Wedding Shoot

[hawee99]

I'm shooting my first wedding for a friend. I'm pretty amateur at photography. But she couldn't pay a professional and Weddings are something I intend to get into later on anyhow. So I set her expectations pretty low on my skill level. I still would like to do a really good job of course, so I'm here asking any pointers. I have my new D80 with an 18-300 lens. I'm gonna have a friend back me up with my oldCanon S2 IS. I'm sure I need an off body flash for my D80...? I plan going to the Church ahead of time to check lighting, which I know nothing about, but figure it'd be good to check out. So I have researched a few tips, but anything will help make me a little more comfortable. Like camera settings you've had really good luck with. I'm sure all this depends on lighting, but i've heard some people say they have certain settings they always use, if they can't figure out the lighting... Anyway, any advice will be greatly appreciate.
Thanks, Cullen

 

[hawee99]

i just realized that I asked about the same thing as the post below me. whoops. haha, my forum skills are lacking!

 

[JIP]

My best piece of advice would be to have alot of memory and ue it. Shoot shoot shoot that way you have as many images to choose from as possible. Also in the hustle and bustle of the day it is easy to forget to get a few shots of the B+G alone together. This may seem like a no-brainer but you will be surprised at how fast the day goes buy and how easy it is to forget to get images like these when there are a million people who want to get a picture with them.

 

[Flash Harry]

Do a search for critical wedding shots, you'll get a list of shots that you will need to have, get them, then shoot pretty much all that goes down, if there's kids get all them, they always sell.
A pro doesn't just shoot as many shots as he/she has memory cards, people will soon get sick of you machine gunning them, look for your shots dont just shoot s**t as it'll take longer in the PP stage.H

 

[Southerngal]

Good Luck!!!! I posted basically the same thread in the beginners forum. The wedding I will be shooting is June 30th. You should have a look @ the thread I posted....under beginners/titled wedding....I had alot of useful feedback.

 

[Big Mike]

If you can get your hands on a 'faster' lens, do so.

 

[JIP]

Do a search for critical wedding shots, you'll get a list of shots that you will need to have, get them, then shoot pretty much all that goes down, if there's kids get all them, they always sell.
A pro doesn't just shoot as many shots as he/she has memory cards, people will soon get sick of you machine gunning them, look for your shots dont just shoot s**t as it'll take longer in the PP stage.H

Just so you know I am a professional photographer including shooting weddings for 2 different studios for 6 years so I do understand what it takes for a pro to shoot weddings but the op is not a professional wedding photographer and I was simply giving them advice on how to get the best results for an amatuer. That being said unless you have really good organizational skills I would not confuse things too much with an extensive list too much info can confuse things even more. The best thing to do with a list is to sit down with the B+G (they are friends right?) with the list and narrow the list (if you get one) down to the most critical shots that they can absolutely not do without and wing the rest. Shoot what you like what you think is nice if you do go with an extensive list be prepared for things to take waay more time than they need to while you keep looking back to your list and figuring out what poses to shoot. This is not meant to say antything about you (hawee) or your organizational skills it is just what can happen when you are too distracted by a list.

 

[EOS_JD]

I'll reiterate Mike's point.... Get a faster lens and buy a decent flash unit and learn how to use it. Weddings are very tough for a beginner.

 

[Southerngal]

Good luck with the wedding!

 

[elsaspet]

I wish you well, but don't be surprised if your free wedding photography turns into a friend you used to have. I've seen it happen time and time again. They say they have no expectations, but in reality they do.
That being said, and supposing you will do it regardless, there are MANY things you have to know.
1. First of all, you should attend the rehearsal and pay close attention. All churches have rules about photography. Some even have different rules depending on the presiding priest or minister.
2. Go in your bedroom and turn out the lights. Now light a few candles. THIS is the environment you will be shooting in for the entire evening. Now imagine doing that from 500 feet away. This is most likely the senario. Remember, flash is strickly forbidden except for procession and recession.
3. It is considered rude to shoot during prayer. The Eucherist (sp?) and homily are especially touchy. Ask for rules. Photographers have been tossed out of churches for non compliance.
4. Allow yourself 5 minutes per set up regarding formals. The easiest way to do it is to shoot out some before the wedding.
This would include:
Groom
Groom and Best Man
Groom with each of his men by themselves
All the groomsmen by themselves
Groom with all the groomsmen, ushers, and ringbearer.
Groom with above adding ushers.

Women are the same. This should happen BEFORE the wedding.

Afterwards you should do this:

Bride and Groom with ALL OF HIS FAMILY.
Bride and Groom with ALL OF HER FAMILY.
Do this one at a time, taking out aunts and uncles, then grandparents, then siblings, until you are down to just mom and dad.
Then comes the bridal/groomsmen party. You will want:
Bride and Groom with Groomsmen
Bride and Groom with Bridesmaids
Bride and Groom with Entire Party
Bride with Groomsmen
Groom with Bridesmaids.

That's pretty much the manditory family list.

The reception will most likely be darker still.
Take a multitude of detail shots, as this stuff costs way more money than seems sane. Lots of shots of cakes, lots of gifts, lots of table arrangements, the guestbook, on and on and on.
Table shots are another pretty much manditory thing. Go from table to table, and take shots of each couple individually. This can also help in reprints.
Lastly, don't miss a thing or you will hear about it. LOL.

Parting wisdom is to forget zooms, except for 2.8 or lower with stabilization, and try to use lenses 2.8 or faster. Preferably in the 1.4 range if possible. If you are shooting 3.5/5.6 expect to be totally bummed out.

Good luck to you, and I hope this post has helped you understand the wild world of wedding photography.
Let us know how it goes.
All the Best!

 

[Innocence]

i recently did a very similar thing to you guys. I was the secondary shooter (non paid, first was a pro guy getting paid).

I used a 50 1.8 on ISO 800 pretty much the entire time.

Like mike said in the other thread, practice in your house (if it's indoors) and see what shutter speeds are appropriate. I made sure that my shutter speed didn't drop below 1/50 although it was sometimes went above and below that. More shots came out blurry than I thought (probably half) although this I think was due more to people movement motion blur than motion blur on my behalf.

Guess I learnt it the hard way ha.

 

[EOS_JD]

i recently did a very similar thing to you guys. I was the secondary shooter (non paid, first was a pro guy getting paid).

I used a 50 1.8 on ISO 800 pretty much the entire time.

Like mike said in the other thread, practice in your house (if it's indoors) and see what shutter speeds are appropriate. I made sure that my shutter speed didn't drop below 1/50 although it was sometimes went above and below that. More shots came out blurry than I thought (probably half) although this I think was due more to people movement motion blur than motion blur on my behalf.

Guess I learnt it the hard way ha.

1/50th is a minimum speed but only (as you noted) when there's no motion with your subjects. As soon as your subjects move you need a faster shutter speed to stop their motion. 1/100th is a better starting point although in the ceremony there's usually very little subject movement from the couple at the alter so you may get away with slower.

 

[hawee99]

thanks for the advice. I know these wedding questions are like beating a dead horse for some of you on here. but hopefully we will have some interesting pictures after our first shoot. I picked up a guide to digital wedding, its a pretty good book. God that would suck to get kicked out of a wedding. hahahahah luckily this one is going to be pretty laid back for me!

 

[Mike_E]

Cullen, click on Elsapet's site and then reread her post. ()

WTTW

mike

 

[EOS_JD]

Cullen, click on Elsapet's site and then reread her post. ()

WTTW

mike

Yip there really is some fantastic work on her site but the equipment needed to do this will be better than with a dSLR and just an 18-300 lens (as noted above).