Wedding Shoot Help?

viperjm7 · Apr 7, 2013

Hi all,

I have been taking nature/landscape pictures for about 1-2 years while on vacations to national parks, etc. and have taken some really great photos and feel I really have it down. My sister asked me to take photos at her wedding (it's a smaller event) and I said I would because she really needs to save the $. Anyway, while I feel I have really gotten outdoor landscapes down, I really have not down a whole lot of 'people' photoshoots besides a couple of small kid's birthday parties. Does anyone have any overall tips/settings/anything else I should know before doing this? Any help would be great!

Designer · Apr 7, 2013

Is this event important to your sister? If so, maybe you could hire a photographer and let that be your gift to her.

texkam · Apr 7, 2013

My tip would be to simply use the search feature of this forum. There are probably dozens of threads identical to this one. You'll get all your questions answered and learn more than you could possibly imagine about wedding photography and I won't have to make any popcorn.

SCraig · Apr 7, 2013

Well, let's see ... I've been riding motorcycles for a number of years so by your logic that means I'm ready to run MotoGp next season.

Shooting landscapes is nothing, NOTHING like shooting weddings. There is absolutely zero comparison other than knowing a good exposure from a bad one. I've been behind a camera since the mid 60's, and have even shot a few weddings in the past. With that behind me there is absolutely no way whatsoever I would ever shoot a wedding again. Especially for someone who is important to me. I don't know enough about shooting, lighting, or composing people and I have no intention of ruining an important day for someone.

If you have the time I would strongly recommend that you explain the situation to a wedding photographer in your area and ask if you can tag along and watch. Offer to give them everything you shoot free of charge if you have to but you need to get some on-the-job training before you ever attempt something like that on your own.

Light Guru · Apr 7, 2013

Even if I had shot weddings before I would not be willing to shoot my sisters wedding.

If you mess it up thanksgiving dinner is going to be awkward for years and years and years.

pgriz · Apr 7, 2013

At this stage of your experience, you don't know what you don't know. There is a choreography to weddings, and a lot of the shooting takes place under less than ideal conditions. You need good equipment, with backup, to be able to take the right shots, you need good people-management skills, and you need very good post-processing skills. So I'm pretty much with all the posters before me.

tirediron · Apr 8, 2013

There's a couple of aspects to this (I'm basing this on the assumption that your sister has exactly $0.00 to spend on photography). First of all, what is her expectation? Don't listen to the words she's telling you, but actually think about how she typically reacts, especially under stress. Is she a casual, "whatever happens, happens" sort of person, or is she a demanding, exacting sort of person? If you genuinely believe that's she's got a casual approach to this and will be happy with what she gets, then fine, go for it. If not, then DO. NOT. DO. THIS! I say that NOT because of your photographic skill or equipment, but because you do NOT want to start a feud over something as silly as some wedding photos.

That said, and assuming you wind up doing this, then you need to plan. Planning is the key to best possible result. Sit down with your sister and go over the whole day's plan. Know when things are going to happen and where. Plan your day to be at each location 30 minutes ahead of the required time, and expect her to be at least 30 minutes late (there's a LOT of waiting in wedding photography). Know where you're going to park, etc. Scout the venues - talk to the Rector/Deacon (if it's a church event) and ask where photographers normally stand, ask where you can and cannot go, and when, or if you can use flash. Plan a shoot-list, including any 'special' relatives or friends, and practice bouncing flash.

Spend some time on YouTube watching tutorials on wedding photography, TTL flash, Bounced Flash, and anything else you can think of.

Good luck.

KmH · Apr 8, 2013

Two words!

1. Situational
2. Awareness

ABJayce · Apr 8, 2013

I guess my piece of advice is learn to look at shadows. It can dictate a lot of the light you need and where, or if you need to reposition yourself. A lot of time when people change from landscape and try to shoot something like a wedding they just see the moment and take the picture, it'll be sharp etc. Then you'll get to post and see huge black as night dark lines across peoples face etc. I've seen it done and I asked about it and usually they just say they weren't thinking or werent paying attention to the shadows, being too distracted on getting the picture. If your sister wants pictures of her wedding and it doesn't matter to her if they are not professional then all the more power, you'll get to go through the experience. But weddings can be hectic and busy. A photographer I assisted once did the wedding and went straight to the bar, said he did it after each wedding lol

WhiteBalance · Apr 8, 2013

tirediron said:
There's a couple of aspects to this (I'm basing this on the assumption that your sister has exactly $0.00 to spend on photography). First of all, what is her expectation? Don't listen to the words she's telling you, but actually think about how she typically reacts, especially under stress. Is she a casual, "whatever happens, happens" sort of person, or is she a demanding, exacting sort of person? If you genuinely believe that's she's got a casual approach to this and will be happy with what she gets, then fine, go for it. If not, then DO. NOT. DO. THIS! I say that NOT because of your photographic skill or equipment, but because you do NOT want to start a feud over something as silly as some wedding photos.

That said, and assuming you wind up doing this, then you need to plan. Planning is the key to best possible result. Sit down with your sister and go over the whole day's plan. Know when things are going to happen and where. Plan your day to be at each location 30 minutes ahead of the required time, and expect her to be at least 30 minutes late (there's a LOT of waiting in wedding photography). Know where you're going to park, etc. Scout the venues - talk to the Rector/Deacon (if it's a church event) and ask where photographers normally stand, ask where you can and cannot go, and when, or if you can use flash. Plan a shoot-list, including any 'special' relatives or friends, and practice bouncing flash.

Spend some time on YouTube watching tutorials on wedding photography, TTL flash, Bounced Flash, and anything else you can think of.

Good luck.

I agree with this... make a plan or you will be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. If this is your 1st wedding than I would immerse myself into everything wedding photography as much as you can until the wedding. even with little to no experience, your results will be determined by how much you put into this event.

pixmedic · Apr 8, 2013

what equipment do you currently have?
do you have the ability to purchase things you might be missing? or rent them? if so, what is your budget?
hard to give you specific tips without knowing what your current gear is.

TCampbell · Apr 8, 2013

Uggg... not good. :crazy:

There's just no way that a post or two will tell you what you need to know to do this yourself. Learning wedding photography involved working for someone else who knows wedding photography so you can learn the ropes from them. The other option is to plunge in yourself... but like anything you do as a beginner... do not expect good results.

Equipment:

A wedding photography normally has at least TWO cameras because if one camera fails (and it really happens) you can't put the wedding on hold and there's no picture re-take day. The wedding ceremony usually takes place in a church, synagogue, temple, etc. with poor light and you cannot use flash photography during the ceremony. To get around this the wedding photographer has TWO tricks... #1 they have a camera with an impressive ability to shoot at high ISO while still keeping the noise at bay... very low noise and #2 they uses high end lenses that collect a LOT of light. E.g. they've got a 24-70mm f/2.8, a 70-200mm f/2.8... and they may have a prime lens or two that can do f/2.0 or better. They have TWO flashes (one is not a backup... they are both used concurrently.)

While you're probably good at operating your camera, you might not own the lenses and may not own the flashes nor have experience working with them.

The Event:

Then there's the flow of the ceremony. The wedding photographer always knows what's coming next. It's not as if something starts to happen and you think "oooh... I should get that." Then grab the camera and start metering, focusing, and adjusting the exposure settings (and by the time they do that, they've missed it). A wedding photographer knows what's next so the camera is already dialed into the settings that they'll be using for what's coming next. It really is just a point, frame, and shoot reaction.

Think of wedding photography as a sport. If you play sports... it's not like some play starts to occur and you ponder what tactic you should use. It all becomes a reaction and "muscle memory" -- you just do it ... pretty much without having to think about it. Wedding photography works a bit like that.

And therein lies the problem. If you've never done a wedding and you've never worked as an assistant to a wedding photography then you don't know the flow and you haven't developed that "muscle memory" to move from moment to moment without having to really think about it. You may be experimenting with exposures whereas an experience photography just knows the exposures.

I would not do a wedding on my own without building up considerable knowledge and experience first.

I've work a lot of weddings... but I started by working as an apprentice for someone who was professionally trained and _very_ good. I hauled gear, held the side-light, and changed thousands of rolls of film. Eventually I was handed the camera... NOT AT A WEDDING, but in the studio. He started teaching me more about modeling, posing, lighting nuances, etc. He had me bring my friends to the studio to use as models and I started shooting them and THOSE shots had to be reviewed and critiqued by my boss. It was a process, but because I started young and had a lot of exposure to weddings before shooting one. I _strongly_ suggest that anyone who wants to do weddings should learn modeling, take some classes or attend seminars, learn a LOT about lighting, become an assistant or work as a second shooter and get comfortable with the environment and techniques BEFORE attempting to do a wedding on their own.