What equipment should I be investing in?

[AKUK]

Haha. Thanks, Designer. It was one of the best photographic lessons I learned though. I didn't see it at the time but in hindsight I found the positive in it.

 

[gsgary]

Haha, well, photographing a wedding and saving someone's life is slightly different, but I do get your point.

I definitely don't lead any of my clients to believe I'm better than I am. They see my work ahead of time and so far, they've all been happy.

To answer your questions, I do have a second camera and lens that I rent for weddings as a back up.
As for lighting, for the few weddings I've done, I haven't had any issues with lighting.

Again, I'm not resting on my business "not being the worst"
I want to have the right equipment and be better prepared, which is the purpose of my post.

I can tell you what WE bring to every wedding.
2 camera bodies.
6 flashes
12 batteries
10 lenses. (all f/2.8 zooms and primes)
12 16gig 45mb/s sandisk pro memory cards.
light stands and brollys/softbox umbrellas
8 radio triggers
misc other junk like chargers, cleaning stuff, multi-tool, etc etc.

12 cards [emoji15] spray and pray if you use all those

 

[SquarePeg40 1]

AKUK; I would have clicked on the "sympathy" button had there been one.

Another one for the please add a new tag thread!

 

[pixmedic1]

Haha, well, photographing a wedding and saving someone's life is slightly different, but I do get your point.

I definitely don't lead any of my clients to believe I'm better than I am. They see my work ahead of time and so far, they've all been happy.

To answer your questions, I do have a second camera and lens that I rent for weddings as a back up.
As for lighting, for the few weddings I've done, I haven't had any issues with lighting.

Again, I'm not resting on my business "not being the worst"
I want to have the right equipment and be better prepared, which is the purpose of my post.

I can tell you what WE bring to every wedding.
2 camera bodies.
6 flashes
12 batteries
10 lenses. (all f/2.8 zooms and primes)
12 16gig 45mb/s sandisk pro memory cards.
light stands and brollys/softbox umbrellas
8 radio triggers
misc other junk like chargers, cleaning stuff, multi-tool, etc etc.

12 cards [emoji15] spray and pray if you use all those

never used near that many.
but cards are cheap and plentiful, so theres no reason not to have more than I need.
i mean, why have 36 roll film? if your not spraying and praying you should only need 24.

 

[rwilliams]

Sorry, I got mixed up. I was responding in between chasing around my 2 year old. I should know better than to try to do the both

I actually meant that I had been wanting to buy an on camera flash. I currently don't have a battery source for the alien bees, so I've only been able to use those indoors. I need to buy a lot.

More than I realized.

I talked to my husband tonight about taking out a loan to help get started. We looked at some numbers and agreed it would probably be a good idea.

I've been wanting to buy an off camera flash for awhile because I've definitely struggled some with balancing the exposure outside. I have no clue what the difference is in TTL and manual, but I can research that

But didn't you write that you have purchased two Alien Bees? Why do you think you have to purchase something more that those?

FYI: PCB makes an RF remote.

 

[rwilliams]

My cheapest package is $450. Most expensive is $900. I make it clear to my clients that I charge a lot lower because I'm a single shooter and new to weddings. Most are fine with that because a lot of people in my area can't afford $2000 to $3000 for a photographer and they still think the quality of my work is good enough. I would love to get bigger weddings at sometime, but for now.. my clients are happy and it brings in money to put towards more equipment.

You can shoot with what you have and aim for the sub $1,000 budget weddings. There are couples out there who are unwilling to pay the usual $2,500 to $3,000 a regular Wedding photographer would charge and you can cater to them.

I've moved away from shooting weddings but my gear list was
D810 and D700
24-70/2.8
70-200/2.8
105/2.8 macro
50/1.4

2x SB600
1x SB800

and vertical grips and spare batteries and about 10 compactflash cards

 

[gsgary]

Sorry, I got mixed up. I was responding in between chasing around my 2 year old. I should know better than to try to do the both

I actually meant that I had been wanting to buy an on camera flash. I currently don't have a battery source for the alien bees, so I've only been able to use those indoors. I need to buy a lot.

More than I realized.

I talked to my husband tonight about taking out a loan to help get started. We looked at some numbers and agreed it would probably be a good idea.

I've been wanting to buy an off camera flash for awhile because I've definitely struggled some with balancing the exposure outside. I have no clue what the difference is in TTL and manual, but I can research that

But didn't you write that you have purchased two Alien Bees? Why do you think you have to purchase something more that those?

FYI: PCB makes an RF remote.

I would say borrowing money is a bad idea

 

[chuasam]

My cheapest package is $450. Most expensive is $900. I make it clear to my clients that I charge a lot lower because I'm a single shooter and new to weddings. Most are fine with that because a lot of people in my area can't afford $2000 to $3000 for a photographer and they still think the quality of my work is good enough. I would love to get bigger weddings at sometime, but for now.. my clients are happy and it brings in money to put towards more equipment.

You can shoot with what you have and aim for the sub $1,000 budget weddings. There are couples out there who are unwilling to pay the usual $2,500 to $3,000 a regular Wedding photographer would charge and you can cater to them.

I've moved away from shooting weddings but my gear list was
D810 and D700
24-70/2.8
70-200/2.8
105/2.8 macro
50/1.4

2x SB600
1x SB800

and vertical grips and spare batteries and about 10 compactflash cards

Taaadaaaa! By all means carry on then.

 

[gsgary]

Haha, well, photographing a wedding and saving someone's life is slightly different, but I do get your point.

I definitely don't lead any of my clients to believe I'm better than I am. They see my work ahead of time and so far, they've all been happy.

To answer your questions, I do have a second camera and lens that I rent for weddings as a back up.
As for lighting, for the few weddings I've done, I haven't had any issues with lighting.

Again, I'm not resting on my business "not being the worst"
I want to have the right equipment and be better prepared, which is the purpose of my post.

I can tell you what WE bring to every wedding.
2 camera bodies.
6 flashes
12 batteries
10 lenses. (all f/2.8 zooms and primes)
12 16gig 45mb/s sandisk pro memory cards.
light stands and brollys/softbox umbrellas
8 radio triggers
misc other junk like chargers, cleaning stuff, multi-tool, etc etc.

12 cards [emoji15] spray and pray if you use all those

never used near that many.
but cards are cheap and plentiful, so theres no reason not to have more than I need.
i mean, why have 36 roll film? if your not spraying and praying you should only need 24.

I don't carry that amount, there is about 900 feet of film in a fridge though

 

[qleak]

This is perfectly safe, as you can always re-shoot if the worst happens, well apart from trashing the dress or getting the bride anywhere near a water source and her falling in and drowning, as happened to one photographer in the US last year, if I recall correctly.

Are you referring to this?:

Quebec bride Maria Pantazopoulos drowned in 8216 trash the dress 8217 photo shoot National Post

Happened in 2012 in Canada, so really has me wondering

 

[pixmedic1]

Haha, well, photographing a wedding and saving someone's life is slightly different, but I do get your point.

I definitely don't lead any of my clients to believe I'm better than I am. They see my work ahead of time and so far, they've all been happy.

To answer your questions, I do have a second camera and lens that I rent for weddings as a back up.
As for lighting, for the few weddings I've done, I haven't had any issues with lighting.

Again, I'm not resting on my business "not being the worst"
I want to have the right equipment and be better prepared, which is the purpose of my post.

I can tell you what WE bring to every wedding.
2 camera bodies.
6 flashes
12 batteries
10 lenses. (all f/2.8 zooms and primes)
12 16gig 45mb/s sandisk pro memory cards.
light stands and brollys/softbox umbrellas
8 radio triggers
misc other junk like chargers, cleaning stuff, multi-tool, etc etc.

12 cards [emoji15] spray and pray if you use all those

never used near that many.
but cards are cheap and plentiful, so theres no reason not to have more than I need.
i mean, why have 36 roll film? if your not spraying and praying you should only need 24.

I don't carry that amount, there is about 900 feet of film in a fridge though

how many shots can you get out of 274 meters of film?

 

[AKUK]

This is perfectly safe, as you can always re-shoot if the worst happens, well apart from trashing the dress or getting the bride anywhere near a water source and her falling in and drowning, as happened to one photographer in the US last year, if I recall correctly.

Are you referring to this?:

Quebec bride Maria Pantazopoulos drowned in 8216 trash the dress 8217 photo shoot National Post

Happened in 2012 in Canada, so really has me wondering

That's the one. Can't believe it has already been a couple of years! Ah it was in Canada. I knew it was over the pond from me but yeah, a very sad lesson for any wedding photographer to take heed of.

 

[gsgary]

Haha, well, photographing a wedding and saving someone's life is slightly different, but I do get your point.

I definitely don't lead any of my clients to believe I'm better than I am. They see my work ahead of time and so far, they've all been happy.

To answer your questions, I do have a second camera and lens that I rent for weddings as a back up.
As for lighting, for the few weddings I've done, I haven't had any issues with lighting.

Again, I'm not resting on my business "not being the worst"
I want to have the right equipment and be better prepared, which is the purpose of my post.

I can tell you what WE bring to every wedding.
2 camera bodies.
6 flashes
12 batteries
10 lenses. (all f/2.8 zooms and primes)
12 16gig 45mb/s sandisk pro memory cards.
light stands and brollys/softbox umbrellas
8 radio triggers
misc other junk like chargers, cleaning stuff, multi-tool, etc etc.

12 cards [emoji15] spray and pray if you use all those

never used near that many.
but cards are cheap and plentiful, so theres no reason not to have more than I need.
i mean, why have 36 roll film? if your not spraying and praying you should only need 24.

I don't carry that amount, there is about 900 feet of film in a fridge though

how many shots can you get out of 274 meters of film?

About 60 rolls per 300 feet, about 2160 shots per 300feet

 

[joeymas]

I currently focus on children family, senior, engagement portraits and have taken on a few of small weddings. I have purchased some studio lights and equipment because I would like to do studio shoots, but currently don't have a location to. I probably purchased them a little prematurely, but figured they may come in handy for some weddings.. So far I haven't needed them much.

I know I need more lenses and probably other stuff I don't even realize.. so I'm just looking for some direction on what is most important to improve the quality of my photos. I've only purchased one lens and can tell a huge difference in that and the standard lens that my camera came with. But when I try to decide on other lenses to purchase, theres SO many to choose from and most cost a ton of money. I really am not ready to fork out a lot of money on something that I won't use much.

Here's what I currently own:
Canon Rebel T3i, the lens it came with, and also a a 50mm f/1.8
(2) Alien Bees B800 flash units & stands, (2) umbrellas, (2) softboxes
Portable backdrop stand, two backdrops

That's it. :/

I will admit that I did not flip through the replies to this before I answered but I will offer the solution that worked for me. I consider the purchase of equipment for the studio "Problem Solving" I look at what I need to do and what will help me do it better. For example, If my photos are not as sharp enough, then I research for a sharper lens. If my 4 lights are not bright enough I add a 5th. I guess my point is that if you are on a tight budget like most of us... Get what you need as you feel you need it.