Whos going to be the photographer at my mums wedding?
Discussion
............
- ME!!
And im crapping myself... Its only a hobby and she and her partner have asked me to do it. Its only in a registry office as they have both been married before but I am more of a point, shoot and hope for the best kinda photographer. I have loads of books on photography but I find it really hard to take info in when im reading out of a book.
Does anyone do wedding photography as a profession which can advise me? I have until september 07.
Its not like i dont have a camera which is up to the job (canon 400d) I am more worried I am not up to the job!
HELP ME
Nik
- ME!! And im crapping myself... Its only a hobby and she and her partner have asked me to do it. Its only in a registry office as they have both been married before but I am more of a point, shoot and hope for the best kinda photographer. I have loads of books on photography but I find it really hard to take info in when im reading out of a book.
Does anyone do wedding photography as a profession which can advise me? I have until september 07.
Its not like i dont have a camera which is up to the job (canon 400d) I am more worried I am not up to the job!
HELP ME
Nik
Glad there's lots of time to practice.
But if you are not confident, get out of it while you can. It's a huge task and responsibility. 'A point, shoot and hope for the best kinda photographer' doesn't work in this case. You have the responsibility to get everything right. You may have the camera for the job, but what about the lenses and flash? They are pretty important too. You'll also have to think about the post processing and presentation. There are some good wedding photographers here, so I'm sure they can give you good advice. 
Edited by Gemm on Friday 29th December 22:50
Well my mums partner said to me he doesnt care if i take 1000 photos and only 10 are good he just wants me to take them - which is nice and takes away some of the pressure but its my mums big day and she has gone through some hard times so I want to make a good job of it.
I have a 18-55 and a 70-300 lens at the moment. I am now currently thinking about getting one in between. Have one in mind but need to save up a bit. I was thinking about hiring an exta flash and also getting another battery. I have a 2GB memory card so should be okay there.
I dont think theres going to be a lot of people there, just close family and friends. But as you say, at least I have 9 months in which to learn, practice and practice some more!
I have a 18-55 and a 70-300 lens at the moment. I am now currently thinking about getting one in between. Have one in mind but need to save up a bit. I was thinking about hiring an exta flash and also getting another battery. I have a 2GB memory card so should be okay there.
I dont think theres going to be a lot of people there, just close family and friends. But as you say, at least I have 9 months in which to learn, practice and practice some more!
Charlies Angel said:
Well my mums partner said to me he doesnt care if i take 1000 photos and only 10 are good he just wants me to take them - which is nice and takes away some of the pressure but its my mums big day and she has gone through some hard times so I want to make a good job of it.
Funny enough, I was going to mention about that too.
They would of course say they don't care, but the truth is THEY DO. It's their wedding day, so it's best not to forget that. You might want to invest on a fast lens too (f2.8+). I don't know (and you don't know) how the light is going to be but it can make a lot of difference. It can also help to isolate the subject from the crowd due to shallower DoF. Flash bracket is also a good idea for vertical shots.
Yes, make a great use of the 9 months.
Good luck! Nik
A slighlty different take on what has already been discussed. You have a big advantage over a pro in the fact that you know the family well and they know you, the chances are you will spend a lot more time with them on the big day than a Pro might, so plenty of scope for shots before and after the service, the candid offguard moments are quite often the most treasured shots in the album. I covered as a secondary photographer to a couple of weddings for my boss's family, technically my pics weren't a patch on the pros' shots but the behind the scene pics I got seemed to be the most popular. Take lots of memory and spare batteries and I'm sure you'll get some great pics.
A slighlty different take on what has already been discussed. You have a big advantage over a pro in the fact that you know the family well and they know you, the chances are you will spend a lot more time with them on the big day than a Pro might, so plenty of scope for shots before and after the service, the candid offguard moments are quite often the most treasured shots in the album. I covered as a secondary photographer to a couple of weddings for my boss's family, technically my pics weren't a patch on the pros' shots but the behind the scene pics I got seemed to be the most popular. Take lots of memory and spare batteries and I'm sure you'll get some great pics.
Charlies Angel said:
I have a 2GB memory card so should be okay there.
I do weddings professionally from time to time and have never shot less than 5-6GB of photos, and that was with a 1D, which is only 4mp and not the 10mp (IIRC) of the 400D. Memory is cheap and you'd be better off with more cards and batteries than another lens - the 18-55 and 70-300 will cover virtually everything and that small gap in the middle is no problem. All the lenses in the world are useless without power or memory.
Charlies Angel said:
Well between now and september it is my bday so if i save some pounds and speak to my otherhalf nicely it would be around £150 - £250 mark, maybe a little more depending on the quality.
I'd say 24-70(ish) f2.8 zoom would come in quite handy, for both group & individual shots. Canon 24-70 f2.8 is very expensive, so you'd probably be looking at Sigma, Tamron or Tokina. I think you can get an used one within your budget. I don't really know the quality of those lenses, so I'm sure someone will come in and help you in this department. Longer lens would be good for capturing people unaware (for better expressions), but it will become a bit more costly. Or you could always try 50mm f1.8, which is inexpensive and a large aperture may help you a lot.
I did a wedding in September (brother in law) see here...
www.grantgb.com/mrandmrssimms.htm
I shot over 700 photos and used 7gb of memory. I used my 24-105L for all the daytime stuff and used fill in flash for everything outside the church (as it wasn't allowed in the church). At night at the reception I used the 50mm 1.8. As has been said I'm sure it will help that you know lots of people as it will be less intrusive.
www.grantgb.com/mrandmrssimms.htm
I shot over 700 photos and used 7gb of memory. I used my 24-105L for all the daytime stuff and used fill in flash for everything outside the church (as it wasn't allowed in the church). At night at the reception I used the 50mm 1.8. As has been said I'm sure it will help that you know lots of people as it will be less intrusive.
From me shooting a friends wedding at a registrars office.
Get your butt down to the place where the wedding is actually being held - Registrar's offices are normally fairly bland - but it'll get you a good idea of what the lay out is, where you might want to have them standing / sitting for "official" signing etc. The offices are normally quite good - ask them if you're allowed flash during the ceremony or not, ask if you can pay a visit to scope it out. It'll save you panicking on the day. Take your camera and shoot some sample shots (take a friend who can sit in the positions) - if you can visit at the same time as the events going to happen as the light throught the windows will give you an idea of what to expect.
I did my friends wedding - and shot something like 6Gb of pictures and had the laptop in the back of the car so I could clear the memory cards if I needed.
Shoot RAW. If you don't know what to do with it - learn - it may save a couple of shots.
I would say you'll probably get more use out of the 18-55 but if you can splash out or rent a decent lens like the 24-70L 2.8 it would be worthwhile.
Get your butt down to the place where the wedding is actually being held - Registrar's offices are normally fairly bland - but it'll get you a good idea of what the lay out is, where you might want to have them standing / sitting for "official" signing etc. The offices are normally quite good - ask them if you're allowed flash during the ceremony or not, ask if you can pay a visit to scope it out. It'll save you panicking on the day. Take your camera and shoot some sample shots (take a friend who can sit in the positions) - if you can visit at the same time as the events going to happen as the light throught the windows will give you an idea of what to expect.
I did my friends wedding - and shot something like 6Gb of pictures and had the laptop in the back of the car so I could clear the memory cards if I needed.
Shoot RAW. If you don't know what to do with it - learn - it may save a couple of shots.
I would say you'll probably get more use out of the 18-55 but if you can splash out or rent a decent lens like the 24-70L 2.8 it would be worthwhile.
Thanks for all your posts. Whats the plus with shooting RAW over JPEG? I have always used JPEG, seemed alot more simple to use for some reason.
I would like to buy another lens, just to fill the gap between the 2 lenses I have now.
So far I need to get an extra memory card (I have a 2gb already so possibly another 1gb or 2gb?)
Another battery pack and a lens.
I wonder if my mum is contributing to any of these costs as shes not paying me to do this?!
I would like to buy another lens, just to fill the gap between the 2 lenses I have now.
So far I need to get an extra memory card (I have a 2gb already so possibly another 1gb or 2gb?)
Another battery pack and a lens.
I wonder if my mum is contributing to any of these costs as shes not paying me to do this?!
I have never done a wedding as the only photographer but here are a couple of thoughts from times I have taken pictures at weddings.
Flash:
Never use the flash built into the camera, get a proper flash head that can be bounced. Learn (if you don't already know) how to use the flash properly, by that I mean how to bounce it, meter for it, balance the flash with the ambient light etc. My feeling in situations like wedding where a lot takes place indoors, often in poor light, is a good flash will pay dividends.
Location:
Visit the location before hand as someone has already mentioned. Take your kit and practice various shots. Take notes if you need to. Don't forget to have a backup plan if its dull/raining. Maybe pop along when another wedding is taking place (if you can) and watch what there pro does?
Camera/Lenses:
Learn it inside out, make notes of what settings you are going to want to set/check i.e. ISO, white balance etc. The last thing you want is to get back after the event to find out all your pictures have a colour cast or are too noisy. As for kit, I would say that if you did want an extra lens, buy rather than rent. This will give you the opportunity to learn the kit before the day. My thoughts are you will get better pictures from lesser quality kit that you know well compared to very expensive kit you have never used before. On the memory front take as much as you can in smaller rather than large sizes. If one then dies you don't loose all the photos!
Learning:
Have you considered taking a photography evening class, they can be very good. It will mean you also have a pro around to ask questions of and give feedback on test photos prior to the event.
Hope this helps in some way, as I said I am not a pro (just a beginner) but these are some lessons I have learnt (some the easy way, some the hard
)
Whatever happens dont forget to have a good time at the wedding.
Lake
Flash:
Never use the flash built into the camera, get a proper flash head that can be bounced. Learn (if you don't already know) how to use the flash properly, by that I mean how to bounce it, meter for it, balance the flash with the ambient light etc. My feeling in situations like wedding where a lot takes place indoors, often in poor light, is a good flash will pay dividends.
Location:
Visit the location before hand as someone has already mentioned. Take your kit and practice various shots. Take notes if you need to. Don't forget to have a backup plan if its dull/raining. Maybe pop along when another wedding is taking place (if you can) and watch what there pro does?
Camera/Lenses:
Learn it inside out, make notes of what settings you are going to want to set/check i.e. ISO, white balance etc. The last thing you want is to get back after the event to find out all your pictures have a colour cast or are too noisy. As for kit, I would say that if you did want an extra lens, buy rather than rent. This will give you the opportunity to learn the kit before the day. My thoughts are you will get better pictures from lesser quality kit that you know well compared to very expensive kit you have never used before. On the memory front take as much as you can in smaller rather than large sizes. If one then dies you don't loose all the photos!
Learning:
Have you considered taking a photography evening class, they can be very good. It will mean you also have a pro around to ask questions of and give feedback on test photos prior to the event.
Hope this helps in some way, as I said I am not a pro (just a beginner) but these are some lessons I have learnt (some the easy way, some the hard
) Whatever happens dont forget to have a good time at the wedding.
Lake
With your budget, I'd look at hiring a flash (Sb600 or 800) and a decent fast but more importantly sharp lens, such as a 17-55 f/2.8 or a 28-70mm f/2.8.
With any money that is left buy a spare battery and some more memory, or otherwise have a way of copying off your pictures when you are there, such as a laptop - you can never take too many!
You wont need a bracket as the SB flashes rotate thus:
Landscape:
Portrait:
You will get better results if you bounce the flash, so having it pointing up most of the time. This does however mean that if there are high ceilings or longer distances involved the flash wont be powerful enough - in these cases doing something like this can help:
I find a slightly trimmed business card should just fit. Of course you could just buy/loan a Sto-fen to diffuse the light. The reason for bouncing/diffusing the flash is that it can otherwise give a very harsh and un-natural light, which is not at all flattering.
Good thing about it all is you can see what results you are getting on the screen, so will know if it's working. Try to get a good load of practice in with the kit before the day though, if at all possible.
Good luck!
Edit to add, some good advice from Lake there, but I'm not sure I agree on the buy rather than rent comment. With lenses as good as the ones I've mentioned above, there really isn't anything to learn, they are fast, very quick to focus, and very sharp throughout the zoom range. It's top end kit and wont let you down, even if you haven't used them before. Functionally they are the same as your 18-70 except with a constant aperture throughout the zoom range.
With any money that is left buy a spare battery and some more memory, or otherwise have a way of copying off your pictures when you are there, such as a laptop - you can never take too many!
You wont need a bracket as the SB flashes rotate thus:
Landscape:
Portrait:
You will get better results if you bounce the flash, so having it pointing up most of the time. This does however mean that if there are high ceilings or longer distances involved the flash wont be powerful enough - in these cases doing something like this can help:
I find a slightly trimmed business card should just fit. Of course you could just buy/loan a Sto-fen to diffuse the light. The reason for bouncing/diffusing the flash is that it can otherwise give a very harsh and un-natural light, which is not at all flattering.
Good thing about it all is you can see what results you are getting on the screen, so will know if it's working. Try to get a good load of practice in with the kit before the day though, if at all possible.
Good luck!
Edit to add, some good advice from Lake there, but I'm not sure I agree on the buy rather than rent comment. With lenses as good as the ones I've mentioned above, there really isn't anything to learn, they are fast, very quick to focus, and very sharp throughout the zoom range. It's top end kit and wont let you down, even if you haven't used them before. Functionally they are the same as your 18-70 except with a constant aperture throughout the zoom range.
Edited by _dobbo_ on Sunday 31st December 11:23
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