Shooting my first wedding - Help

[Dao]

One time when I was at Borders book store browsing their books in the Photography section, I saw they have some books that talk about Wedding Photography. Of course local library may have some as well.

You may get some ideas, tips as well as inspiration from those books.

 

[bigtwinky]

InTempus, what you said was your advice, and you are right that I should expect that. What I meant is the bantering between others about whether or not to worry about the law. It just gets out of hand and the focus of the thread gets lost. There are other things that could be mentioned besides the obvious. I was looking for any random creative tips that people have found througout their experiences that might be useful. (ie. bring a step ladder to get a better perspective it is very handy ).

Bantering will happen. It happens in real life. How many times have you sat around at table with friends, asked a question, and you get a partial answer and the topic is diverted to something that wasn't your initial question?

It happens on forums as well. People key in on certain items in a post and bring to the table their own ideas and experience. Its even harder to keep an internet discussion on track for the entire thread as you may only come back and check it a day or so later.

Seriously, dont get annoyed, its a part of forum life. Let those who want to discuss go off track, and discuss with those who are giving you the input you want. However, dont fully disregard what others are discussing, as there is often good information found in there...you just may need to dig deep to find it

 

[burstintoflame81]

I am not like livid or anything, just trying to get things back on track.

I am waiting for some books from my local library as well.

I will add this question ( and hopefully there is no risk in getting sued for buying the wrong lense or I may get more than I am asking for here )...

Is I get a f/2.8 zoom, what focal length do you think would be best? It would pretty much be a choice between like a 16mm-50mm, 18mm-50mm and a 24mm-70mm. Do you think it would be better to be able to go wider or better to be able to get in tighter? I mean for the bride and groom pics I will probably use the prime lenses. I am mostly concerned with the ceremony where, as someone pointed out, I won't have time to swap lenses. Also during this part, the situation dictates what I do, as opposed to the portraits where I am in control and doing the posing.

I did like the advice about using the smaller cards incase of an error. That is something I didn't think of.

 

[GeneralBenson]

Go for the 16/18-55, hand down. In all honesty, the difference between 50 and 70 is barely noticeable, but the difference between 16 and 24 is huge.

 

[Derrel]

Go for the 16/18-55, hand down. In all honesty, the difference between 50 and 70 is barely noticeable, but the difference between 16 and 24 is huge.

Yes, I have to concur with the General here...go for the f/2.8 zoom with 17 or 18mm on the bottom end and the 50-55mm top end; the 24-70mm lenses on 1.6x are very restrictive in small locations. If you need to do a group shot, with a 17 or 18mm you can include a wide view from a "normal" distance; with a 24mm that is roughly a 38.4mm equivalent.

Here's a rule of thumb for full-format photography, but it applies to a 24mm setting on 1.6 x just as well; With a 35mm focal length lens on Full-Frame, the angle of view is roughly one foot wide for every one foot of distance to the subject. On 1.6x, a 24-70mm lens isn't really a wide-angle to short telephoto lens; it is a semi-wide to short telephoto lens.

The reason the "kit" lens is now an 18-55mm lens is that is the angle of view range most people feel they "need" for a one-lens setup; the constant f/2.8 aperture 17-50 Tamron and Sigma 18-50, and the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 and the Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 DX---those four lenses are evidence of what is "needed" as a wedding-event lens on 1.6x...f/2.8 aperture, and the right range of lengths. For longer working distances, the 24-70 is fine, but if you only have ONE lens length, I think I'd go for the 17-50 f/2.8 on a 1.6x cam.

If the event is outdoors,exclusively, and I wanted to shoot more posed formals, I would obviously ditch the 17-55 in favor of a 24-70. One small tip: with a 17-50mm, it helps to squat down bit when shooting, to keep people from looking distorted; you need to keep the back of the camera parallel with the spines of the people when shooting wide and close; just a few inches lower a camera position will improve 17-50 people photos,especially those done at the shorter ranges at shorter focal lengths.

 

[keith foster]

Thanks Derrel for the tip on camera position and angle for large groups. I took a picture(37 people) and was not happy with what I got. I will do better next time.

 

[burstintoflame81]

Thanks Derrel and everyone else. That is a good tip about the lower angle on the group shots.

I was actually thinking of going for the Tokina F/2.8 16-50mm. Get an extra 2mm on the wide end than the normal 18mm, and I have the Tokina 12-24mm F/4.0 that I have been happy with. Its built like a tank. I have to check some reviews though on everything.

 

[RancerDS]

If he is doing it for free there wont be any kind of contract involved. How would they have any kind of case if they tried to sue him? He doesn't have to shoot their wedding for them if he does not want to. If they are not paying him anything and are unhappy what are they going to sue him for, to get their $0 back?

Any reasonable judge would agree that only the cost incurred would be due to the plaintiff (i.e. $0!!!). But law isn't always rational or reasonable. It is going to be based possibly on EXPECTATION and verbally you are committed just as if you had signed a contract.

So if the sister-in-law says "I don't really have the $300-500 (or more) to pay the photographer", if the in-law volunteers to help au gratis and states that some of their stuff will be good/decent/usable to where they don't "need" a professional photographer; then there is a level of expectation which the person volunteering for free CAN be responsible for some measurable amount. The decision might only cover the costs of tuxedo & location rentals... but could end up costing the volunteer anyway!

 

[burstintoflame81]

Well, I shot the wedding yesterday. I went with the Tokina 16-50mm which I am very happy with. I swapped my memory card mid way through in one camera ( had 2 16 gb cards for my T1i and also shot with my wifes XS with a couple 2 gb cards. I needed a camera to keep a long telephoto on. ) However, one of the 16GB cards crapped out on me almost at the end of the day. I recovered all the files though and saved the day. ( HUGE lesson learned though ). Like I said, I had two cameras 1 with the 16-50mm and one with my Tamron 70-300mm. I also did infact use my 50mm f/1.4 on some of the bride and groom portraits and am VERY happy that I did. I have 1148 pics so it will take me a while to go through everything and whittle it down. Then I will have to edit them. I will post some as soon as I can. I am not going to say that I did great, but I am happy with the way the day turned out. It was very stressful though so I am glad it was family. I don't have any desire to shoot a full on wedding for strangers.

 

[Darkhunter139]

Grats sounds like it went pretty well. Can't wait to see some of the shots.

 

[clbd39]

yea definitely looking forward to see the results

 

[jackieclayton]

if the bride and groom want FREE pictures i'm sure the quality of their pictures is the last thing on their mind. I see the scenario now: "so and so has taken some pretty good shots and he's got a camera... why not see if he'll do it instead of charging thousands of dollars?" I don't see why everyone is up in arms about suing, its HIGHLY unlikely...
the bride in question probably saw the OP's pics and saw what she liked and thought the OP would be good enough for HER wedding... who are we to say that he/she isn't?

i saved the biggest chunk of my wedding budget for my photographer, because the pictures are what mattered to me the most. I did some research and found the going rate for professional photographers and spent less on my dress and invitations and etc so I could afford the quality... bc it mattered to me. Some women will drop $3Gs on a designer dress b/c thats all they care about, and $100 for cousin charlie to take pictures of it afterwards. Me? I could give a rats ass about a vera wang gown, i want my photographer. To each his own!


Editing in... sorry, i'm a little late, didn't see the update... post some of the pictures, we'd love to see!

 

[burstintoflame81]

Sorry for the delay, been a little busy lately. Here are a couple. I know I am going to take crap for the watermark, but oh well...

1)

2)

3)

4)

 

[chammer]

very interesting thread to read. glad it worked out in the end. the shots are nice, but one small tip for "next time"...

for #3 it appears that the bride is looking into the harsh sunlight, and thus is squinting quite heavily. try not to do this. instead place her back towards the sun, or off behind her at an angle so she can relax her eyes and open them up for you.

...and the watermark is fine. can still see the pictures well enough.

btw...for #4 i cant tell if you added a soft blur of its because i've been up for way too long, but if you did...it was a nice touch. the picture has that airbrushed glamor type look to it.

 

[FattyMcJ]

I'd say, for a first timer, you did a great job!

I just read every page of this thread and I'm glad you chose to do it, and did it well.

Is the bride happy?