Wedding in the Future, need advice now....

[MLeeK]

my responce wasn't really intended for you MLeeK, your actually helpful and have helped me. its more intended for those that like to jump into a post, ***** and moan about the "new photographers" without bothering to help. its kinda almost become like a bandwagon thing because nobody wants to be seen as the new startup business.

I am totally confident when I say that NO ONE here has a problem with new startup businesses. New businesses are fantastic and we spend time helping them all of the time-when they have at least the basics of photography. HUGE difference between new, startup business photographer than someone without a clue of how to adequately use a camera.

careful when you use absolutes. i can imagine allot of people being upset if those business's were moving in next door to them lol.


again guys, my post wasn't intended for anyone who was helping. just meant for those who come in. make a snide comment about someone without knowing any info. to me, no diffrent then trolling.

I have no problem with my absolutes. I am pretty confident that those of us who are experienced would be just fine with a brand new startup right next door. There's a new one on every street corner every other day. They do a great job of putting themselves out of business and making me look even better with no help from me. And if they're going to stick around? I'll be glad to mentor and pass on information. Their customer is not my customer. My customer NEEDS me to get what I do. No one else does what I do the way I do it. Can't get that from the 4 other photographers in my little town of 1600 people. Of those 4? I network routinely with 2 of them and I am a sounding board every so often for the other two.

 

[12sndsgood]

wait your changing, first you said no one here, now your saying none who are experienced i understsand what you mean though. im not quite to the point yet of being that unique, that's my goal though. im in a much larger area. there are over 1600 kids in the high school alone where im at. thinking we have 30-40 photographers in my area, so I have my work cut out for me thats for sure.

 

[lamar]

Pecco, you can do it! From one newbie to another, I know, because I've been there myself. While I'm a newbie to this forum, I'm not a youngster age wise. Many year ago, I faced the same situation as you, but in the film days. I just jumped in there and it went well as I did weddings (and other things) as a part time business for 25 years or so. I still do a few things like high school reunions, etc...but no weddings, they're too demanding mentally and physically now. I did one wedding after going digital and that was a case where a young girl in our church needed a photographer for cheap (his dad was very ill, etc) and we did it for a wedding present, but I told her it was my first wedding using digital equipment and it came out pretty well. I did 200- 300 weddings over the years with film. I say all this just to let you know where I'm coming from.

To be ready in a year, decide on the equipment, buy it soon and practice...make sure you have the techniques down that you plan to use and practice with those at any type event that you can shoot...church functions, company parties, birthday parties, etc. Volunteer to do them, so you get the practice doing things under pressure, because the pressure of getting a wedding right can be tremendous as others have pointed out. If you can talk another wedding photographer into letting you go along with them, that's a real bonus!! To me the trickiest part of shooting a wedding (exposure and color balance wise) might be when combining flash with ambient/other light. Also, you must use some flash technique/equipment to keep it from being a head on straight flash. Get the flash up, use a diffuser, multiple flashes, etc. it doesn't have to be really expensive or complicated, but study others flash techniques and their results and decide what you're going to do. Do you know how to balance daylight/flash exposures in case you shoot some outside? Not just color balance, but the exposure itself.

Read, read, read...besides books, I'm sure there must be some online forums that specialize in wedding photography as well as magazines, etc.

There is a lot to deal with at weddings besides the equipment. BTW, you MUST have backups for everything.....at least two of everything....bodies do break, flashes quit working, batteries die, etc! But the people problems can be killers...SOMEBODY will be late! There will be pressure to hurry up with the pictures so they can get to the party, etc. When are you going to shoot the pictures, before or after the wedding or both? Does the bride want the groom to see her before the wedding? Do you and the bride want some traditional family group shots and wedding party shots or all "candids"? How do you align/pose groups and individuals? Who is going to make sure the dresses are straight and the flowers held properly, etc...here's where an assistant can really be helpful.

In a way, digital is better than film days...at least you can get an idea of what you shot...exposure, sharpness, etc but on the other hand, when I was shooting film, I did my part as best I could and the professional labs I used did the part you now have to do on the computer.....color balance, exposure correction (yep, I missed a few and they saved me most of the time). Of course they did all the printing and I delivered proofs, then had the enlargements printed of the bride's selections. Are you going to deliver digital files right out of the camera or are you going to have prints made of her selections or a book or ?? Working on each digital file takes a good bit of time.

What does the bride expect from you? Does she know you've never shot a wedding, if not, tell her! If you're doing this for a present (no cost), that's great, but make sure she knows what you're giving her...files, prints, book, album, whatever. if you're charging something (you can get more work than you can stand if you work for free) give her a price that's considerably lower than the going rate. That helps you get started and gives her something in return for the risk she's taking since you have no wedding experience. We all have to do our first wedding sometime (if you're going to ever do them)!

Back to the equipment for a minute...I think equipment is too often a hangup, but all the rest of the stuff is probably more important in the long run. A good eye for a picture, timing, ability to deal with the people, being organized, being able to handle the post processing/printing, business sense, etc, etc. Sure, you must have adequate and reliable equipment, but you don't have to have top of the line or the latest thing. At a wedding you're going to need a wide angle lens, esp with the crop sensor and up through the "normal" and mid telephoto (100 - 135mm) range for sure! How long a lens do you really need....I don't know for sure. In my day not very much, but I don't know what all type shots are in vogue today...

Go over the whole plan with the bride WELL in advance of the wedding.....does she have special shots she really wants? Can you do them? Go to the church or location of the wedding in advance.... AT LEAST attend the rehearsal. Tell the wedding party and family where you expect them to be and when....let them know how important it is to be there and on time! Make sure who all the bride wants in her pictures and make sure they get the word. Nothing kills you time wise much worse than a wedding party member being late or you have the bride's family all lined up for a big group shot and someone says, oh we need Uncle Joe in this picture and he's over at the reception hall, etc!

Be prepared for uncomfortable situations....family groups with divorces/mixed family groupings or family issues that cause people to be uncomfortable, etc. Say you call out for the groom's family to come up and then you realize his dad is divorced from his mom and he's remarried to a cute young thing about 20 years younger than his mom and they DON' T want to be in the same picture together (or the same state for that matter).

I'm getting numb from writing...to much thinking at my age...LOL!

Maybe I've given you some things to think about...though not all directly related to photography and equipment. If you have questions, fire back and I'll see if I can answer.

Best of luck and preparation to you!!

 

[pecco22]

At the risk of upsetting anyone here, I have one more question. I know the D700 is the ideal body for weddings etc. Can the D5100 with good quality lenses be used for the wedding. Eventually I want to upgrade but right now I am trying to keep my costs down. I have the D5100, SB-700, and would rent the nikon 24-70 f2.8 and also the nikon 70-200 f2.8. Will this work or would there be more I would need. Or will this camera body not do the job well enough?

 

[Trever1t]

It will do what it will do....but what if it has a malfunction? Weddings are one shot deals. Don't know if anyone has mentioned this already but you need to have a backup.

 

[pecco22]

yes I understand the need for a backup so in all likely hood I would rent or borrow from a friend, another body. but it would have to be the same body that I am used to. I cant see myself renting a different body and learning it on the fly.

 

[12sndsgood]

if you know what church the are having the wedding at. call the church, tell them who your shooting the wedding for and ask to come out for a half hour and get some pictures of the church, insides etc. and try and go around the same time the wedding will be. this way you will have at least a good idea of wether your camera is going to be up to the task.

 

[billydoo73]

PREFACE: this always comes up. don't be discouraged. i shot my first 2 weddings ever with NO EXPERIENCE shooting weddings...i did fine and i have a nice business now shooting weddings on the side. People seem to think you need years of experience to shoot a wedding. you don't. My first 2 weddings were scary, but fun and I loved it. The clients loved it. And, they were not friends.

BUT BUT BUT BUT...

That being said, you NEED TO KNOW YOUR CAMERA. if you have a talent and eye for composition, you do not (i repeat) do not need experience to be a good wedding photographer. But, you must have the technical skill to work your camera. You need to know how to make changes in all sorts of light...and quickly. You need to understand flash. You need to take advantage of off-camera flash (my preference). Also, you need to have a solid understanding of the day's flow and timing. As long as you are good enough to get it done technically, you can do it. if you are still in AUTO mode and/or you don't have the understanding of exposure manually. Do not do it. You can, but your client suffers. If they know you are a complete rookie up front, then all the power to you and them. Just be honest.

GEAR: This is what I use. I consider this the BARE MINIMUM to properly shoot a wedding...and I carry light. I am an "Available Light" shooter at heart.

My Gear | Chris Bilodeau

You need 2 bodies. Period. You need quality fast glass. Period. I like the D3 because it has 2 card slots. Cards fail. Expect it. Don't cry if you go into it hoping it does not happen.

Anyway, I thought I would share. I see so many people (non-wedding shooters) that bash Noobs. So, I felt compelled to share. You have to start some place.

...oh, and I know of Pros with 15+ years of experience that shoot weddings and the images are flat and boring.

Good luck!!!

 

[9ballprodigy]

PREFACE: this always comes up. don't be discouraged. i shot my first 2 weddings ever with NO EXPERIENCE shooting weddings...i did fine and i have a nice business now shooting weddings on the side. People seem to think you need years of experience to shoot a wedding. you don't. My first 2 weddings were scary, but fun and I loved it. The clients loved it. And, they were not friends.

...


Anyway, I thought I would share. I see so many people (non-wedding shooters) that bash Noobs. So, I felt compelled to share. You have to start some place.

...oh, and I know of Pros with 15+ years of experience that shoot weddings and the images are flat and boring.

Good luck!!!

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is a rare incidence. The part about shooting weddings with no experience and having it come out well...
If I were given this monumental task and I really couldnt tell my friend that I would not risk our friendship over this, I would do the following:

1) Read and research about wedding photography. Various poses, lighting and angles that are flattering as well as critical moments when you should be shooting like a mad man.
2)I would volunteer to do any kind of set up or second-shooter work for weddings.

Getting new equipement is nice, but I wouldn't splurge until you get a good idea about what you need. You'll find out by doing the steps above. But at the very least, you will need a fast portrait lens (for a crop sensor, the 50mm 1.8g is a good buy), and a speed light. Rent if possible.

 

[billydoo73]

Rare? Maybe. i don't want to sound arrogant because I am no Henri Cartier Bresson, but I have an eye for composition. I did say that you MUST know your camera and have an understanding of weddings. That is true. But, you will never be ready. Seriously. Until you do it alone, you always have it easy. Maybe because I practice medicine as my "day job." this field tends to throw you to the wolves and you sink to swim. You have a BASIC understanding of what you studied, but you have to do it right the first time. if you are used to this mentality, I guess it is comfortable in most walks of life.

that said, you can still do it with no experience. I have seen it time and again with my professional colleagues.

Susan Stripling shot her first wedding alone with no backup camera...and with no formal training. She has said this in interviews. Now, look at her work. She is up there as one of the best in the USA. She began around 10 years ago. Complete Noob. It happens all the time.

 

[cgipson1]

Rare? Maybe. i don't want to sound arrogant because I am no Henri Cartier Bresson, but I have an eye for composition. I did say that you MUST know your camera and have an understanding of weddings. That is true. But, you will never be ready. Seriously. Until you do it alone, you always have it easy. Maybe because I practice medicine as my "day job." this field tends to throw you to the wolves and you sink to swim. You have a BASIC understanding of what you studied, but you have to do it right the first time. if you are used to this mentality, I guess it is comfortable in most walks of life.

that said, you can still do it with no experience. I have seen it time and again with my professional colleagues.

Susan Stripling shot her first wedding alone with no backup camera...and with no formal training. She has said this in interviews. Now, look at her work. She is up there as one of the best in the USA. She began around 10 years ago. Complete Noob. It happens all the time.

True! But you don't mention the thousands (tens of thousands??) of weddings that occur per year with an inexperienced (amateur) photographer.. and the shots look like CRAP.

Surely you admit there are far more that turn out bad.. than turn out good? Mostly due to inadequate experience and knowledge and poor equipment choice?

Look at the shots of so many on Facebook.. that advertise they are wedding photographers! Most of them can't even get decent focus or exposures with ambient light! (God help them if they have to use flash!)

 

[Vtec44]

I know my cameras very well, have 4 lenses at a f2.8 or faster, 2 camera bodies, multiple Nikon speed lights, can shoot full manual flash and manual exposure, and I consider myself slightly above average when it comes to lighting. With that said, I was a 2nd shooter for a wedding this past weekend. I brought more gear and experience than the primary photographer. He missed the grand entrance, the cake cutting, the bouquet toss, and the first dance. I setup my main camera for high speed burst and flash in anticipation for those things so I got them all, in multiple angles, and saved him big time. Other than hell I'm doing something wrong with advertising my services lol , there are way too many weddings out there done by inexperienced photographers. The good thing is that I don't do this full time, but I feel for those that are because the market is saturated with many people with nice cameras (including myself hahahah).

 

[billydoo73]

Vtec44, wow! he missed the first dance? was he drunk??? LOL

...sounds like you are more on the level of a primary shooter!

 

[billydoo73]

cgipson1, i guess i am "out of the loop." i just don't look at a lot of other people's work. i know there are people out there that buy a DSLR at Best Buy and think they can shoot a wedding. SCARY! i am probably not including them because they are a joke. they also usually shoot 1 wedding and then realize they have no right. i consider myself pretty good and I still doubt myself a lot. i constantly study and practice despite the fact that i know how to work a camera. i am talking more about people that KNOW how to shoot, but after years, still are afraid to try a wedding. "usually" they would do just fine.

 

[Vtec44]

Vtec44, wow! he missed the first dance? was he drunk??? LOL

...sounds like you are more on the level of a primary shooter!

In his defense, his wireless triggers were very flaky (Aperture brand) and didn't fire consistently and always at the worse time. He had only 1 flash so it was either off camera or on camera.

As far as being the primary shooter, I think it is more fun to be a 2nd shooter. You get to enjoy the photography aspect of things more, at least for me.