographer' and looking through the various 'sites. Flickr is also a great resource.

Something else you can try is telling your Aunt that you need certain extra equipment (at a minimum a nice speedlight) for which she's going to have to foot the bill. If this is a church wedding, check with the Dean or Rector to find out if flash or even photography will be allowed during the ceremony.

Above all else, relax, and Good Luck!

 

[vtf]

Ok, I'm not a pro, but if you google wedding poses you'll find a checklist. Find out what the wedding plans are and when everything is to happen. Make a plan of what poses will go at what times. You'll need some of the cake, flowers, etc. which can be taken at times the bride and groom are unavailable.It'll help you.
Next do a search for wedding threads on this site and Im sure these issues you have for taking pictures will be addressed, in those. If you have been obligated to do this by your Mom, my only suggestion is really plan it out when and what shots will be taken, expect hundreds of shots from different angles and have fun. What else can you do?
Im sure the pros will have more to add. Good Luck and let us know how it went.

 

[Big Mike]

Yikes! It sounds like a recipe for disaster...although maybe they don't have the photos as a high priority, so they will 'get what they pay for'.
On the other hand, there will be an emotional 'added value' because you are family, so hopefully that will work in your favor.

What cameras do you have? If the lighting is bad, the best solution may be to use flash. If you have a camera with a hot-shoe, I'd suggest getting (buy, rent or borrow) a flash for the hot shoe. The built-in flash on most cameras, isn't ideal...but if that's all you have, it might have to do.

I am going to put mine on manual.

I would only suggest doing this, if you are very comfortable with manual mode and very good at changing the exposure on the fly. At a wedding, you are often shooting in different locations and in different directions etc. In other words, the light may be different from shot to shot...so using one of the auto modes might actually be a better option. But don't be afraid to use Exposure Compensation to change the exposure as needed.

One important thing to watch, is the shutter speed (provided you have a camera that displays it). If it's too low, you will get blurry shots. It doesn't sounds like you have a 'fast' lens, so you may need to turn up your ISO, in order to get faster shutter speeds. This will increase the digital noise in the images, but that's better than blurry shots.
Using flash can help to freeze the photo, but a slow shutter speed may still give you some blur.

If it turns out that you can't get the shots (kiss, isle etc), then I'd suggest making up for it when you can get to better light. They may not care if you get the shot of 'the kiss', as long as you get a nice shot of them together at some point during the day.

It sounds like you are very concerned about doing a good job for them, that's a good sign...so just do you best.

 

[Marissa.k1995]

Benlonghair: Me and my sister both have a sony-cybershot 10.1 megapixel camera.
We also have one tripod, i think i broke it though... My sister has a wide angle lens which will be needed. I have a telesopic lens but I don't think I will need to use it.

tirediron: I could make my camera develop a problem but then what about my sisters camera, it would be to obvious if both cameras broke. Im to shy to ask for equiptment but she is getting us another memory card for her wedding photos lol. If I wasn't shy my mom wouldn't allow me to anyways.

 

[Robin Usagani]

this is what I would do, post it on craigslist for free service. There will be a lot of new photographers who would love to get the experience and are willing to do it for free so they can put it on their portfolio.

 

[Dao]

Show the "yellow and kind of blurry" photos you took to your aunt and let her know what to expect.

If it come out better, then everybody is happy. If not, nobody get mad since it is expected.

 

[Marissa.k1995]

Vtf: I will search some poses on yahoo and see what I can find. I'll try and have fun but another thing Im worried about is running out of batteries. I only have 3 and my sister has 2, and to top it off I cant seem to find our charger which went missing yesterday.

Big Mike: I could try flash but when I try to use flash I have to click it like 3 times before it works. I think I'm quite comfortable with manual, but if I have to I can hurry and switch to auto. I will higher the ISO inside the church. I will try to get a nice shot of them outside to make up for it, if I miss the kiss.

 

[Marissa.k1995]

this is what I would do, post it on craigslist for free service. There will be a lot of new photographers who would love to get the experience and are willing to do it for free so they can put it on their portfolio.

That seems like a good idea, I'll tell my mom to tell my aunt about it.

 

[Marissa.k1995]

Show the "yellow and kind of blurry" photos you took to your aunt and let her know what to expect.

If it come out better, then everybody is happy. If not, nobody get mad since it is expected.

lol I doubt she would care, she thinks bad photos are good.

 

[vtf]

Wedding Photography Poses Checklist
Find or buy your charger, find an outlet in the church and or reception area and be charging as you take photos. So if you run out one or two will be charging. (A charger is not an option)

 

[Marissa.k1995]

Im looking for the charger right now, I'll check out the checklist

 

[Robin Usagani]

Also, if you do find a guy to help on CL, at lest feed the guy LOL

 

[Marissa.k1995]

lol we will