Wedding Photography

alwat · Feb 7, 2010

They don't do wedding rehearsal in the UK. Unless it's one of the posh one's.

DWS · Feb 8, 2010

Please be very clear with your niece regarding any concerns you have. I was talking with a friend last week who said she regretted not having secured a seasoned photographer for her wedding.

Once the bride begins her walk down the aisle, the show is on!

Mike_E · Feb 8, 2010

Make sure to get all of the formals done between the ceremony and the reception when you can use flash. Use off camera or spring for a good bracket. I'd go with the bracket if you can't swing both because you can use the bracket at the reception.

Don't worry so much about high ISO because a good bit of noise comes out in the wash while being printed.

You can go here and read this as well.. http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/

alwat · Feb 8, 2010

I want to thank everyone for there comments.
The wedding is this Saturday 13th February, I will post photo's in my photo gallery, for you all to see and appraise good :thumbup: or bad :thumbdown:.

loki05 · Feb 8, 2010

Good Luck. Just like many suggested here already...use a f2.8 lens and a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 for portraits. Make sure your eye level for most shots and fill your frame as much as possible. Remember to keep changing ISO's throughout the day and with each setting. Capture the "important" moments by going paparazzi on your shutter...better to get them in than to miss them altogether. :thumbup:

If all else fails....

sA x sKy · Feb 8, 2010

loki05 said:
Good Luck. Just like many suggested here already...use a f2.8 lens and a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 for portraits. Make sure your eye level for most shots and fill your frame as much as possible. Remember to keep changing ISO's throughout the day and with each setting. Capture the "important" moments by going paparazzi on your shutter...better to get them in than to miss them altogether. :thumbup:

If all else fails....

No don't call in sick if all else fails, unless you're actually suffering from something life-threatening. It would be morally wrong. Really wrong.

loki05 · Feb 8, 2010

i guess jokes are hard to interpret online

Dominantly · Feb 8, 2010

fwellers · Feb 9, 2010

+1 on that tripod. Aside from any motion blur you can get good inside pics with one.

Did anyone mention to make sure you shoot in raw mode ? That way you have a lot of post processing fixes you can accomplish.

You are braver than I am !!

ChasK · Feb 9, 2010

JAMES07 said:
Hi
You don't need to be an expert to do weddings the key is to capture the love of the couple. Get photos of them walking down the isle and at the alter. after the nuptuals are finished gather the families together and get several shots of the couple with there loved ones and dont forget the reception.

Cheers!
Dorm Bedding

All you really need is a DSLR and a website! :lol:

Then you too can deliver under exposed poorly composed snapshot any bride will cherish for hours even days after her special day!

GeneralBenson · Feb 9, 2010

It's never too late to back out.

Like everyone said, rent better equipment and cross your fingers. I would get a D300/D700, and 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8, 50/1.4 and another flash. I would consider that the minimum required to garuntee a good wedding. That doesn't include, of course, all the skill and experience that are also required. Good luck.

Restomage · Feb 10, 2010

The church is going to tear you a new a$$hole with that gear, unfortunately.

I'd suggest renting some equipment, D700 and a fast lens like a 24-70mm f2.8.

iolair · Feb 10, 2010

I'd agree with getting the 50mm / 1.8 - an inexpensive way to get good results in low light (though you'll not wanting to be using it wide open more than you have to, because of the slight softness and narrow depth of field... (although if you use them well they can produce very nice photos). If you have a tripod or monopod, that can improve your results a lot too. Learn to use bounce flash for the reception - firing the flash from the camera straight at the subject rarely gives flattering results. Bouncing it off a white ceiling is likely to be better, but practice in advance so you know the best settings to use on your camera. When's the wedding?

DWS · Apr 19, 2010

whatever happened with the OP?

iskoos · Apr 21, 2010

Hey,

I did a wedding a few weeks ago. I wasn't the official photographer. I was just testing myself and I listed my findings in the below thread. Go ahead and read them up. You will find some useful info there.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/beyond-basics/195887-my-first-dslr-wedding.html

Your biggest challenge as said will be motion blur. Becase if you use that kit lens and no flash, your shutter speed will not be any faster than 1/30-40 level (depending on the actual lighting) and if the crowd you are shooting is still, you may get away with it but if they are walking or waving their hands, you will get some ugly motion blur. And the funny thing is that you will not realize some of them on that 3.0" LCD screen. This happened to me. When I got home, I had to toss a lot fo good shots due to motion blur.
I did use high ISO 1600 (I have Canon 500D) it was too much for my camera but I had to. So test and find out your max acceptable ISO performance and get ready to use it.
If you have(will have) a prime lens (I used 50mm f/1.4) it will be great. I did captured great shots with that lens inside and outside. I can say that those shots saved me. My friends really liked a few shots I captured and thanked me for those.
But one danger with the fast prime lens is that the shallow DOF. Be VERY careful... One other thing is that they cannot auto focus really fast sometimes and you may lose a good shot...
I cannot explain how stupidly I took many group shots at f/1.4 and found out that all but one person was out of focus in each of those pictures!!!! When taking pictures with prime lens and you stopped all the way up, make sure your subject is in ONE plane or you will burn the picture...
I never used any flash so it was challenging. At the end though I learned alot. If I do another one right now, you bet I would do much better...
A few more things, if you can try to get another camera for the other lens because you will lose some good shots while changing your lenses.

And one last thing, just shoot like crazy maniac. Do not think that you took a good shot and move on. Take 10-15 of the same shots (without annoying people of course) if you can. Because out of 10 shots, you will have much better chance to have a keeper.

Going to church and and doing practice is a very good idea. If it was me right now, I would go to exact same place for the exact time and get myself familiar with the lighting. That way you will now what the bare settings for you...

It's going to be hard I can tell. That's why you should let them know that you will do your best. They shouldn't expect a pro work from you...

Good luck...