Wedding Photographers Unite: NOT ANOTHER NOOBIE/Wedding Post

ATXshots · Dec 31, 2008

Peanuts! I love that photo!! So romantic looking

JerryPH · Dec 31, 2008

chrisburke said:
No, I'm not a noobie whose taken on the task of shooting a wedding less than a week from today!

Shoot, no reason for me to be here... nothing for me to rag on.. oh wait, you're a Canon guy, right, Chis? I can latch on to that and piss off a few people with a little effort... LOL

Kidding aside, honestly, just like there is no one answer to the "what settings are good at a wedding" question, the "what equipment do I need" falls not too far away. It depends WHERE the wedding is taking place and who the clients are as well as the photographer's experience level.

Is it all outdoors in daylight? Almost anything goes.

Is it in a darker gloomy church? Fast lenses rule.

Is it a candle lit church ceremony? Good camera, fast glass and high ISO are the tricks to get this wedding done in the proper manner.

Lenses... well ALL of them should be capable of F/2.8 as a minimum, IMHO, that at least guarantees a certain level of lens quality (albeit not a lot, but still).

If you can find a few good sharp lenses that drop down to F/1.8 or F/1.4, that's even better. Focal lengths... ANYTHING goes! From fish-eye to ultra-wide angle all the way up to that 70-200. Again, depends on what you want to do.

I have near 6500 wedding pics from 4 events but becuase of my agreement with my mentor/man who uses me as a second, I cannot use any publicly, and I am OK with that. At the time, it was just for the experience anyways and I never had the intent of turning pro (still am not either).

Now, I am kinda glad that I have this experience... there are 2 weddings that are coming up in my own family in 2009 and I have been already asked to "do" both. I answered the same to both... sure, as long as I am the secondary photographer to a REAL professional, I have no issues helping out.

With one, though, I *may* reconsider, as it is going to be a very tiny and private affair (about 10-15 people in all) in a small church and the reception will be in their home, and it is a very young couple just starting out in life (22 and 24 years old). We'll see, I am sincerely undecided.

I am NOT a professional, but I am willing to bet that equipment for me would be the LEAST of my worries.

Bodies:
- Nikon D200
- Nikon D700

Lenses I would take with me (I have a few more, but some are not suited to weddings).

For the D700:
- Nikkor 85mm D AF F/1.4 prime
- Nikkor 50mm F/1.8 D prime
- Nikkor 70-200mm IF-ED VR F/2.8
- Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
- Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED (not bought yet but I will by this summer)
- Nikkor 16mm f/2.8G ED fisheye (not bought yet but I will by this summer)

For the D200:
- Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM Ultra Wide Angle
- Sigma 18-50mm F/2.8 EX DC HSM Macro
- Sigma 30mm EX DC F/1.4 HSM prime
- Sigma 105mm EX DG F/2.8 Macro prime

Lighting:
- 1 SB-800
- 4 SB-600s (I have 2 now, 2 more coming by end of March)
- A couple studio strobes if needed (I may have the Elinchrom D-Lite 4 package by then too)
- 6 lightstands/umbrellas (may not use them all, but they would be there)

Triggering would be handled by my modded Cactus V2s transmitters/receivers as they have been flawless for me so far.

anubis404 · Dec 31, 2008

Wow Jerry, lots of good stuff. I'd be eager to see some of your work.

Chris, I notice that your gear is a little unconventional. Any particular reason for not upgrading?

chrisburke · Dec 31, 2008

anubis404 said:
Chris, I notice that your gear is a little unconventional. Any particular reason for not upgrading?

oh i'm getting there... the plan is for a D300.. but as I mentioned in a previous post, its been hard convincing the wife to let me put the money back into the trade... i'm getting there though.. I've got a few weddings coming up, and I've kinda "put my foot down" on the issue, and told the missus that this is my hobby, and when I make money at it, its mine, so I'll do with it what i please... of course, it created some animosity... but its all good now, and she understands that if i want to do even more jobs, that i have to have the gear.. so I'm getting there!!

Jerry... no sir, I'm not a canon man, nikon all the way! and I know that its all relative to the situation and setting of the wedding, I was just curious.. I mean, every wedding I've done, I've taken almost the same gear to each one... so I was just wondering "generally what do you bring"

JerryPH · Dec 31, 2008

anubis404 said:
Wow Jerry, lots of good stuff. I'd be eager to see some of your work.

I'm far from "experienced professional" quality, but it's getting better all the time.

There are a lot of what one could call equivalent pictures... portraiture, off-camera flash and lots of low light stuff disbursed all over TPF from me.

I haven't made a shot that really impresses me, but maybe that would not be a bad goal for myself in 2009.

jcolman · Dec 31, 2008

I'm also not an experienced wedding shooter (just started this year) but I do have a *little* experience behind a camera.

I take too much gear to a wedding but I'd rather have too much than not enough. My standard package includes two bodies, six lenses, four speedlights, stands, modifiers, tripod. I may also chose to take a monolight or two and big softbox for formals.

The pics below are from my ads.

anubis404 · Jan 1, 2009

JerryPH said:
I'm far from "experienced professional" quality, but it's getting better all the time.

There are a lot of what one could call equivalent pictures... portraiture, off-camera flash and lots of low light stuff disbursed all over TPF from me.

I haven't made a shot that really impresses me, but maybe that would not be a bad goal for myself in 2009.

Same here. My goal for 2009 is a "wow" photo. I've gotten plenty of great reactions to my work, but never a "wow". That's my goal.

Well, that and convincing my parents to let me get a motorcycle, but one thing at a time

.

LarissaPhotography · Jan 1, 2009

As the candid photographer for our wedding team, I have done the past few weddings using just my 10D and my 50mm F/1.8 lens. I have been keeping another general purpose lens around thinking I'm going to have to switch lenses at some point during the day, but so far the F/1.8 has given me much better candid shots. Plus I really don't have to worry about extra flash equipment with this lens since I'm using natural lighting.

dtornabene1 · Jan 1, 2009

Peanuts said:
Yay! Wedding photogs unite!

So as for gear, here is my list.

5DMII (yay)
1DsMII
24-70mm (this is my go to lens for getting ready, formals, and if I don't really know what is happening next)
70-200 (ceremony and reception)
135
85
45 TS
fisheye (sometimes)
100mm Macro
I am considering getting a 17-40
Quantum battery pack (love)
580EX II
420EX (not so much love going to this guy)
Emergency kit (tide to go, bobby pins, floss etc. etc. almost used at every wedding so far and the brides really appreciate it)
Reflector
Two cheap white towels (if I want the bride to sit down on something outside
Tripod
Stepping stool

I really can't choose a favourite wedding photo.. umm.. I guess I will put up the one that the brides like the best. I find it too cliche but.. meh

Hey Brittany,

What do you use the TS for at a wedding? No 50mm f/1.2? Do you just use the 24-70 without the speed? Is your 85 the f/1.2 or do you have the f/1.4?

Just curious.

-Nick
I am going to add this to my signature to save time in the future. But here is the list of gear I use, and yes I bring it all with me.

Of Course, all Canon.

5DMII
50D
30D
580EX II
430 EX
All EF Mounts
85mm f/1.2 L II USM
50mm f/1.2 L USM
70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM
16-35mm f2.8 L II USM
2x II and 1.4x II Teleconverters
EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (Only as a backup to the 16-35mm on the 50D or 30D)
Sekonic Flash Master L-358 (Usually don't need)
Lumiquest MidiBouncer and the Sto-Fen Omni Bounce (Going to get the Gary Fong Pro Kit very soon)
Very seriously considering the new 24mm f1.4 L II when available and 180mm f/3.5 L Macro, and lastly, believe it or not, my first ever non-Canon lens, the Sigma AF APO 120-300mm f/2.8 DG HSM (Canon doesn't make a lens like this)

Peanuts · Jan 1, 2009

I use the TS for more of an 'artistic'-ish look. One has to make sure to not overdo it though. The 85 is a 1.2 - lovely piece of glass. I don't understand your question regarding the 24-70.

JerryPH · Jan 1, 2009

dtornabene1 said:
I am going to add this to my signature to save time in the future.

Actually gear lists in the sig are not permitted as per forum rules. There is a place in the profile just for that. This is what Terri, a forum mod PMed me. I agree... the last thing we need to see, is a 2-3 word response and a 1/2 page equipment list for every post that everyone makes!

dtornabene1 · Jan 1, 2009

Peanuts said:
I use the TS for more of an 'artistic'-ish look. One has to make sure to not overdo it though. The 85 is a 1.2 - lovely piece of glass. I don't understand your question regarding the 24-70.

Well, its maximum aperture is 2.8. You don't feel you are sacraficing speed by not using the 50mm prime? Just wondering, not as though there is anything worng with that.

-Nick

ksmattfish · Jan 2, 2009

I can cram most of my gear into a large duffle bag and a Pelican 1600 hardcase.

The Pelican case has the lid net storage thing, and nylon/velcro dividers. Inside it:
EOS 5D
EOS 40D
EOS 580EX
EOS 540EX
EOS 430EX
CTO gels
Tamron 70-200 f/2.8
Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8
Sigma 18-5 f/2.8 (APS-C)
Sigma 55-150 f/4-5.6 (APS-C)
EOS L 24-70 f/2.8
EOS 85 f/1.8
EOS 50 f/1.4
EOS 50 f/1.8
a whole lot of rechargeable AA batteries (2 dozen+)
2 EOS flash battery packs
EOS ST-E2 flash remote
a doz+ DSLR batteries
58mm, 67mm, and 77mm circ pol filters
Newton flash bracket
4 EOS ETTL off camera shoe cords (2 Canon brand, 2 Dot-Line brand)
4 lens cloths
40 gb compact flash cards (1, 2, 4 and 8 gb)
EOS cable release
EOS/Pocket Wizard remote cable release cord
4 Pocket Wizards
Pocket Wizard cords
ball bungees
rubber bands
black electrical tape
stick-on velcro strips
5"x8" mini softbox
Sekonic L-508 light meter
index cards and white hobby foam for DIY flash bouncer cards
black hobby foam (for snoot, flag, gobo, etc...)
tools: multi-tool, screw drivers, needle nose, pliers, allen wrenches
pens
paper work: contract, job notes/plans
business cards
2 tripod quick release plates
assorted flash, light stand, etc... adapters, cords, and other little gizmos
combo locks and cable (for locking case, and locking it to something)

In the duffle bag:
16"x24" soft box
10"x10" soft box
speed rings
light stand heads
2 Vivitar 285HV flashes
Quantum battery pack for Viv 285hv
assorted cords and cables
Sto Fen Omnibounce
GF Lightsphere
Jobo Gorilla pod
monopod
lint roller
spring clamps
ball bungees
duct tape
several small & mini tripods

Outside the bag and case:
3 light stands
Bogen tripod
6'x3' collapsible reflector (with assorted skins)
step stool
camera bag with 2 20D bodies: 1 is the back-up back-up, and the other has been modified for IR. I haven't had much opportunity to try IR at weddings yet.

I think that's everything? I take all that stuff, because you never know what will come in handy, but I rarely use it all at most weddings.

I don't know what my favorite wedding photo would be, how could I pick just one? I shoot 35000+ wedding photos in a year. I deliver 450ish photos to each couple, so that's 15000+ finished photos. Then I try to narrow that down to the best for my website. There are over 1500 wedding photos in my galleries (so look there for my favorites), and right now I'm sorting through the last half of 2008. I've narrowed it down to 500+ new ones that need to be added.

Now here's my gear list for the first wedding I shot as the primary photographer 12 years ago:
Pentax K1000 w/ 50mm f/1.7 and 135mm f/2.5
Norita 66 w/ 80mm f/2
Sekonic L-508 light meter
tripod and cable release
Vivitar 285hv
old, clunky flash bracket
assorted cables
bag of film

And some of those photos are still on my website.